Rescue Robots

Rescue Robots logo.

Rescue Robots was a British game show, produced by Mentorn (the production company behind Robot Wars and Techno Games) and shown on ITV1 in 2003. It was presented by Anna Williamson, with commentary by Eddie Matthews. 15 episodes were produced at Pinewood Studios in London^[1] and planned to be broadcast on the network. However, only seven of them were ever aired during its initial televised run before Rescue Robots was abruptly dropped from the CITV line-up.

The show was based on an original idea by Adam Clark, a veteran robot builder and competitor from the original run of Robot Wars.^[1]

The set was one of the biggest ever built for a children's show, which included urban and industrial landscapes, countryside, lakes and rivers.

Episodes of Rescue Robots were broadcast every Friday during the CITV block on ITV1 at 16:00 between August 25 and September 5 2003.

Series Conception[]

The series was based on an idea by Adam Clark, who competed in several series of the original UK series of Robot Wars and was a web consultant for the show's official website. Clark came up with the idea of a series based around robots performing explorative missions, as an alternative to other shows focused on robotic combat or linear-based challenges.^[1]

Episode Format[]

Each episode featured teams of four children operating three robots from a "subterranean HQ"^[1] (referred to onscreen as the Rescue Robot Command Centre), the robots themselves varying based on what was considered to be best suited for the challenge. Three contestants would operate a robot of their own from specially-designated control pods within the "HQ", while the fourth contestant would act as commander. The commander would utilise each robot's onboard cameras, as well as a satellite camera, to help them issue instructions and direct their teammates towards completing their mission. The teams raced against the clock to save Calamity City from disaster, with scenarios including forest fires, recovering a crashed satellite and preventing a nuclear meltdown.

Following the introduction sequence, Anna would welcome viewers to the Command Centre where she would briefly mention the nature of the episode's disaster in question. Then all members of the episode's rapid response unit would be introduced by Anna in a roll call fashion - where she would state their name, age and their rescue skills. Next, Anna would explain to the team the nature of the given episode's disaster and the implications if they were to fail. Then three or four initial stages would be highlighted, outlining the main objectives of the mission. This was then followed by introductions to three of the five robots to be used in a given mission.

If the team succeeded in accomplishing their mission, each member would be presented with a medal from Anna. Then each member would receive their A.C.E score, which measured their ability, communication and effort. The one with the highest A.C.E score would receive the title of "Highly Commended".

Anna would then conclude the episode, prompting viewers to tune in next time for the next episode. Every episode would end with Anna uttering the phrase, "Until then, stay vigilant". In episodes 1-14, teaser clips for the following episode would play during the end credits sequence, accompanied by a final voiceover from Eddie Matthews explaining the mission that was to be featured.

Robots[]

The five Rescue Robot vehicles were created and designed by the BBC Visual Effects department, lead by Chris Reynolds, who were also involved in designing, building and maintaining the House Robots from the original Robot Wars.^[1] Each robot was built using an off-the-shelf, off-road chassis. While the robots were built to a scale of 1:8, the set was built to a scale of 1:10 - this would make the robots larger and more imposing on-set.

Rescue Robot Vehicles
Robot	Weapons/Tool	Length (mm)	Width (mm)	Height (mm)	Weight (kg)
Talon	Arm powered by 12V servo Elbow powered by a windscreen wiper motor	700	430	400	18
Transporter	Water canon from a car's windscreen washer Nuclear fuel rod storage pod Flatbed	1100	400	600	17
Muscles	Lifting tool powered by 12V actuator and 12V electromagnet	900	450	600	19
Ranger	Cutting disc powered by 12V buggy motor Missiles with a range of 3 metres Gas detecting senor	700	400	450	16
Blade	"Hydraulic" bulldozer blade powered by 21V servos Explosive charge pods	700	420	300	15

Calamity City[]

Rescue Robots CITV Industrial Zone 2003 — A rare behind-the-scenes shot of the Calamity City set. This photo shows the Industrial Zone in an evening setting.

The show was set in the fictional town of Calamity City, which was made up of five unique areas:

The City - Fire hydrant to fill Transporter with water, research centre, hospital and transmitter tower.
The Industrial Zone - Gates for Ranger to cut, storage tanks, pipelines, nuclear reactor and sprinkler system.
The Desert - Desert warehouse, gas wellhead, pipelines, pylons and a minefield.
The Forest/Forest of Fear - Farm, dam, lake, mine shafts and pipelines.
Mountain - Treacherous path, 2 tunnels, 2 bridges and a canyon.

The set, designed by former Robot Wars Production Designer Julian Fullalove,^[1] measured 80 square metres, making it the largest miniature city ever built for a children's show. Calamity City was built to a scale of 1:100 and it was reported that 200 tonnes of earth was used to sculp the landscape.

Cancellation[]

September 5 2003 is the last confirmed date that Rescue Robots was aired on British television, being the seventh episode "Earthquake". An eighth episode, dubbed "Thunderstorm", was teased during the end credits/'next time' segment. TV guides from the time also listed the series' eighth week airing on September 12 the following week - this would be the last time the series would be listed in guides. However, personal accounts claim that the episode was not aired despite the TV listings stating otherwise. From that week on, the 16:00 time slot on ITV1 that Rescue Robots was scheduled on was filled by You Can Do Magic.

Adam Clark would later confirm in 2020 that the series' cancellation was attributed to changes in ITV's management and programming plans, despite the aired episodes attaining growing ratings.^[2]

According to Robot Wars: The Official Magazine, a further 15 episodes were written and ready to be produced had a second series of Rescue Robots been commissioned.^[1] Subsequent series would have featured brand new worlds for the Rescue Robots to explore. Polar, desert and tropical landscapes were suggested.

Mech+ Streaming[]

Mech+ announcement — Screenshot of Mech+ teaser post on Facebook. Twitter.

On July 1 2022, the engineering and robotics streaming service Mech+ began broadcasting the entire run of Rescue Robots.^[3] Initially streamed on a weekly basis in blocks of five episodes, the series would also be available to watch on demand shortly after premiering on the service. All episodes were digitally restored in HD, including the previously-unaired episodes 8-15 which began being streamed on July 8. As of July 19, all 15 episodes have been added to Mech+'s On Demand service.

Episodes[]

Of the 15 episodes produced, only seven were confirmed to ever have been broadcast on television. TV guides from the time indicate only that Rescue Robots aired for 8 weeks from July 25 to September 12. On July 1 2022, Mech+ introduced the first five episodes to their service, followed by episodes 6-7 and the unaired 8-10 on July 8, and the unaired 11-15 on July 15.


Episode	Title	CITV Air Date	Mech+ Stream Date	Robots	Mission Outcome	Contestants
1	Forest Fire	July 25 2003	July 1 2022	Transporter Blade Muscles	Mission Failure	Miles - Transporter Vincent - Muscles Alfie - Blade Freddie - Commander
2	Meltdown	August 1 2003	July 1 2022	Transporter Ranger Talon	Mission Successful	Harriet - Ranger Emily - Talon Hannah - Transporter Mia - Commander
3	Dam Breach	August 8 2003	July 1 2022	Transporter Ranger Muscles	Mission Failure	Arthur - Ranger Jamie - Transporter Louis - Muscles Ella - Commander
4	Gas Refinery	August 15 2003	July 1 2022	Ranger Talon Blade	Mission Successful	Stewart - Talon Alex - Blade Nick - Ranger Sam - Commander
5	Satellite Crash	August 22 2003	July 1 2022	Transporter Ranger Muscles	Mission Failure	Helen - Muscles Finlay - Transporter Stuart - Ranger Charlotte - Commander
6	Mine Shaft	August 29 2003	July 8 2022	Ranger Talon Blade	Mission Successful	George - Blade Calum - Talon Hashem - Ranger Jamie - Commander
7	Earthquake	September 5 2003	July 8 2022	Talon Blade Muscles	Mission Successful	Alex - Blade Ian - Muscles Liam - Talon Adam - Commander
8	Thunderstorm	Originally scheduled for airing on September 12 2003	July 8 2022	Transporter Talon Muscles	Mission Successful	Omar - Transporter Janak - Talon Jamie - Muscles Alex - Commander
9	Unexploded Bomb	Unaired	July 8 2022	Ranger Transporter Muscles	Mission Successful	Jake - Muscles Rowan - Ranger James - Transporter Andrei - Commander
10	Volcanic Reservoir	Unaired	July 8 2022	Transporter Talon Muscles	Mission Successful	Benjamin - Muscles David - Transporter Alex - Talon Michael - Commander
11	Inferno	Unaired	July 15 2022	Transporter Blade Ranger	Mission Successful	Billy - Ranger Mark - Blade Jay - Transporter Adam - Commander
12	Desert Research Station	Unaired	July 15 2022	Ranger Transporter Muscles	Mission Failure	Alice - Transporter Charlie - Ranger Oliver - Muscles Emma - Commander
13	Crashed Plane	Unaired	July 15 2022	Ranger Talon Blade	Mission Failure	Freddie - Ranger James - Talon Robert - Blade Paris - Commander
14	Military Robots	Unaired	July 15 2022	Ranger Talon Blade	Mission Failure	Bethany - Blade Rebecca - Talon Joshua - Ranger Rachel - Commander
15	UFO	Unaired	July 15 2022	Transporter Ranger Muscles	Mission Successful	Jay - Muscles Scott - Ranger Jamie - Transporter Louise - Commander

Trivia[]

Clark's idea for Rescue Robots was inspired by Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds. According to Clark, Anderson was filming in a studio next to the set of Rescue Robots, and visited the set himself at some point during the show's production.^[2]
Two articles from the fortnightly magazine Ultimate Real Robots, which delved into the behind-the-scenes of the show, labelled Ranger as "Scout". This is likely to be an error or potentially a working name which was used during pre-production.
In the first episode, "Forest Fire", Anna's line "This looks like a job for the Rescue Robots" before the intro sequence is not present. The line would be present in all following episodes starting with "Meltdown".
Adverts from the official Robot Wars magazine advertised Rescue Robots starting on CITV in April 2003. However, the series would not begin airing until late July that year.
Episode 2 "Meltdown" is the only episode to feature an all-girls team.
In episode 5 "Satellite Crash", Eddie Matthews comments about the dirt path between the city and the desert, "That dirt track is very slippery, we've had accidents there in previous missions". However, this was the first time this part of the set was seen during the show's actual televised run.
Episodes 7-9 and 12 are the only episodes that take place either during a different time of day (sunset/night) or during weather conditions (thunderstorm). The rest of the episodes are set during the day.
Episodes 9, 12 and 15 marked the only instances in which Ranger's missiles were deployed during a mission, being used to perform a controlled bomb detonation, clear a wall of rocks, and dislodge an extra-terrestrial object from a rock face respectively. On all three occasions where this occurred, it was used alongside Transporter and Muscles.

A clip of the missile deployment in episode 15 was also shown during the opening title sequence, marking the only instance where this footage was broadcast during the original CITV run.

Contestants would only have 30 minutes prior to shooting to become accustomed to their vehicle's controls.
Each robot has a unique sound effect for their engines. But from episode 7 "Earthquake" onwards, Talon's engine sound changes to a lower pitch.
Part of episode 1 "Forest Fire", was found in a showreel for Anna Williamson on YouTube from 2008; one of the few known pieces of footage of the show to surface online prior to the Mech+ streams.
Episodes 1 and 11 were the only episodes where Transporter used its fire-fighting module.
Episodes 2, 8-11 and 15 were the only episodes to feature a successful mission in which Transporter was deployed.
Episodes 7-10 and 15 were the only episodes to feature a successful mission in which Muscles was deployed.
Episodes 9, 11 and 15 marked the only instances where a successful mission was performed without Talon.
Episodes 1 and 13 and 14 were the only episodes where a team employing Blade had failed a mission.
According to magazine articles, the contestants would choose which three Rescue Robot vehicles would be best suited for their mission.