The Robot Wars revival has been curtailed after three series. The BBC Two show has been axed in order to create room for new shows.
In a tweet on Friday, the official Robot Wars account confirmed the Beeb had decided to drop the beloved game show, which officially came to fore in the 1990s.
The show returned in 2016 following online campaigns from fans demanding the Beeb #BringBackRobotWars.
Robot Wars was originally canned in 2004 after 12 successful years of homegrown battle bots going up against house robots like Sir Killalot.
It returned in 2016 hosted by Angela Scanlon and Dara Ó Briain. It featured a new breed of bots, many based on microboards like the Raspberry Pi.
Sad to confirm the BBC’s decision to de-activate our House Robots. A huge thank you to Dara & Angela, our brilliant judges Noel, Lucy & Sethu, all of the amazing teams and most of all…you for joining us on this amazing robot smashing adventure. #BringBackRobotWars #RobotWars
— Robot Wars (@UKRobotWars) March 16, 2018
The BBC said it was “proud” of the efforts, but confirmed it will not be renewing the show for a new season (via Digital Spy).
We are very proud of #RobotWars and would like to thank @MentornMedia, the presenters @DaraOBriain and @AngelaScanlon, and all those involved in the last three series. However, in order to create room for new shows it won't be returning to @BBCTwo.
— BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) March 16, 2018
Fans of the show are understandably disappointed with the decision.
@FlagCaptured wrote on Twitter: “This is a real disappointment, to the many fans to us roboteers and to the team behind the show. It’s a show that encourages STEM involvement and is the starting point for many an engineer of the future. I’ve got no words other than expressing just how much of a mistake this is.”
We’d be reluctant to say this is the definitive end for Robot Wars. Given Netflix loves to recommission niche programming in order to serve loyal fanbases, we wouldn’t be at all surprised to see the show go straight to streaming.
Are you sad to see Robot Wars fall once again? Drop us a line @TrustedReviews on Twitter.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.