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Dutch Robot Wars (also known as Robot Wars: The Dutch Battles in the Netherlands and Robot Wars - The Dutch Wars in Mech+ listings) was the Dutch version of the British television game show, Robot Wars. It was broadcast by the BNN network on the Nederland 2 TV channel from 2001 to 2003.

The show ran for two series, which were filmed alongside Series 5 and 6 of the UK version. Despite being made for a Dutch audience, recorded in the Dutch language and featuring mainly Dutch competitors, the series was actually filmed in the main Robot Wars TV studio in London, with the battles taking place in the main Robot Wars Arena. The series also featured many robots from Belgium (as the two countries share the same robot combat association), with the highest-placed representative from each series being crowned the Belgian champion.

On 31 March 2023, the first Dutch series was announced to be added to the Mech+ service, premiering on 7 April that year. This marked the first time that Dutch Robot Wars was officially released internationally, with episodes receiving English subtitles, an uncropped widescreen aspect ratio and a similar digital HD restoration treatment to the UK Classic Series.[1]

Selection process[]

Qualifiers for the series took place in Eindhoven. This took the form of a simple demonstration process, similar to the selections for UK Series 2 and 3. As there were so few robots available, every robot that was able to move, while being within the weight limit was automatically accepted for the series. Despite this, Marien van der Meer claimed in the original Robot Wars Magazine that 106 entries attempted to qualify for the first series, with 30 being selected to compete.[2]

Presenters[]

Both series of Dutch Robot Wars were presented by Rob Kamphues, with Bridget Maasland as the pit reporter. Eric Corton provided commentary for both series, though this is omitted from the Mech+ version of Dutch Series 1.

Format[]

Each series of Dutch Robot Wars featured five heats, with the five heat winners advancing to the Grand Final. In the first series each heat featured six robots. The first round was a series of three one-on-one battles, with a "Losers Melee" deciding which defeated robot from the first round would reach the second round. In the second series each heat featured eight robots, with a more traditional knock-out format determining the heat winner.

The Grand Final was made up of the five heat winners and a number of "wildcards", chosen from the defeated robots by the show's producers. The Series 1 Grand Final featured just one wildcard, and the six robots were split into two battles to determine the final four competitors. The Series 2 Grand Final featured three wildcards, and the eight robots battled each other in a simple knock-out format to decide the champion.

Original Attempt[]

Whilst the first series of Dutch Robot Wars would ultimately air starting on December 31st 2001, an earlier attempt was made to organise a Dutch series, including teams from Belgium, with an audit occurring in Eindhoven on June 5th, around the same time as those for Robot Wars: The Third Wars as part of efforts to expand Robot Wars to an international audience, with further intentions for series to be held in Germany and France, and with an international event comprising the winners of each planned for a later date. Despite opening up to teams intending to compete in the year 2000, only five teams, including one Belgian, would sign up for this audit, however, and earlier plans for the series presumably fell through as a result, with the plans for an international event likely being integrated or developing into the The First World Championship.

"There are 4 Dutch teams and one Belgian team coming to the audit. I don't know about any German/French/other-country teams, though. 5 teams is, indeed, not enough for one show, let alone one show per country (in which case the Belgian team would get some very long 15 minutes of fame)....Also, wannabe competitors for 2000 were also invited to come and have a look."
Niels Bouwers of Team Pathetica[3]

Dutch Champions[]

These are the champions, runners-up and semi-finalists of the two series of Dutch Robot Wars, as well as the Belgian Champions.

Series Winner Runner-up Semi-Finalists Belgian Champion
Dutch Robot Wars: Series 1 Slicer Lizzard Bamm Bamm, Botwork Pika 2
Dutch Robot Wars: Series 2 PulverizeR Philipper 2 Bamm Bamm, Scrap-2-Saur Philipper 2

Trivia[]

  • Unlike the other versions of Robot Wars, robots competing in the Dutch series did not have their name and the team's hometown announced upon entering the arena.
  • The Dutch Series also did not feature any side events.

References[]

External Links[]

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