Activate! The Robot Wars Podcast

Ever wonder what would happen if you attached some spikes to a wheelchair and made it run into another spike-equipped wheelchair? Does the answer even matter? After all, I hear a Plunderstorm is coming...

They say war cares for no man, woman, or child, and Heat J of Robot Wars Series 2 is here to prove that point. This episode features explosive barrels, a tug-of-war, and a 100% fool-proof self-righting mechanism.

Welcome to the first of infinite episodes of Sir K and friends. This week guest starring Prometheus, who is going to show the world what he's best at - stealing fire and getting all hell for it.

In this episode of The Twilight Zone, Benji and Rob are trapped on Gamma 9 - The planet where robots fight each other in identical battles, repeating for all eternity.

This episode features Cassius, the pacifist robot that murders everything. We cried when they killed off Sir Killalot. RIP Sir K, all hail king Groundhog. Also guest starring: Wizard had that screams at you.

Racism bad. Crushing children's dreams bad. Fixed results bad. Episode bad. Back to BattleBots next time...

Featuring a much anticipated main event in which Voodoo Practitioner faces off against the Abominable Snowman, that goes pretty much as one would imagine. Guest starring 'Kid', the international champion.

For the first time ever we enter a whole new world. The debut of Activate! Podcast reviewing BattleBots has finally arrived. Did we love it? Did we hate it? Did we spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to view it from the UK? The answer to all those questions can be found in the episode and it is 'maybe'.

For the first time ever we bring you a double feature to Activate! We discuss the cancellation of Robot Wars with YOU, the public, through the magic of Twitter. Do we hate the BBC for axing the wars? No.. but they are dead to us. Just in case the subject matter was getting too depressing, we review a classic episode in Series 2 Heat F. Unfortunately for us, this is somehow even worse.

Three long months after it finished airing - we're finally looking back at the whole of series 10 with a much more simplified Hall of Fame and awards system because nobody really cared about 90% of the awards we were giving out before anyway... To make up the time we've now introduced a Q&A section to the series overview episodes and boy have we got some interesting questions from the world wide robot web!

The entire rest of the world are back with a vengeance after being humiliated by the UK. Thank God this time they have the absolute greatest the planet has to offer and are in no way in any kind of disadvantaged position going into this totally fair competition.

We're back for 2018, and so is Diotoir. The UK take on the Rest of the World (AKA Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal) with nothing but pride on the line. Which is a good thing because if there was money involved here there would probably be a lawsuit.

That's it. The best episode of Robot Wars ever produced. Now what?... We have to continue this podcast knowing that everything else will pale in comparison. 6/5 Stars would review again.

Whoever wins... we lose... our minds at how awesome these bots are! The final heat for Season X has some heavy hitters (and not so heavy, gentle nudgers)going head to head in the last chance to make it to the grand final for the honour of being annihilated by Carbide!

The 2nd annual Robot Wars competition brings with it incredible innovation via bots such as The Master, La Machine and Thor. It also features a challenge for the viewers: who can watch the entirety of the superlightweight (featherweight) division without falling asleep?

Craziest episode yet? You may even say it's... nuts...2. Bonus points to whoever can count how many name variants we use to refer to Androne 4000.

The age old tale that proves no matter how many children you have, the purity of money always wins in the end. Ever wondered what would happen if giant chattering teeth had to fight a mobile battleaxe?! Then go elsewhere because you don't see that in this episode.

Spooky, Scary Gabriel 2 battles Eater-Of-Souls Carbide in one of the greatest matches in modern robot combat history. Only 2 episodes into Season X and the carnage is off the charts.

The first episode of Season X has arrived and rewarded our patience with total mayhem. Sleeping giant Behemoth has risen to the occasion and given us one of the greatest battles of their entire roboteering career and one of the most intense flipper vs flipper matches of all time. A whole new format along with polished presentation makes this one of the most enjoyable episodes we've seen so far.

Beware! A presence haunts the arena this night and takes possession of numerous bots, well... mainly Shunt, and does a pretty Shunt job of it too. Featuring the return of Killertron (now in offensively fluorescent orange) and the very first King of the Castle event (aka Sumo in hard mode).

The episode the world has been waiting for. Yes, Elvis has returned. The King is back... again... and he lifts (50kg). How will the mighty Elvis perform against the other big returnee: The Bodyhammer. The highly-upgraded runner up has a new, handle-less, pointed hammer working in conjunction with a deadly flat-piece-of-steel-shaped-into-a-disk-with-sharp-edges-hammer. Also, Razer is there.

We take a few moments to have a chat with Alex Brown (TR3) about his second upcoming charity auction in aid of Ty Cariad Africa. Please follow RobotWarsTR2 on Facebook and @TR2_Robot on Twitter for the full release schedule. Don't miss out!

How does series two/nine/2017(pt.1) stack up? Already over for another (half) year, it's time to induct some high-performing machines into the prestigious Activate! Hall of Flame. Also featuring the Hall of Fame ceremony and other fantastically named awards, such as 'Most Fun'. Because we're creative.

Time to crown the champions of 2017! Six bots will fight it out for the grandest prize of them all: an induction into the Activate! Podcast Hall of Fame. Oh, and there's a trophy too.

Step into your time machines because it's time to visit the very first Robot Wars. Held in San Francisco in August of 1994, we take a look at the few surviving pieces of video footage from the event.

The rematch of the year. Can Apollo defend their title with the mighty runners up Carbide hot on their tail? ...Probably not.

Robot Wars 2017 Heat D: There is No Justice Without Spin by Activate! The Robot Wars Podcast

Concussion /kənˈkʌʃən/ noun 1. a jarring of the motor, caused by a spinning drum, usually resulting in loss of drive.

Battles of biblical proportion fill this episode of Robot Wars, with floods of controversy to match! What wins, an angel, or a really cool paint job? There's only one way to find out...

Back with an all new series for 2017! New and old bots are ready and waiting to get involved with all out destruction. This episode features a robot made out of money as well as a machine plucked from a 4 year old's art book. Let's review!

Third time lucky for series 2 of Robot Wars with the least dodgy episode yet! Four returning robots are joined by 2 newcomers to be systematically annihilated by Mortis. Craig Charles is also there.

Featuring less controversy and a considerably more boring trial, series 2 advances another machine to the semi final which is absolutely not fixed no it is not fixed it is a fair competition mate.

We sit down with Alex Brown to chat about all things bot!

Ah, December 28th/29th, the days that celebrities and robots celebrate Christmas, a magical time of year. It's time to find out which celebrity would make the best roboteer! As long as being a roboteer requires not having to build a robot yourself.

Now offering a whopping 15 episode season, Robot Wars came back for another series bigger and better than before (not that that's a difficult task to begin with). Rob and Benji take a look at the first heat with the debuting Sir Killalot and the all new totally-not-fixed-100%-fair-competition system made specially for this new series!

The end of the brief but certainly noteworthy (if not for all the right reasons) Clarkson Era of Robot Wars. Benji and Rob look at the original 1998 season as a whole and who'd have thought? It turns out Robot Wars improved drastically over the years!

Also known as that one episode where all the robots start playing Hungry Hungry Hippos and nobody is quite sure why. Ends with a totally fair and completely thrilling Grand Final to decide the very first champion of Robot Wars.

Featuring the classic Cone-Head from Silent Hill along with star of 50s sci-fi B-movie Psychosprout, this episode has one of the oddest line-ups of any heat.

An audio guide on how to absolutely not stand a chance in the grand final of Robot Wars. 6 tiny robots compete for a chance to be completely destroyed by machines 5 times their size, what an amazing prize!

Robot Wars 2016, the big return... is no longer a part of the present or future. It's over, it's done, war is over (for a year). Rob and Benji take a look at the series as a whole and give out a number of awards, including the coveted John Cena Never Give Up Award all the bots were brutally fighting for this year!

The end of the road for Robot Wars 2016! With the grand prize of a giant drill bit on the line, you know each and every team will be giving it their all!

The penultimate episode of the new series has arrived and we now discover who our finalists are (with the exception of the Thor. Sorry, I meant 'wildcard' ;) ;) ). Possibly the most controversial episode of the series so far, Rob and Benji try to make sense of the insanity before them. Also Pulsar is scary sound. Big loud scary sound.

Finally we can be thankful that the production team installed a camera onto the ISS, with all the robots finding their way into orbit this episode. Known as 'Heat D for Death', half of the robots this episode claim to have some of the most powerful bot-weapons in the world... let's see how they do.

The third heat of the new season, marking the halfway point. Ever think it would be a good idea to enter a petrol-driven wooden machine in a flame-heavy, destruction oriented fight to the death? No? Well, Overdozer Orte know by now.

Eight more mighty machines duke it out for a place in the Grand Final. Will Thor's mighty hammer send Shockwaves across the Foxic environment of the arena? Or will something something M.R. Speed Squared pun? There's only one way to find out...

It's back! In new and shiny HD. It's time to find out which competitive robotics team make the best sausage rolls. I'll give you a clue: it's Razor.

Also known as the episode where robots played football that one time and it wasn't very good. Featuring a robot with no weapons at all, numerous robots that needn't have bothered with weapons in the first place, and a robot that nearly explodes when nervous, which happens to be a lot.

The second set of robots go head to head in one of the more feel-good episodes of the series. Featuring robots from Cambridge University's fierce machine Mortis, to the only lightly-prodding weapon featured so far on the most definitely not remotely mighty Leighbot. Who can come out on top?!

The first time the nation was gripped by metal things hitting each other, occasionally at great speed. How does the now near two-decade old 'First Great War' stack up in the age of HD and phones doing our thinking for us?