Celebs commence battle in BBC Two's Robot Wars: Battle of the Stars

In each hour-long episode on December 28 and 29 at 8pm, four celebrity teams get the chance to design their dream robot and compete against each other in the legendary arena, getting up close and personal with the formidable House Robots.

The celeb teams are made up of avid Robot Wars fans and, together with their team mates, will have the help of an experienced roboteer from the series to mentor them through the competition.

First up are: Welsh football pundit and former player Robbie Savage, who is joined by mentor, Jason Marston, from Team Thor; singer Jordan Stephens, and mentor John Reid from team Terrorhurtz; archaeologist, historian, author and presenter Neil Oliver with mentor Will Thomas from Team Shockwave; and Paralympian Kadeena Cox, will compete with her mentor Ellis Ware from Team Pulsar.

Once in the arena the celebrities and their team members will battle it out, tackling the lethal arena hazards and those terrifying House Robots. Sir Killalot, Matilda, Shunt and Dead Metal will not be giving any VIP treatment as they pace the Corner Patrol Zones desperate to destroy any celebrity robot that crosses their paths, and if the robots don’t knock each other out then the judges are on hand to decide the winners.

In the next episode Olympic and World Championship winning medalists Jonathan and Alistair Brownlee, are mentored by Gabriel Stroud from Team Sabretooth; Space scientist Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, MBE, are guided by mentor Shane Swan from Team Dantonkia; TV presenter Suzi Perry takes advice from mentor Suren Balendran from Team Supernova and completing this line-up are Radio 1 presenters Scott Mills and Chris Stark, who together with mentor and series one runner-up Dave Moulds from Team Carbide, hope to win the Robot Wars Trophy.

Robbie Savage says: “I am a big fan of Robot Wars so I am really excited to get into the arena and experience the fights first hand. Flipper robots did really well in the series so I hope our robot doesn’t let us down and flips the competition out of the arena once and for all.”

Neil Oliver says: “Robot Wars is a wonderful family show and something my kids really enjoyed watching this year. When I asked my two sons if they wanted to come on the show with me they leapt at the chance to meet Sir Killalot. Fingers crossed their imagination has inspired the creation of a mechanical monster with the apocalyptic power to crush our competition into a festive pulp.”

Jonathan and Alistair Brownlee say: “Robot Wars was one of our favourite shows when we were growing up, so to be on the show is fulfilling a childhood dream of ours. It will be a nice change working as a team rather than competing against each other and we hope we can add a Robot Wars: Battle of the Stars title to our collection of medals.”

Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, MBE says: “I’m so looking forward to competing in Robot Wars as I’ve watched the show from the start. It really is a dream fulfilled – and I’m especially delighted to have my family alongside me. Above all, it will give me a chance to put my engineering skills to the test!”

Suzi Perry says: “I've waited a long time for this. Tech, tactics and titanium all rolled into one battleground – Robot Wars special, it should be such fun. I've designed the robot, now it's all down to gadget warfare and I can't wait to get into the arena to take on my opponents.”

Scott Mills and Chris Stark say: “We are so excited about getting involved in Robot Wars this Christmas - what’s more festive than getting to play with a new remote controlled toy?! Sir Killalot should watch out, we’re coming for you…!”

The returning series of has been commissioned by BBC Two Channel Editor, Patrick Holland, Controller of Entertainment Commissioning, Kate Phillips, and Alan Tyler, BBC Commissioning Editor. Produced by Mentorn Scotland in association with SJP Media, it will be executive produced by Andrew Robertson, Head of Entertainment for Mentorn Media and Alan Tyler for the BBC.

AR