Heat A of Robot Wars: Series 8 (also referred to as Episode 1 or Heat 1; titled First Blood in US airings) was the first of five heats which determined the finalists of Robot Wars: Series 8. Initially broadcast on 24 July 2016 on BBC Two, it was the first episode of the rebooted series' run. This episode marked the first appearances of Dara Ó Briain and Angela Scanlon as the show's new hosts, and Lucy Rogers and Sethu Vijayakumar as the two new Judges.
The episode's original broadcast on BBC Two managed to attract 2.58 million viewers in the first week, around a 10% share of the potential audience. This was noted by sources such as The Guardian as having beaten the finale of Top Gear, which attracted 1.9 million viewers.[1] By twenty-eight days, it managed to reach 2.76 million viewers. According to BARB, this meant that it ranked third in the top thirty highest rated BBC Two broadcasts during 18-24 July, behind only Dragons' Den and New Zealand: Earth's Mythical Islands.
Competing robots[]
Newcomers[]
 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Carbide | ||
| Weight | 110kg | |
| Weapons | 25kg spinner | |
| Defence | 8mm aluminium | |
| From | Derby | |
| Team: Dave Moulds, Sam Smith, Sheryl Prior | ||
 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Nuts | ||
| Weight | 110kg (combined) | |
| Weapons | Chain flail | |
| Defence | Clusterbots | |
| From | Reading | |
| Team: Rory Mangles, Alex Shakespeare, Dave Lawrie, Chris Shakespeare | ||
 | ||
|---|---|---|
| The General | ||
| Weight | 110kg | |
| Weapons | Plough blade spinners | |
| Defence | Aluminium armour | |
| From | Carmarthen, South Wales | |
| Team: Tom James, Haydn James, Alan James | ||
Veterans[]
 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Behemoth | ||
| Weight | 108kg | |
| Weapons | Pneumatic scoop | |
| Defence | Titanium armour | |
| From | Hemel Hempstead | |
| Team: Anthony Pritchard, Kane Aston, Kevin Cleasby | ||
 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bonk | ||
| Weight | 110kg | |
| Weapons | Pneumatic axe | |
| Defence | Hardened steel | |
| From | Stoke-on-Trent | |
| Team: Adam Emmett, Daniel Emmett | ||
 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Kill-E-Crank-E | ||
| Weight | 110kg | |
| Weapons | 8.5kg spinner | |
| Defence | 304-Grade steel pipe | |
| From | Caithness, Scotland | |
| Team: Robin Herrick, Matthew Herrick, Isaac Potts, Nick Wells | ||
 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Razer | ||
| Weight | 109kg | |
| Weapons | Hydraulic piercer | |
| Defence | Hardened steel | |
| From | Bournemouth | |
| Team: Ian Lewis, Simon Scott, Gillian Lewis, Darcie Lewis | ||
 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Terrorhurtz | ||
| Weight | 107kg | |
| Weapons | Pneumatic axe | |
| Defence | Polycarbonate and steel | |
| From | Oxford | |
| Team: John Reid, Nick Lynch | ||
Round 1[]
Kill-E-Crank-E vs Nuts vs Razer vs Terrorhurtz[]
House Robot: Matilda
Terrorhurtz misses Nuts
Nuts' minibots trap Razer and Kill-E Crank-E
As the battle started, Terrorhurtz immediately gathered round and chased Nuts over the flame pit, but missed with its first axe blow. Razer moved in to attack Kill-E-Crank-E, grappling it with its crushing claw and pushing the V-shaped machine around as one of Nuts's minibots tried to get underneath Razer. Terrorhurtz smashed into Nuts and continued chasing it across the arena, flipping it over several times, while Kill-E-Crank-E escaped from Razer's grip and opened the pit. Nuts drove over the pit square just as it was about to descend, escaping by only a split second.
- "Down goes the pit! Now, someone could be on the edge of doom very shortly, and it was very nearly Nuts!"
- — Jonathan Pearce
Razer crushes one of Nuts' minibots
Razer grabs hold of Kill-E-Crank-E
Meanwhile, Razer had pierced through one of Nuts' minibots with its beak, and spent some time parading it around the arena. Nuts began spinning on the spot, using the flail to deflect Terrorhurtz as it continued pushing and attacked with its axe. Razer re-focused its attention towards Kill-E-Crank-E, grabbing hold of its tubular body and lifting it sideways, before Kill-E-Crank-E escaped and rammed into Terrorhurtz. Razer caught Kill-E-Crank-E again, and this time drove them towards the pit. But as Razer approached the pit edge, Kill-E-Crank-E's left wheel changed direction, pivoting Razer around and causing both robots to fall in together.
Razer and Kill-E-Crank-E fall into the pit together
- "Oh No! Look at this. The mighty have fallen. They took Kill-E-Crank-E out and went themselves."
- — Jonathan Pearce as Kill-E-Crank-E and Razer fall in the pit.
Qualified: Nuts & Terrorhurtz
Behemoth vs Bonk vs Carbide vs The General[]
House Robot: Shunt
Behemoth flips The General
Bonk! misses with the axe on Carbide
Bonk started off well, immediately chasing after Carbide and landing an axe blow on the black and green machine as it tried to stay away and get its weapon up to speed. However this was Bonk's only attack, as the cold temperatures of the Robot Wars arena caused its CO2 system to freeze, leaving the axe locked in the fired position. Behemoth flipped The General over as Carbide launched an attack on The General's side and exposed tyres.
- "And tyres in Robot Wars - no-no-no-no-no."
- — Jonathan Pearce fears for The General as Carbide attacks
The General causes sparks as Behemoth flips at the cutting discs
Behemoth moved in on Bonk, which got itself trapped on the arena spikes and was still unable to retract its axe. Behemoth charged at The General's spinning discs, causing sparks to fly and flipping itself over. However, the yellow and black machine self-righted easily using its scoop.
Carbide removes The General's wheel
Behemoth ran away to press the pit release button, while Carbide stayed away from the action to spin its weapon up again. Bonk and The General came together as Carbide slammed into The General's side, ripping one of its wheels clean off and sending it rolling across the arena. The blade also struck Bonk in the same hit, instantly immobilising it.
- "OH! The wheel's come off The General! Well, what did we tell you! Don't bring wheels into the arena!"
- — Jonathan Pearce
Behemoth flips the immobile Bonk
Carbide buckles the axe
Behemoth shoved the one-wheeled General onto the flame pit, where it remained for the rest of the battle. They then flipped Bonk over against the wall, which was now venting copious amounts of CO2, and Carbide finished the battle by hitting Bonk several times with its blade.
- "Behemoth brooding, Carbide cautious, but both through and brilliant."
- — Jonathan Pearce
Qualified: Behemoth & Carbide
Head-to-Heads[]
Carbide vs Terrorhurtz[]
House Robots: Shunt & Sir Killalot
Ahead of this match, Carbide was equipped with a layer of 7075 aluminium, providing it extra defence against spinners, though this was at the cost of full invertibility. Terrorhurtz, meanwhile, unknowingly entered the battle without a working axe.
The first attack, which hampered Carbide from then on.
Sparks fly as Terrorhurtz continues to press Carbide
Terrorhurtz drove straight into Carbide's blade, which recoiled off of their front wedge and sent Carbide flying. Carbide landed upside down, its extra aluminium sheet propping its wheels off the ground, allowing Terrorhurtz to get underneath their rear wedge and gain good purchase to push them around. Their blade managed to generate several sparks on Terrorhurtz's front, but not cause much damage, as Terrorhurtz shoved Carbide into the wall, the pit release button and Sir Killalot in quick succession, an effective backup strategy after Terrorhurtz was forced to fight without its axe.
- "This is terrific control early on here from Terrorhurtz. Across the flame pit they go. Carbide, at the moment, being pushed around the arena."
- — Jonathan Pearce
Terrorhurtz presses Carbide against Sir Killalot
Terrorhurtz pushes Carbide into the pit
Carbide got stuck on the flame pit, but eventually escaped with Sir Killalot's assistance. When it became apparent that Carbide had lost mobility, Terrorhurtz pushed them into the walls and into the pit, scoring a knockout victory and three points even though its axe had stopped working after the first hit.
- "At full power they need to be under control. Watch that blade! Carbide have gone."
- — Jonathan Pearce as Terrorhurtz pushes Carbide into the pit
Winner: Terrorhurtz via KO (3 points)
Behemoth vs Nuts[]
House Robots: Matilda & Dead Metal
Behemoth shovels Nuts
Behemoth throws Nuts onto the Flame Pit during the opening seconds
Behemoth started on the front foot by slamming into Nuts and flipping them onto the flame pit. Nuts retaliated by knocking Behemoth onto its back and escaped to the middle of the arena, where it spun around in an attempt to get its flails into play. One of Nuts' clusterbots strayed too close and was hit by the flail, before Behemoth drove into Nuts, stopping them from spinning, and rammed them into the arena spikes. Behemoth then flipped Nuts over the spikes and into the clutches of Dead Metal.
- "We don't want to be there, no no no!"
- — Team Nuts after their robot is flipped into Dead Metal
Nuts lands a few hits with its flails
Behemoth throws Nuts onto the pit release button
Nuts eventually escaped, and tried spinning in the middle of the arena again. However, Behemoth shoved it around once more, eventually launching the invertible machine into the pit release button. The two robots lingered around the floor flipper, which fired and caught one of Nuts' flails as it retracted, temporarily trapping it. Behemoth then scooped up one of Nuts' minibots and tossed it high up towards the arena ceiling.
- "Up went the arena flipper – HA, HA, HA, HA! Did you see that? Look at this! Get out of it! You're an irritant!"
- — Jonathan Pearce as Behemoth launches one of the clusterbots high into the air
Behemoth launches a minibot
Behemoth is flipped by Matilda's flywheel.
The minibot survived, while Behemoth strayed too close to Matilda's CPZ and was flipped clean over by her flywheel. Nuts freed itself from the flipper, and started spinning again as Behemoth self-righted. Matilda then struck Nuts with her flywheel, launching it into the air as Behemoth tried to flip the other minibot. Behemoth shoved and flipped Nuts over again several more times, and attacked the clusterbots twice more, almost tossing one of them out of the arena. Behemoth finished the fight with a couple more shoves on Nuts, and won the subsequent judges' decision, giving it two points.
Winner: Behemoth via Judges' decision (2 points)
Behemoth vs Terrorhurtz[]
House Robots: Dead Metal & Sir Killalot
Terrorhurtz rams Behemoth
Dead Metal grasps from behind Terrorhurtz who pins Behemoth against the side wall
Both robots charged into each other straight away, but Behemoth missed and flipped itself over on its first lift. Terrorhurtz capitalised on Behemoth's mistake by pushing them into the side wall close to Dead Metal's CPZ, but Behemoth self-righted in the process and escaped to try and make another charge. Terrorhurtz again got underneath Behemoth with its front wedge and eventually pinned them against the wall, but it became apparent that their axe was still not working.
- "The axe wasn't working in the last bout, and John Reid will need it to work; and it seems, to me, to be inactive."
- — Jonathan Pearce
Behemoth flips Terrorhurtz over
Dead Metal slices into the defeated Terrorhurtz
Behemoth eventually escaped, and finally lifted Terrorhurtz up, flipping it over as it eased them close to the wall. With Terrorhurtz unable to self-right, Dead Metal closed in and sliced through their polycarbonate baseplate, making a small gash in one of their gas canisters. John Reid later revealed that the transmitter for Terrorhurtz's axe had failed to work, and that the team did not have enough time to test it before the fight.
- "We need to get our axe working don't we! I told you to test the axe!"
- — John Reid addresses the problem that had affected Terrorhurtz for the last two battles.
Winner: Behemoth via KO (3 points)
Carbide vs Nuts[]
House Robots: Shunt & Sir Killalot
Carbide causes damage to the structure of Nuts
Carbide knocks loose the outer rim of Nuts
Before the match, Team Carbide expressed concerns about the reliability of their robot's recently-fixed weapon. However, Carbide immediately got its blade up to full speed, landing a few early blows on Nuts and causing a load of their washers to fall out. Nuts kept spinning around, but Carbide charged in again, ripping both wheels off one of the minibots and causing Nuts' flail ring to detach and fall off completely.
- "Oh they've lost the protective ring! They've lost the protective ring, now that leaves them very very vulnerable. Ooh dear."
- — Jonathan Pearce
Nuts flies into the pit release button by the power of Carbide's blade
Carbide tears off Nuts' wheel
The ringless Nuts spun and ran away from Carbide as it tried to get its weapon up to full speed. However, it lingered too close to the wall, allowing Carbide to come in and land another pair of strong hits on Nuts' body and wheels, one of them flinging the battered robot onto the flame pit. Another hit sent Nuts flying into the pit release button, before Carbide tore off one of Nut's wheels, which soared out of the arena completely.
- "You can take too much... too much dam- oh my goodness me! Down goes the pit. This is damage limitation, and you're not going to limit it, not like that. Wow! Off comes a wheel!"
- — Jonathan Pearce marvels at Carbide's destructive power
Carbide knocks one of Nuts' minibots while also immobilising Shunt
The remains of Nuts after the battle
In the dying seconds, Carbide chased and attacked Nuts' remaining minibot, before taking a sizeable chunk out of one of Shunt's wheelguards. Carbide took the three points with a highly impressive display. In the aftermath, it was revealed that part of Nuts' flail had smashed through one of the control room panels, which Dara Ó Briain showed to viewers and handed over to Team Nuts prior to his interview.
- "Do you like Jigsaw puzzles?"
- — Dara Ó Briain sums up the destruction to Team Nuts
Winner: Carbide via KO (3 points)
Behemoth vs Carbide[]
House Robots: Shunt & Sir Killalot
The first hit from Carbide sends sparks everywhere and hurls Behemoth across the arena
The collision of Carbide and Behemoth creates sparks
Behemoth lunged at Carbide before charging straight into its blade, sending a massive volley of sparks flying and the yellow and black machine spinning away.
- "There's the bucket against the blade. Oh, what a start this is!"
- — Jonathan Pearce
Carbide knocks Behemoth out
Behemoth's scoop is badly damaged by Carbide
Behemoth and Carbide recovered and rammed each other several more times, causing both machines to recoil, sending more sparks flying and at one point launching Carbide into the air. These repeated attacks caused some of the bolts from Behemoth's scoop to shear, tore a large gash out of its bucket and destroyed its self-righting arms. Still, Behemoth remained aggressive, eventually pushing Carbide into the pit release button.
- "And we've heard the death hum before, will we hear it again?"
- — Jonathan Pearce
Carbide pushes Behemoth towards the pit...
...Behemoth falls into the pit
While striking Carbide's blade again, Behemoth lifted its scoop, but it flung open due to the damage sustained. At the same time, Carbide struck Behemoth as it spun, causing it to lose balance and topple onto its side.
- "Look at the slice on the titanium bucket! What power it must take to cause that! Oh, just sliced and diced it!"
- — Jonathan Pearce
With Behemoth unable to self-right, Carbide effortlessly shoved it into the pit, scoring a valuable three points and guaranteeing its place in the Heat Final.
- "Oh, what a victory by Carbide, into the pit they go! Sensational! Carbide through, Behemoth baffled, bamboozled, beaten!"
- — Jonathan Pearce
Winner: Carbide via KO (3 points)
Nuts vs Terrorhurtz[]
House Robots: Shunt & Sir Killalot
Nuts spins into Terrorhurtz and gets its flail stuck in Terrorhurtz
Terrorhurtz removes Nuts' outer rim
Admirably, Nuts was repaired and ready to fight, albeit with only one clusterbot and still bearing bent wheels and gashes from their previous encounter. Terrorhurtz had also managed to fix its axe for this battle, which it used to hit Nuts as soon as they met. Terrorhurtz kept pressuring Nuts with its wedge and axe, but one of Nuts' flails got caught underneath one of their side panels, which remained stuck as Terrorhurtz smashed the flail ring off of Nuts' chassis. This briefly interfered with Terrorhurtz's axe and manoeuvrability, but the Oxford machine struck Nuts' chassis once again and shoved it into Shunt's CPZ, where the House Robot began attacking it.
- "Ooh, doesn't want to be there, doesn't want to be there - the wheels are wonky."
- — Jonathan Pearce as Nuts is hunted down by Shunt
Terrorhurtz becomes stuck on the loose ring of Nuts
Nuts avoids the pit and Terrorhurtz's axe
At the same time, Terrorhurtz spun in the middle of the arena, trying to use the flail ring to attack Nuts' remaining minibot. Nuts ran away from Shunt and pressed the pit release button, before Terrorhurtz hit the damaged robot again with its axe and shoved it towards the edge of the pit. However, due to its awkward shape and a bit of skilful driving, Nuts managed to escape the pit and run away.
- "What a mess - there's no dignity here."
- — John Reid comments on the action mid-battle
Terrorhurtz smashes down on Nuts
Shunt damages Nuts' wheel
Terrorhurtz axed Nuts several more times, at one point striking through the gap between their wheel and body, before pushing them into Shunt once more. Despite sustaining more axe blows, Nuts was still mobile as the battle drew to a close, while its lone minibot got itself wedged underneath Terrorhurtz, lifting it up far enough to impair its mobility and for long enough to delay its final attack.
Terrorhurtz becomes stuck on one of Nuts' minibots
Nuts "attacks" Terrorhurtz after the match ends
The judges awarded the win to Terrorhurtz, but the two points it scored only put it level in the table with Behemoth, who qualified for the Heat Final to face Carbide once again, due to Behemoth beating Terrorhurtz in their head-to-head.
Winner: Terrorhurtz via Judges' decision (2 points)
Final Table[]
| Robot | Points |
|---|---|
| Carbide | 6 |
| Behemoth | 5 |
| Terrorhurtz | 5 |
| Nuts | 0 |
Note: Behemoth progressed as a result of its Head-to-Head victory over Terrorhurtz.
Heat Final[]
Behemoth vs Carbide[]
House Robots: Shunt & Sir Killalot
Carbide crashes into Behemoth
A partially-immobile Behemoth lifts Carbide
Having just been soundly beaten by Carbide, Behemoth were by far the underdogs heading into the Arena. The scoop on Behemoth had been repaired, but it steered away from Carbide's blade on its first attack, with Carbide scoring a glancing blow on its rear corner. Behemoth reversed, turned round and took two heavy hits from Carbide, which seemed to knock it badly as it stopped near the edge of the closed pit. Behemoth eventually burst back into life, but stopped working again after charging straight into Carbide once more.
- "Certainly not is all right with Behemoth - they're not moving quickly. And they're going to be a victim, here, of brutal treatment from that spinning blade."
- — Jonathan Pearce
Carbide watches on as Behemoth reverses into the pit
Carbide opened the pit and approached Behemoth with its blade spun down. Carbide tried to push Behemoth in blade first, but Behemoth burst back into life, spinning in circles with one of its wheels appearing to be immobilised and lifting Carbide up. Carbide gingerly approached Behemoth again, only for Behemoth to suddenly reverse into the pit at full speed, eliminating itself in the process.
- "What on Earth happened there?"
- — Jonathan Pearce reacts to Behemoth's apparent suicide
Heat Winner: Carbide
Trivia[]
- Despite the lack of seedings or reference to the previous series, all five heats of Series 8 featured a Semi-Finalist from the Seventh Wars. In Heat A, it was Bonk, the new machine from Team Mute.
- This heat marked the first instance of two former UK Grand Finalists meeting in a first-round melee, specifically Razer and Terrorhurtz.
- This was the fourth occurrence of a previous Grand Champion being knocked out in the heats as Series 5 champion Razer fell in Round 1, the earliest loss for a former Grand Champion. The others were Chaos 2 in Heat C of the 6th Wars, Panic Attack in Heat I of the 6th Wars and Heat M of the 7th Wars, and Apollo in Heat 5 of Series 9 and Heat 1 of Series 10.
- Nuts was the only robot in this heat to have no previous experience on Robot Wars. However, The General had never fought in combat either.
- This was the second time that Behemoth was drawn into the same heat as Razer, and also the second time it was in the same heat as Team Mute.
- Though Kill-E-Crank-E was the successor to Pussycat, there were no team mates overlapping between Kill-E-Crank-E and the Cold Fusion Team when they defeated Razer in Series 4 and Extreme 1 (Robin Herrick joining in the finals, after the battle with Razer), meaning that it was not a grudge match in a strict sense.
- Kill-E-Crank-E's statistics board listed its weight as 110kg. This is an error, as Kill-E-Crank-E's weight was measured at 108kg on the day of filming.
- No less than six robots in this heat were from teams whose robots finished in the top four of a UK Championship, more than any other single episode. Of the group, only The General and Team Mute have not reached a Grand Final. Both teams did however reached Grand Finals of side tournaments in Series 3 and Extreme 2 respectively.
References[]
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