Robot Wars: Battling on

THE EVOLUTION OF ROBOT WARS

R/C ROBOT WARS
1994
A one-off live battle competition was held at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco and organised by Marc Thorpe of LucasToys following an idea he had in 1992 when trying to develop a robotic vacuum cleaner.

R/C ROBOT WARS
1995 to 1997
Due to the success of the event there were a further three live battles in America organised by Marc Thorpe.

ROBOT WARS
1998 to 2001
Mentorn acquired the UK TV rights and broadcast the battles on BBC2 hosted by Jeremy Clarkson for the first year, with host Craig Charles and pit-reporter Philippa Forrester taking over from the second year.

ROBOT WARS: CELEBRITY SPECIAL
2000
Over the Christmas period a special spinoff show was produced and aired on BBC1 hosted by Craig Charles joined by new pit-reporter Julia Reed, the celebrity 'roboteers' included the boyband 5ive, Eastenders's Natalie Cassidy and Adam Woodyatt, boxer Chris Eubank, presenter Shauna Lowry, Boyzone's Shane Lynch, comedian Vic Reeves and presenter Anthea Turner.

ROBOT WARS: EXTREME
2001
The first official Satellite TV spinoff show aired on BBC Choice and was hosted by Craig Charles accompanied by pit-reporter Julia Reed.

ROBOT WARS EXTREME WARRIORS
2001
To appeal to a trans-atlantic audience, Mentorn produced a spinoff series in the UK to be broadcast in America on the TNN network (later known as Spike TV) hosted by pro wrestler Mick Foley with American actress Rebecca Grant as pit-reporter.

ROBOT WARS
2001 to 2003
The main UK television show moved to BBC Choice on Satellite TV and was hosted by presenter Craig Charles with pit-reporter Julia Reed.

NICKELODEON ROBOT WARS
2002
Due to the success of Robot Wars Extreme Warriors in America, Mentorn produced an American series aimed at a younger audience and hosted by Dave Aizer, Nickelodeon Robot Wars was filmed in the UK in the same arena as the BBC series and broadcast on the now-defunct childrens' sports channel Nick GaS.

ROBOT WARS EXTREME WARRIORS
2002
The spinoff show had a second series broadcast in America on the TNN network hosted by wrestler Mick Foley and former 'Miss Kansas' Carol Grow as pit-reporter.

ROAMING ROBOTS
2002
Live arena battles featuring previous contestants of the television show started in Nottinghamshire and were organised by former Robot Wars contestant John Findlay.

ROBOT WARS EXTREME 2
2003
A second spinoff show aired on BBC Choice and was hosted by Craig Charles with the return of original pit-reporter Philippa Forrester, however the television shows Robot Wars and Robot Wars Extreme 2 were later cancelled following the rebranding of BBC Choice into BBC Three.

ROAMING ROBOTS
2003
Former 'roboteers' from the television show formed The Fighting Robot Association and John Findlay's live arena shows started to tour the UK and increased in popularity among fans of the show.

ROBOT WARS
2003 to 2004
The television show found a new home on Channel 5 in the UK with pit-reporter Jayne Middlemiss joining Craig Charles as presenter.

ROAMING ROBOTS
2004 to 2013
John Findlay's live arena shows continued to tour the UK and kept the phenomenon of Robot Wars alive following Channel 5's cancellation of the television show.

ROBOT WARS: BATTLING ON
2013
An official documentary was produced, chronicling the history of the Robot Wars television show and the live UK tour, it was narrated by Nathan Head.

ROBOT WARS
2013 to 2016
Roaming Robots was granted the licence to use the official brand name Robot Wars for the live arena tours in the UK organised by John Findlay and Trevor Bratty.

ROBOT WARS: BATTLE OF THE STARS
2016
Following the success of the live arena tours the television show was brought back as a celebrity special on BBC2 over Christmas, it was hosted by comedian Dara Ó Briain and pit-reporter Angela Scanlon, the competing celebrity 'roboteers' included radio DJs Scott Mills and Chris Stark, Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, triathlete Jonathan Alastair Brownlee, motorsport reporter Suzi Perry, Dallas Campbell, Rizzie Kicks's Jordan Stephens, paralympian Kadeena Coz, Footballer Robbie Savage and Archaeologist Neil Oliver.

ROBOT WARS
2016 to 2018
Following the success of the live arena tours the Robot Wars television show was revived, it aired on BBC2 and was hosted by comedian Dara Ó Briain and pit-reporter Angela Scanlon.

EXTREME ROBOTS
2017 to 2020
During the television revival former Robot Wars contestant John Findlay started a new tour of live battles across the UK under the new name Extreme Robots. The live tour was stopped due to the Covid-19 pandemic, when the UK Government put a ban on all public events and enforced restrictions on live performances.

EXTREME ROBOTS
2022 to present day
Former Robot Wars contestant John Findlay resumed a new tour of live battles across the UK under the previous name Extreme Robots.

For further information on Nathan Head’s professional credits, training, and full acting résumé, please explore the links below to view his Spotlight profile, IMDb page, and downloadable CV.