On 13 January 2016, the BBC confirmed that it would be rebooting the show for a six-part series.[12] On 3 February 2016, BBC Press Office confirmed via Twitter that Dara Ó Briain would host the new series, with Angela Scanlon serving as pit reporter and Jonathan Pearce returning as commentator.[13] In early July 2016, following the release of several "coming soon" trailers on air and online, it was announced it will return on 24 July at 8pm, the same slot as Top Gear. Some robots from the original series returned, including Storm II, Razer and Behemoth, as well as four of the original House Robots, which have been upgraded to be heavier, faster, better armed and with new looks.[14] The 2016 series was filmed in a warehouse at Westway Park in Renfrew, Scotland.[15]
The first episode received about 2 million viewers and was the top trending topic on Twitter with over 20,000 tweets.[16]
A second rebooted series was commissioned with a first celebrity special in 16 years, in which celebrities, such as Olympians Kadeena Cox and Alistar & Jonathan Brownlee, TV Presenters Suzi Perry, Neil Oliver, and Maggie Aderin-Pocock, singer Jordan Stevens, and radio presenters Scott Mills and Robbie Savage had bespoke robots designed for them by 8 major roboteers, who mentored them during the specials
DID YOU KNOW
Robot Wars was the brainchild of Marc Thorpe, a designer working for the LucasToys division of Lucasfilm.[8] In 1992, Thorpe had the initial idea for robot combat sport after unsuccessfully attempting to create a radio-controlled vacuum cleaner.[9] In 1994, Marc Thorpe created Robot Wars and held the first competition at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. Approximately one month prior to the event, Thorpe formed a partnership with New York-based record company Sm:)e Communications, later Profile Records, who provided additional funding.[8]
Between 1995 and 1997, three further Robot Wars events took place in America and, in 1995, Profile Records partnered with production company Mentorn to produce and televise a Robot Wars event in the UK. Mentorn acquired the worldwide television rights from Profile in 1995 after Tom Gutteridge (the head of Mentorn) had seen an amateur tape of a San Francisco event.