Sergeant Bash is one of the most popular robots

The BBC Two show is hosted by Craig Charles and he was in Glasgow for the launch of the tour.

He said: "I think it appeals to people of all ages. The kids love the house robots and they love the mayhem, the carnage the destruction and the cartoon nature of it all.

"Now, teenagers like it because it's techie, it's educational and adults like it. Well, for a start I like it. I just think the ingenuity of it all is awesome.

"We play Glasgow here today and the amount of people that come, the different kinds of people that come, all over the country we'll see hundreds of thousands of people and it never ceases to amaze me how strong the show has become."

Craig Charles says the show has wide appeal

He added: "I think unashamedly the show was a bit anoraky when it first started, but the number of different kinds of people you have building robots now - you have schools building them, you've got companies, industries, building them and a lot of fathers whose sons insist on them building them."

Challengers pit their creations against the house robots - many of which are designed by Chris Reynolds.

He said: "The first thing to start with is the weapons, deciding what makes a weapon, a good destructive weapon. Something that is really going to chew up the opposition.

"After that it's a matter of building a personality into them, in the case of Sergeant Bash it's a military fighting machine from the future and with Sir Killalot it's an alien robot really.

"The personality as far as the house robots are concerned are very important."

Chris Reynolds designs the house robots

He added: "Sometimes we are accused of being the school bullies, and maybe we are, but it's what make the programme popular. A bit of destruction, which at the end of the day, doesn't do anybody any harm. It does a few bits of metal some harm."

The robots can be quite costly to build, but the real cost is in the time which the challengers spend on them.

Mr Reynolds said: "Don't talk about money. They are fairly expensive to build, but it's mainly time and dedication that goes into them more than money. A lot of ingenuity and inventiveness."