‘Robot Wars’ returns . . . bigger and more brutal

Robot Wars has made a triumphant return to television after 12 years.

The series, which was broadcast on the BBC from 1998 to 2003, then on Channel 5 until 2004, has been rebooted on BBC Two.

On social media, viewers have welcomed its return, saying the first episode was an “amazing” comeback.

The series, which is filling the Sunday night slot vacated by Top Gear, has followed the old format of teams of engineers doing battle against other robots and house robots in a special arena.

Forty teams will battle it out over six episodes to become Robot Wars Champion 2016.

While the format is the same, Dara Ó Briain and Angela Scanlon have taken over hosting duties from Craig Charles and Philippa Forrester, the programme's most famous presenting team.

The robots have also changed as technology has advanced.

“The house robots are ‘descendants’ of the original show and have been evolved and upgraded to modern-day standards – bigger, stronger and more brutal than ever before,” said the BBC.

According to Ó Briain, the house robots “grip harder than they used to, they smash further, they move quicker, they are terrifyingly bigger and heavier than the first time round. But then, aren’t we all?”

Robot Wars is known for its devoted fans and Scanlon admitted they do not want to “mess it up”.

“Since the announcement that Robot Wars was returning, people are genuinely excited for it coming back,” she said.

“Fans aren’t like, ‘Oh it’s just another reboot’ but ‘Oh my God we’ve been waiting for this for 15 years and literally cannot wait!”’

The revamped show received positive reviews online, with many Twitter users saying it was even better than they had remembered.

“So pleased that #RobotWars is as good as I was hoping. Was really worried it wouldn’t live up to expectations.”

Another said: “Its flashy, its bashy, its all that was great about the original UKRobotWars and more.”

PA