Robot Wars (TV series)
Robot Wars is a robot combat competition that was broadcast on British television from 1998 to 2004 and from 2016 to 2018. Each series involves teams of amateur and professional roboteers operating their own constructed remote controlled robots to fight against each other in an arena formed of steel and bullet proof glass fitted with arena hazards and containing areas occupied by hostile and heavier "House Robots". Earlier series included assault and trial courses for competing robots.
The original version of the show was broadcast on BBC Two from 20 February 1998 to 23 February 2001, on BBC Choice from 8 October 2001 to 7 February 2003 and on Channel 5 from 2 November 2003 to 28 March 2004. A revival was broadcast on BBC Two from 24 July 2016 to 7 January 2018. To date, the show has been broadcast as 10 main series each centred around a single competition, two "Extreme" series with several unconnected events and several special episodes.
Jeremy Clarkson presented the first series, with Craig Charles taking over for the second to seventh series. Philippa Forrester co-hosted the first three series, the fifth, sixth and Extreme 2. Forrester also hosted the spin-off series Robot Wars Revealed from 1998 to 1999. The fourth series and Extreme 1 were co-hosted by Julia Reed and the seventh by Jayne Middlemiss. The revived series were hosted by Dara Ó Briain and Angela Scanlon. Jonathan Pearce provided commentary for all series.
Additional series were filmed at the UK venue for specific sectors of the global market, including two series of Robot Wars Extreme Warriors with American competitors for the TNN network, two of Dutch Robot Wars for distribution in the Netherlands and a single series for Germany. The fourth series of the UK Robot Wars was shown in the US on TNN as Robot Wars: Grand Champions in 2002 and hosted by Joanie Laurer.
Its merchandising was commercially successful, being one of the most popular selling toy ranges in 2002 produced by Logistix Kids. It included a mini arena, pullback, friction and ripcord toys and radio-controlled versions of the House Robots.
In 2003, the roboteers themselves formed The Fighting Robot Association and with their associated event organizers, carry on participating in competitions for new audiences. In 2013, Roaming Robots purchased the rights to the Robot Wars brand from Robot Wars LLC and operated their travelling robotic combat show under that name. The use of the name Robot Wars for live shows ceased in early 2017, being renamed Extreme Robots.
With a peak audience of six million viewers in the UK during the late 1990s, the format went on to become a worldwide success, showing in 45 countries including the US, Australia, Canada, China, India, Germany and Italy. In March 2003, it was dropped by BBC Two after eight series and Mentorn announced it was making 22 episodes for Channel 5, concluding with The Third World Championships broadcast in March 2004. Channel 5 later axed the show after one series due to low ratings.
In July 2016, the show returned to BBC Two with a new arena, house robots and presenters. The first episode was well received becoming the top trending topic on Twitter that evening and having two million viewers, more than the last episode of the 23rd series of Top Gear in the same 8pm Sunday slot just a few weeks earlier. The revived show ran for three series, before it ended in March 2018.
History
US Robot Wars events
Robot Wars was the brainchild of Marc Thorpe, a designer working for the LucasToys division of Lucasfilm. In 1992, Thorpe had the initial idea for robot combat sport after unsuccessfully attempting to create a radio-controlled vacuum cleaner. 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.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 had seen an amateur tape of a San Francisco event.
Original television series
Gutteridge and one of his producers Steve Carsey created a television format based on the Robot Wars concept. They produced a live event opposite BBC Television Centre in Wood Lane, Shepherd's Bush, London and hired Derek Foxwell to build 3 combat robots, 2 of which were named The Mouse and Grunt who would eventually take part in the first UK series of Robot Wars, to take on three American robots, Thor, La Machine and The Master, all of which were veterans of the original American competition. The Controller of BBC Two, Michael Jackson, attended the event, which was not filmed and he promised to commission a series. However, it was not until 1998 that a subsequent Controller of BBC Two, Mark Thompson, fulfilled Jackson's promise and actually commissioned 6 episodes. Gutteridge and Carsey were producers and Foxwell was the technical supervisor and senior technical consultant. He drafted the rules and regulations and was in charge of the pit area and the technical team, which scrutinised the robots, got them on and off stage and helped the contestants prepare and repair their robots. Mat Irvine, initially a member of the technical team, served as a member of the judging panel in 2002 and 2003.The three person judging panel consisted of Noel Sharkey, Eric Dickinson, Adam Harper, Martin Smith, Myra Wilson, Mat Irvine, Sethu Vijayakumar and .
Profile sought no input or consent from Thorpe before doing this and this aggravated the already troubled relationship between Thorpe and Profile Records and indirectly spurred legal disagreements surrounding the ownership of the Robot Wars concept. The legal proceedings surrounding these would last until 6 February 2002. Mentorn used Thorpe as a Consultant on the series, however and the initial series of Robot Wars in the UK was broadcast over six weeks in February and March 1998. It was an immediate hit, with more than two million viewers and a further 18 episodes were commissioned by the BBC that year. 155 episodes were produced in total and the show was seen in 26 countries. Two series were produced in the US for The National Network and a version was also shown on Nickelodeon. TechTV in the US aired the UK series proper. Series were also produced in many European countries. Although the series had various directors and producers, all were produced in the UK by Mentorn and executive produced by Tom Gutteridge and Steve Carsey. The initial series were staged in various film studios around London but the stage and pit area became too large to fit into any of the conventional studios, so filming was later moved to an aircraft hangar at RAF Newton.
Viewing figures dropped significantly in the early 2000s, reaching only 1.2 million in the sixth series - the final to be broadcast on BBC Two. Following its move to Channel 5 in November 2003, the show first began airing in a new Sunday night slot and launched with one million viewers; however ratings fell quickly to 800,000 resulting in the show moving to Saturday nights after just three episodes. After Robot Wars ended, an edited half hour version of this series aired on Fox Kids from 2004.
Revival
On 13 January 2016, the BBC confirmed that it would be rebooting the show for a six-part series. The revived series was hosted by Dara Ó Briain and Angela Scanlon with Jonathan Pearce returning as commentator. The first episode was broadcast on 24 July at 8pm, the same slot as Top Gear. Some robots from the original series returned, including Behemoth and Storm II, as well as four of the original House Robots, which were upgraded to be heavier, faster, better armed and with new looks. The 2016 series was filmed in a warehouse at Westway Park in Renfrew, Scotland.The first episode received about two million viewers and was the top trending topic on Twitter with over 20,000 tweets.
A second rebooted series was commissioned with a first celebrity special in 16 years, in which celebrities, such as Olympians Kadeena Cox and Alistair Brownlee and Jonny 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 eight major roboteers, who mentored them during the specials.
During its original airing, the first rebooted series was sometimes referred to as 'Series 1', presenting itself as a completely new show. Starting in 2017, however, the BBC began referring to it as Series 8, with the following second series appropriately dubbed Series 9, acknowledging itself as a continuation of the original show. Following the 10th series, it was revealed that the BBC had decided not to renew the show for an 11th, and Robot Wars was cancelled for the second time, to much criticism from fans.
Battle rules
A robot could lose a match in several ways during the knockout format of the show:- Immobilisation: A robot that is unable to move is counted out. In the original series 30 seconds of immobility were necessary, in later series this was reduced to 10 seconds.
- Pit: One of the arena hazards is the pit of oblivion, a large square hole in the arena. A robot that falls or is pushed into this is eliminated.
- Removal from arena: If a robot is ejected from the arena — typically by the flipper of an opponent, it is eliminated. In the original series the perimeter of the arena was a short barrier, in later series the wall was higher, making this type of elimination harder. In the rebooted series, only certain areas of the arena were not fully walled off. This meant that removal from the arena was only practical in certain areas.
- If none of the above conditions were satisfied, a panel of three judges scored the competitors on style, control, damage and aggression.
Format
Domestic
Extreme
There were also two series made for the UK, Robot Wars Extreme, which did not focus on a single championship.| Extreme 1 and 2 Events | These tournaments and themed battles continued over the entire series |
| All-Star Tournament | Knockout tournament featuring the most well-known competitors. |
| Annihilator | Six-way battles with one robot eliminated per round. |
| Challenge Belt | Where robots would try to defend their honour for the challenge belt. |
| Mayhems | Three-way battles to progress to the series annihilators. |
| Tag Team Terror | Two robots team up and fight tag-team style. |
| Vengeance Battle | This allowed robots with unfinished business or grudges to settle things once and for all. |
| Wildcard Warriors | Newcomers take on established robots. |
| Extreme 2 Added Events | This series followed one theme over each episode |
| New Blood | A new robot tournament. |
| Iron Maidens | Women took control. |
| Minor Meltdown | Children took control. |
| Robot Rampage | A tournament with robots in lower weight classes such as antweight, featherweight, lightweight and middleweight. |
| University Challenge | All robots were entered by Universities. |
| Commonwealth Carnage | All robots were from teams based in the Commonwealth. |
| European Championship | All robots were from teams based in Europe. |
Presenters
The first series of Robot Wars was presented by Jeremy Clarkson and co-hosted by Philippa Forrester. In keeping with his edgy persona established on Top Gear, Clarkson frequently made tongue-in-cheek jokes about competitors and their robots, such as remarking that a contestant robot called "Skarab" looked like "cheese on toast".Clarkson left Robot Wars after the first series and was replaced with Craig Charles. Charles, well known as playing the character Dave Lister in the science fiction-themed sitcom Red Dwarf, was seen as taking the programme and its contestants more seriously than Clarkson and was more enthusiastic while presenting it. Charles would close each episode with a four line poem ending with the words "Robot Wars". Charles presented Robot Wars until it ceased production in 2004.
In comparison to Charles' background in science fiction, Philippa Forrester was best known as co-host of the science and technology programme Tomorrow's World. Her role on Robot Wars was as the pit reporter who would speak to contestants about their robots before and after battles. Forrester was pit reporter for six of the show's nine series; Julia Reed took the role for Series 4 and Extreme 1 since Forrester was unable to participate in the programme due to pregnancy, but Forrester returned for Series 5, Series 6 and Extreme 2. When the programme moved to Channel 5 for the seventh series, Forrester did not return for unknown reasons, so Jayne Middlemiss took over the pit reporter duties.
Jonathan Pearce was the show's commentator throughout its entire run, becoming one of only two people to appear in every episode of the programme; he commentated in the same loud and enthusiastic manner as his football commentaries. The programme was well known for phrases such as "Roboteers, stand by", "3. 2. 1. Activate" and "Cease!". These phrases were announced by the director, Stuart McDonald and became a recognisable part of the series for the entire duration of its run.
In 2016, Dara Ó Briain and Angela Scanlon were announced as the hosts of the eighth series, with Jonathan Pearce returning as commentator. They reprised their roles in the ninth and tenth series.
House robots
Throughout the series, house robots acted as obstacles to competing robots in battles and challenges. House robots were permitted to attack robots that were in the Corner Patrol Zones at the corners of the arena or upon the submission of a competing robot. The house robots were an intrinsic part of the programme's success and merchandising of these robots was highly successful. Furthermore, the house robots were not subject to the weight limit or weapon rules that contestant robots had to adhere to, the most notable example of this was Sergeant Bash's flamethrower.From the Fourth Wars, a non-competitive "Refbot" was present during fights. This robot conveyed officiating signals on the arena, gave occasional nudges to help battles along and could deploy a fire extinguisher where necessary.
For Series 8, new versions of Matilda, Shunt, Dead Metal and Sir Killalot were constructed. They are considerably heavier with improved weaponry. All the house robots are over in weight and Sir Killalot now weighs. Visually, all four look similar to their predecessors, but with significant differences: Dead Metal's head has been enlarged with glowing eyes, Matilda's back-mounted fins have been replaced with smaller crocodilian scales, spikes appear on her frill, her eyes are now red and her whole head section now flips up; Shunt has enlarged wheel protectors and metal chimneys replacing the smokestack; and Sir Killalot's armour and helmet has been entirely redesigned. This was said to be to show the actual shape of Sir Killalot's head, rather than the helmet he is wearing. The other house robots did not return for this series.
Bold text indicates house robots that returned for the new series.
| House robot | First competed | Weight kg | Speed km/h | Height cm | Length cm | Width cm | Power | Weaponry | Strengths | Weakness | Method |
| Cassius Chrome | Seventh War | 2x24V magnetic drive motors | Two rotary driven interchangeable "fists" and front shovel. | Fastest house robot | Requires attack time, high ground clearance | High speed ramming | |||||
| Dead Metal | First War | | Battery driven motors | CO2 power driven 1.4m wide pincers with grip and 4000rpm magnesium circular saw which spins at | Synergy of weapons | Poor manoeuvrability | Grabbing a competitor robot and engaging the saw | ||||
| Growler | Sixth War | Six batteries and two electric motors | front jaws; occasionally active rear-mounted flamethrower | Speed and sheer destructive power | Unpredictable | Grabs with jaws to push | |||||
| Matilda | First War | | Battery driven engine | pneumatic tusks that can lift and vertical Hardox flywheel spinning 25 times per second; formerly a chainsaw tail | Tough exo-skeleton | Lacks self-control | Lifts with tusks or hits with rear weapon | ||||
| Mr. Psycho | Sixth War | 12 batteries | hammer and grabbing claw of force | Biggest and tallest house robot | Disabled power source | Hammer strike or claw grab | |||||
| Refbot | Fourth War | Battery power | Front and rear scoops; electric countout; fire extinguisher and coloured card lights | Non-competitive | Non-competitive | N/A | |||||
| Sergeant Bash | First War | Four Batteries | Propane fueled flamethrower and front hydraulic pincers ; ramming spike and rear grinding disc in S1-2. | Long-range weaponry | Limited fuel capacity | Engage flamethrower or grabbing with jaws | |||||
| Shunt | First War | | Prototype electric motor | Rear ramming plough, Front lifting scoop that can lift and titanium-tipped axe that can strike at the speed of 0.25 seconds | High pushing power | Lightest and has no side self-righting mechanisms | Hit with axe or push | ||||
| Sir Killalot | Second War | | Petrol engine | Hydraulic claws with of crush force and rotating drill lance ; non-rotating spike lance for S2 | Heavy with powerful weaponry | Unpredictable | Spike with lance / grab with claw |
Arena and hazards
Arenas
There were numerous arena incarnations used during the original run of Robot Wars on the BBC. These arenas were also used by international versions such as Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors in the United States. The arena was approximately. For Series 1 to 3 the arena was not enclosed as such, as the audience were raised above the arena. The increasing sophistication of weaponry from contestant robots - most notably demonstrated by Hypno-Disc in Series 3 - as well as arena hazards prompted producers to enclose the arena entirely in a perspex box high from Series 4 onwards, to protect the audience and production team from debris.In early 2004, the Robot Wars arena was purchased from the television production firm Mentorn by a company called Robot Arenas Ltd., based in the UK, an organization set up by a past competitor in Robot Wars to continue the sport of robot combat in the UK. The arena - valued originally at £11,000 - was sold for scrap in 2005 for £250 by the new owners of the former RAF Newton air base, where the arena was housed. A suit filed against RAF Newton by Robot Arenas Ltd. found that RAF Newton had acted reasonably in the matter and owed no compensation to Robot Arenas Ltd.
In 2016, a new arena was constructed in a warehouse in Renfrew, on the outskirts of Glasgow, for use in the rebooted series. This arena is square, with a steel floor and higher bulletproof walls, making it harder for robots to be thrown out of the arena.
Hazards
Throughout Robot Wars' run, arena hazards were introduced and amended. Generally, hazards which proved ineffective were omitted in later series, however some hazards proved to be a success and were retained. The assorted hazards in the arena that changed from one series the next included:- Arena Sidebars - The First Wars Only - These were parts of the arena side fence that were on the floor. These trapped robots and potentially immobilised them if they could not drive off.
- The Patrol Zone/PZ - The First Wars only - Four large squares in the corners of the arena marked with striped tape, each occupied by one House Robot and a hazard. Once a competitor robot entered one of these zones, it was open to attack by the House Robot within. The Patrol Zones were much like the CPZ's that appeared in later series but were much larger.
- Floor grilles - The First Wars Only - Grille floor panels that, like the arena sidebars mentioned above, were designed to trap robots and not allow them to drive off. Proved much more effective than the sidebars.
- Floor spikes - The First Wars to The Third Wars and Series 8 onwards - These were pneumatic spikes located in several positions on the arena floor that came up whenever a robot drove over them. They trapped robots and on occasion flipped them. They were removed for Series 4 after causing many upsets during The Third Wars, where robots currently winning battles would be overturned and then lose. This most notably happened during Heat B when Behemoth was flipped, could not self-right and its opponent Pitbull won by default. For Series 8, a group of five large spikes forms one of the four main hazards of the arena. They are powerful and large enough to lift and trap robots for a brief moment, but are not as fast as their predecessors. In theory, this will avoid the sort of upsets seen in Series 3. One spike 'hole' is capable of emitting sparks.
- The Perimeter Patrol Zones - The Second Wars only – A narrow band around the perimeter of the arena that replaced the Patrol Zones. A competitor robot that entered this area was open to attack by any or all of the House Robots stationed there.
- The Side Patrol Zones - The Second Wars to The Fourth Wars - the House Robots guard three tyre targets in the sides of the arena during the Pinball Warrior Tournament.
- The Pit of Oblivion - The Second Wars onwards - Arguably the arena's most iconic feature, this was a square hole in the arena floor, painted black on the inside and partially filled with old tyres. If a robot drove, fell, or was pushed into the Pit, it would be instantly eliminated. In The Second Wars, pits were added to both lanes of The Gauntlet. For The Third Wars the Pit was open during the first two rounds of each heat, then covered during the heat final and following matches. In The Fourth Wars, the Pit was redesigned, with a yellow-and-black chevron-tape outline and was covered until halfway into a battle, whereupon it would "descend". From its very first appearance in The Second Wars, the Pit included a small pyrotechnic "explosion" that formed a large ball of white smoke. This would activate when a robot fell into the Pit, primarily used to show that a competitor had fallen in. This was changed to a small firework explosion for The Third Wars but the smoke returned for The Fourth Wars and remained until the end. From Extreme 1 onwards there was a device on the arena wall that competitor or house robots could use to activate the pit opening. In Extreme and The Fifth Wars that device was a tyre. For The Sixth Wars the tyre was replaced by a metal bumper. The tyre returned in Extreme 2 and remained for the remainder of the shows' run. The pit was enlarged and given an LED decoration on the inside for the eighth series, with the pyrotechnic no longer used. Since Series 9, the pyrotechnics have returned to the Pit.
- Flame Pit - The Second Wars onwards - A large square grill located close to the right bottom corner of the arena. Used to set fire to flammable robots and damage electronics. For the eighth series, this was moved to the upper left corner of the arena.
- The Corner Patrol Zones - The Third Wars onwards - the House Robots were now confined to the four corners of the arena much like in The First Wars. Which house robot was used in which battle was defined by a rota system but would also sometimes depend on if a house robot was being repaired. In The Fourth Wars, the house robots switched to a rota system of Shunt, Matilda, Sgt. Bash and Dead Metal. Sir Killalot consistently appeared every round excepting battles 3 & 4 of the War of Independence when the original 4 house robots occupy all the CPZs. From The Fifth Wars and Extreme 1 onwards only two house robots were allowed in the arena at a time and this moved in a rota through all of the machines. However some House Robots did not appear in a show or on some occasions missed several shows before making an appearance. For Series 8, the CPZs are larger and L-shaped. The house robots no longer attack competitors who enter any CPZ, but stick to guarding their own.
- The Floor Flipper - The Third Wars onwards - A powerful pneumatic flipper set into the floor, capable of throwing a robot across the arena. It was generally only used on robots that had already been defeated, but was occasionally fired during events such as the House Robot Rebellion. When originally introduced, it just looked like a part of the arena floor. For The Fourth Wars the flipper was given a yellow/black paint scheme similar to the redesigned Pit of Oblivion. For Extreme 1/Series 5 the power of the flipper increased, allowing it to hurl even the heaviest robots into the air and flip featherweight robots out of the arena. For Series 8, this is no longer used as a coup de grace for defeated robots, but fires independently during a fight. It is positioned diagonally on the floor and is capable not only of launching robots into the air but also trapping robots as it closes.
- Angle Grinders - The Third Wars and Extreme 1 to The Seventh Wars - Abrasive grinding wheels built into the arena railings. The grinders were replaced with small pneumatic spikes in The Fourth Wars but brought back from Extreme 1 onwards.
- Pneumatic Spikes - The Fourth Wars only - As mentioned above, they replaced the Angle Grinders but proved ineffective so were omitted after one series.
- CO2 geysers - The Fifth Wars and Extreme 1 onwards - High pressure CO2 outlets designed to cause internal damage to robots, but were more useful for extinguishing fires.
- The Drop Zone - The Fifth Wars and Extreme 1 to The Seventh Wars - A square on the arena floor where heavy objects fell from the top of the arena. Like the Floor Flipper, it was only used robots that were already immobile. It first appeared in Series 6 and Extreme 2, although the spot where the object would fall, a black square with a yellow 'X' shape across it, first appeared in The Fifth Wars and Extreme 1. Viewers did not know the purpose of this at the time. It is believed it was due to be used in Extreme 1 but technical difficulties meant it was abandoned.
- The Disc of Doom - The Sixth Wars and Extreme 2 only - A circular spinning panel set into the arena floor activated by a buffer similar to the pit release. This hazard was used to disrupt a robot's driving and worked well on lighter competitors, but proved ineffective against Heavyweight robots. It first appeared in both The Sixth Wars and Extreme 2 but was removed for The Seventh Wars to be replaced by The Dial of Doom in the near future.
- The Dial of Doom/Doom Dial - Series 9 to Series 10. A dial that will activate when the arena tyre is pressed. If the dial swings left, it will open up the pit and if the dial swings right, it will activate "Rogue House Robot" which allows a house robot to leave the CPZ and attack a competitor robot for up to 10 seconds. Additionally, from the Tenth Wars, swinging right may trigger "The Fog of War" in which the arena is filled with CO2 for 10 seconds, obscuring the robots from view.
Competitors and results
- Note: After THE BASH was found to be irreparable in the World Series after its first and only battle, it was directly replaced by Tough As Nails.
Merchandise
Toys (from Logistix Kids & Hexbug)
Pullback and friction toys were made of all the House Robots, with the exception of Cassius Chrome as the toys from Logistix Kids had stopped production when it was introduced for The Seventh Wars and the toys would have resumed production by Series 8, 9 or 10 but this did not happen until Hexbug did so rather late in 2018. There were also pullback and ripcord toys of Chaos 2, Dantomkia, Firestorm, Hypno-Disc, Panic Attack, Pussycat, Razer, Stinger, Tornado, Wheely Big Cheese and X-Terminator 2. Each came with an accessory.There were remote controlled versions of Shunt, Matilda, Sir Killalot and Growler. There were also smaller remote control battlers, which had "immobilisation spots" on the rear of the toy. Sgt. Bash and the competitor robot Tornado were the only two made. These were smaller than the other remote control robots mentioned above.
There were customisable kit toys of the House Robot Matilda and competitors Hypno-Disc and Panic Attack. A Sergeant Bash pitstop kit was prototyped but never released.
Minibots were a series of small die-cast replica robots. The range included all of the Series 4, 5 and Extreme 1 House Robots along with competitor robots Chaos 2, Dominator 2, Firestorm III, Gemini, Hypno-Disc, Mega Morg, Panic Attack, Plunderbird 5, Pussycat, Razer, Suicidal Tendencies, Tornado, Wheely Big Cheese, Wild Thing and X-Terminator 2. They had an interactive replica arena and two additional playsets.
Home media
Several VHS videos were released of the show. These included "The First Great War" a look at the making of Series 1, "The First World Championship" which was released exclusively on video and the "Ultimate Warrior Collection" featuring exclusive access to the teams of Chaos 2, Hypno-Disc and Razer, along with footage of their battles. Along the same lines an "Ultimate Archive Collection" was released showing exclusive footage of the House Robots and their operators along with some of their greatest battles and most embarrassing moments.The Ultimate Warrior Collection and Ultimate Archive Collection were also released on DVD. The footage and content remained the same as the VHS releases. Series 8 was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 29 August 2016, making it the first full series of Robot Wars to be released on home media. It was later released digitally. The Complete Compendium 2017 contained Series 9 and 10, along with the "Battle of the Stars" specials, were released on 11 December 2017 as a 5-disc DVD box set.