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"It's basically been built for sheer power and strength. Our main weapons are the flipping blade at the front, that's just for either flipping robots or pushing them away. We've had it pulling a four tonne truck, so we should be pretty alright for anyone who can come up against us!"
— Darren Ball introduces Scutter's Revenge

Scutter's Revenge was Team Scutterbots' first entry into Robot Wars, competing exclusively in Series 3. Known for its pushing power, it initially reached the Heat Final in its only appearance before breaking down against Pussycat. However, Scutter's Revenge progressed to the Semi-Finals following Pussycat's disqualification, where Scutter's Revenge was eliminated by 101.

Design[]

"Scutter shouldn't splutter, thanks to double 2hp car starter motors from V6 engines. The shell's aluminium; the front bulldozer blade is the weapon."
Jonathan Pearce introduces Scutter’s Revenge
Scutter's revenge

Scutter's Revenge in the arena

Scutter's Revenge was a boxy, red, white and black robot with a sloped aluminium body, six-wheel drive, and a front bulldozer scoop blade as its main weapon. The scoop was intended to get underneath, topple and push opponents away, while the robot itself was powered by two 2HP starter motors from V6 car engines, which Team Scutterbots claimed to be the 'most extreme' motors available at the time of its appearance. As a further reference to its Red Dwarf inspiration (see Etymology), images of the sitcom's 'Skutters' wielding bloodstained axes adorned the robot's sides and rear along with its name. Other messages, including one reading 'Oh Behave!', were also written in various places on Scutter's Revenge's bodywork, starting with its second-round battle against Thermador.

Scutter's Revenge was built with power and strength in mind, with Team Scutterbots stating that it was powerful enough to pull a four-ton truck during testing. Indeed, its pushing power proved essential during its Series 3 run, helping it to succeed in pushing opponents around the arena, into walls and into the pit, which it did in its battles against Zeus and Thermador.

" Scutter was prone to breaking down due to loss of power supply or more like power exhaustion or power drain due to so much power utilised in driving the main drive motor made from a Ford v6 engine modified starter motor, coupled with so much power used in overcoming the opponent this drains the power fast."
— Oluremi Idris[1]

Etymology[]

Skutter

A Skutter from Red Dwarf

"...wonder what a 'Scutter' is?"
Craig Charles, referencing Red Dwarf, a show that he stars in

Scutter's Revenge's name was inspired by the 'Skutters', the service and maintenance robots from the Sci-Fi sitcom Red Dwarf. Craig Charles, who stars in the aforementioned show as the character Dave Lister, occasionally alluded to the robot's namesake throughout its appearances, and Scutter's Revenge also had an image of a Skutter on its side armour.

The robot was entered into qualifiers as Skutter's Revenge and the amendment to "Scutter" was a condition of qualification to avoid copyright issues.[2]

The Team[]

Main article: Team Scutterbots
SRteam

Team Scutterbots with Scutter's Revenge

Scutter's Revenge was entered by Team Scutterbots from Essex. Graham Warner was the team captain, though he was not the team's main speaker for interviews. Instead, Darren Ball, the driver of the robot, often took centre stage in the team's interviews. Oluremi "Remi" Idris completed the lineup. Remi was best known for a running joke in the team's interviews, often saying that "Judgement Day" was coming for all of their opponents. All three members were work colleagues at the Ford Motor Company plant in Dagenham.

Qualification[]

Scutter's Revenge applied for Robot Wars and played up the nod to Craig Charles' Red Dwarf in the naming of their robot, as well as the prominence of Oluremi Idris in the team, for Robot Wars had not had many minorities. The show's producers responded enthusiastically to both points, to the extent that they were willing to ignore Scutter's Revenge being overweight during the audition.[3]

"I facilitated the Group, I put in the application and made the payments. Then we took advantage that no ethnic minority had been on the program hence I was the first. We named our robot after the robot in Red Dwarf which Craig Charles played Dave in the Sci-fi sitcom. Hence we sort have the assurance that we were gonna get on the main show, so much so during the audition we were over weight, but was assured so far we cut down our weight, which we did before (sic) the real competition, which was interesting and worth the whole effort."
— Oluremi Idris

Scutter's Revenge ran an obstacle course to qualify and got a sufficient time to allow them to qualify, though Idris suspected that they were favoured for the above factors.[4]

Robot History[]

Series 3[]

"They tell us that Scutter's Revenge has this... mighty power; engines like we've never seen... or heard. Hardly roaring, more like purring, but nonetheless shoving Zeus against the arena wall..."
Jonathan Pearce as Scutter's Revenge pushed Zeus in its first-ever battle

Scutter's Revenge competed in Heat M, facing Zeus in its first-round battle.

Scutters revenge vs zeus

Scutter's Revenge pushes Zeus into the angle grinder

Scutter's revenge vs zeus

Scutter's Revenge pits Zeus

At the start, it slowly advanced towards Zeus before the two robots bumped into each other. Despite Zeus attempting to push it back, Scutter's Revenge pushed Zeus into the wall, tipping it over and causing sparks to fly as the latter's axe hit the circular saws. With Zeus stuck on top of its scoop, Scutter's Revenge dragged it back, turned around and effortlessly pushed it into the pit, with Zeus losing its axe head in the process after catching the floor grille with it.

"Oh behave, says the message on Scutter's Revenge..."
— Jonathan Pearce notices the phrase written on Scutter's Revenge's back panel during its battle against Thermador

In the second round, Scutter's Revenge faced newcomer Thermador.

Thermador vs scuttersrevenge

Thermador grabs hold of Scutter's Revenge

Thermidor 1

Scutter's Revenge completes another pitting, this time on Thermador

As before, it slowly approached Thermador as the two robots met in the centre of the arena, and pushed Thermador back towards the pit. Thermador drove away and briefly pushed Scutter's Revenge sideways in retaliation, but Scutter's Revenge drove back and forth to break free of its claws, and eventually pitted Thermador after pushing it back with its scoop blade.

"...and the lobster... is in the net and caught!"
— Jonathan Pearce as Scutter's Revenge pits Thermador

Through to the Heat Final, Scutter's Revenge then faced Pussycat, the then-latest machine from the experienced Cold Fusion Team.

"Everyone knows the last thing you do every day, is you put the cat out, and that's exactly what we’re going to do."
— Graham Warner prior to the Heat Final
Scutter's Revenge vs Pussycat

Scutter's Revenge and Pussycat in the early stages

Scutters revenge vs pussycat

Scutter's Revenge throws Pussycat against the side wall

Pussycat vs Scutter's revenge

Scutter's Revenge pins Pussycat against the wall after the latter's blade shatters

Pussycat vs scutter revenge

A weaponless Pussycat is carried away by Scutter's Revenge

It immediately scooped Pussycat up, turned it over and pushed into the wall, before tipping it onto its side and breaking a chunk off of the latter's diamond-tipped saw. Scutter's Revenge kept ramming Pussycat into the wall, causing smoke and sparks to fly, but backed towards the Flame Pit as Pussycat drove away and up its side. It recovered to push Pussycat alongside the Flame Pit, before turning round, nudging and pursuing Pussycat as it hit the wall and its blade shattered upon contact. Scutter's Revenge proceeded to push the now-weaponless Pussycat into the wall a few more times, until it began losing drive power and struggled to move away from the wall. Pussycat bumped and pushed Scutter's Revenge back as it started smoking, with Scutter's Revenge being left completely immobilised near the Flame Pit.

"And was that a waft of smoke we saw from Scutter's Revenge? Yes, the engines are smoking! It's burnt out, Scutter's Revenge..."
Jonathan Pearce notices the smoke coming from Scutter's Revenge as it becomes immobilised
Pussycat vs scutterrevenge

Pussycat rams Scutter's Revenge into the side wall

Scutters revenge immobile

Scutter's Revenge lays immobile

Scutters revenge floor flipper

Scutter's Revenge is thrown by the floor flipper

Following a few more slams from Pussycat, Scutter's Revenge was eventually attacked by Matilda and lifted onto the Flame Pit by Sir Killalot, before being pushed onto the Floor Flipper and thrown onto its back. As a result, Scutter's Revenge was initially eliminated from the Third Wars via knock-out, with Team Scutterbots being interviewed by Craig Charles immediately afterwards as the losing team.

However, Charles' post-battle interviews went unaired; after both teams returned to the pits, the Judges overturned the original result, ruling that Pussycat would be disqualified for using a hardened steel blade prohibited under the Robot Wars rules. As a result, Scutter's Revenge was deemed to have won, and progressed to the Series Semi-Finals. Team Scutterbots explained to Philippa Forrester afterwards that Scutter's Revenge became immobilised as a result of a battery problem, and stated that it would be ready to fight again within twenty minutes.

With the repairs completed, Scutter's Revenge appeared in the second Semi-Final, where it faced 101.

Scutter's revenge vs 101

Scutter's Revenge pushes 101

101 climbs over Scutter's Revenge

101 tries to drive over the side of Scutter's Revenge

At the start, the two robots drove towards each other and met in the centre of the arena, with Scutter's Revenge briefly getting underneath 101 and pushing it before the latter backed away. Scutter's Revenge scooped 101 up again and pursued it across the arena, eventually getting underneath 101 and pushing it around in circles as the latter momentarily drove up its side. It then hesitated as 101 drove around it, and appeared to slow down as Dead Metal and 101 both bumped and pushed it around in return. With its aerial having been bent down at some point, Scutter's Revenge struggled to move properly as it was pushed towards Shunt's CPZ by 101, but drove around in circles to escape. However, it soon lost mobility altogether following another shove from 101, before Shunt axed its scoop blade a few times.

101 pushes Scutter's Revenge

Scutter's Revenge, losing drive, is pushed towards Shunt's CPZ

Scutter's Revenge House Robots

Scutter's Revenge, immobilised and about to be attacked by the House Robots

"I don't know about you, but I think Scutter's Revenge is finished here, now."
— Jonathan Pearce as Scutter's Revenge is attacked by the House Robots following its immobilisation against 101

The now-immobile Scutter's Revenge was rammed from the side by 101, before Sir Killalot came in and pushed it into the wall near the flamethrowers. With this, it was finally eliminated from the Third Wars, and replaced for the Fourth Wars with Team Scutterbots' second robot, Spawn of Scutter.

"Well, trust anything called a Scutter not to clean up. They've been sent to Room 101!"
— Craig Charles delivers Red Dwarf and Nineteen Eighty-Four references as he announces Scutter's Revenge’s elimination

Results[]

SCUTTER'S REVENGE - RESULTS
Series 3
The Third Wars - UK Championship
Semi-Final, Round 1
Heat M, Round 1 vs. Zeus Won
Heat M, Round 2 vs. Thermador Won
Heat M, Final vs. Pussycat Won (by disqualification)
NOTE: Pussycat won the Heat Final, but was disqualified for using a "hardened steel blade" which shattered mid-battle. Scutter's Revenge was awarded victory by default.
Semi-Final 2, Round 1 vs. 101 Lost

Wins/Losses[]

  • Wins: 3
  • Losses: 1

Due to Pussycat's disqualification, Scutter's Revenge's Heat Final is counted as a win despite being immobile.

Series Record[]

Main Series Scutter's Revenge Series Record
The First Wars Did not enter
The Second Wars Did not enter
The Third Wars Semi-Finals, Round 1
The Fourth Wars Entered with Spawn of Scutter
The Fifth Wars Entered with Spawn Again
The Sixth Wars Entered with Spawn Again
The Seventh Wars Entered with Spawn Again
Series 8 Did not enter
Series 9 Did not enter
Series 10 Did not enter
Robot Wars Extreme Appearances
Series 1 Entered with Spawn Again
Series 2 Entered with Spawn Again

Outside Robot Wars[]

After Series 3, Scutter's Revenge was taken apart by Team Scutterbots and many of its parts went into its successor Spawn of Scutter. [5]

The shell was left at the then Ford Thameside training center, which later became CEME (Center for Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence) and has now closed down. [6] The shell's current whereabouts are unknown.

Appearances in Merchandise[]

Trivia[]

  • Scutter's Revenge was the only robot from Team Scutterbots which did not fight Razer at some point during its appearances.
  • It was also the only robot from Team Scutterbots not to lose a battle by getting pitted.
  • Scutter's Revenge was the first of Team Scutterbots' three robots to reach the Semi-Finals, with Spawn of Scutter and Spawn Again later reaching this stage in Series 4 and Series 5-6 respectively.
  • Following Scutter's Revenge's defeat to 101, Team Scutterbots stated that its successor would be called 'Son of Scutter'. However, this robot would ultimately be named 'Spawn of Scutter'.
  • Scutter's Revenge is one of three robots known to have been asked to have its name or design modified to avoid copyright issues by the producers, the other two being Toecutter and Ruf Ruf Dougal.

References[]

  1. Private correspondence between Toon Ganondorf and Oluremi Idris, July 2020
  2. Private correspondence between Toon Ganondorf and Oluremi Idris, July 2020
  3. Private correspondence between Toon Ganondorf and Oluremi Idris, July 2020
  4. Private correspondence between Toon Ganondorf and Oluremi Idris, July 2020
  5. Private correspondence between RobotManiac and Darren Hayden-Ball
  6. Private correspondence between Toon Ganondorf and Oluremi Idris

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