Poignancy, Humanity and Smashing Shit Up: An Interview With Angela Scanlon, Co-Presenter of Robot Wars

When we first heard that Robot Wars was returning to our televisions this summer, we were almost sick with excitement. It was like being told that Christmas was coming early, but with more violent, killer robots and less by way of Father Christmas and half-hearted religion. That said, Robot Wars is a religion of sorts, with devotees including Craig Charles, a generation of '90s schoolchildren and, of course, anyone who ever competed as part of a dad-and-lad team from Norwich, or Leamington Spa, or any of the other regional towns from which participants seemed to be exclusively drawn.

Now, a whole new generation is about to experience the rapturous joy of Robot Wars. The first episode is due to air this Sunday, and it's bound to be absolutely fucking mega.

Though there are certain aspects of the show which will feel familiar, the upcoming series is more than just a nostalgic homage to the turn of the millennium. It features a revamped arena, state-of-the-art technology and upgraded house robots, and promises to be more gloriously brutal than ever before. To get an insight into what we might expect from the new series, we spoke to Angela Scanlon, who co-presents alongside Dara O'Briain. She chatted to us about everything from the new show's distinct identity and sense of community, to the haunting beauty of watching robots get smashed to tiny pieces before being lovingly repaired and reborn.

Hi Angela. First off, how was filming? How was the experience as a whole?

Well, we were up in Glasgow in an enormous warehouse. The first time I saw it was from the air, when someone pointed it out to me, and I was pretty overwhelmed by the size of the whole thing. The arena we filmed in was absolutely massive, the set was huge and, yeah, it was overwhelming but then so much fun, too. The Glaswegians welcomed us with open arms, we had a huge crew with loads of people up from London and, yeah, we had a ball.

Were the audience mostly from Glasgow? And did they create a good atmosphere? It must be a pretty visceral thing to watch live.

The audience were from all over, really. We had people who flew from Ireland, from Denmark, and there were coach-loads of people coming down. The atmosphere was brilliant and people were really, really great. It was a long day's filming and it's definitely not as slick as it looks on the telly, but they were always patient, had great knowledge of the old series and were really enthusiastic about seeing some old favourites like the house robots, while welcoming the newbies on board as well.

One of the things I really loved about the whole thing was that, whether it's the fans, the roboteers or anyone else involved, they're all really lovely, sweet people. Then, when they get in the arena or when they watch the battles from the sidelines, they're absolutely vicious. It just made me laugh, really. It's such a contrast, and in a split second they suddenly have fire in their eyes and are totally merciless.

Yeah, they're ready to see some robots get destroyed. They are ready for destruction.

That's it, exactly! Ready for destruction!

So, were you a fan of Robot Wars when it was on before? Did you watch it in the old days, and did that inform the way you approach the new series?

Well, I was aware of the show – as everyone of our age was – and it's one of those nostalgic things. Still, I probably would have seen reruns of it as opposed to watching it as a kid. I'm one of four girls, so I didn't always get to choose the thing that was on in our house on any given evening, to be honest. After I got the gig, though, I made a concerted effort not to watch a massive amount of the old series. I think it's quite dangerous territory and, when you're stepping into somebody else's shoes, perhaps unconsciously, there's a sense that you need to perform in the same way as them. I wanted to get away from that, so I tried not to have a reference point, or at least a strong reference point.

So you wanted to look at Robot Wars a bit differently, and do your own thing?

Yeah, completely. We're in a lucky position, really, because it's not like the show was on telly last year. That would make the comparisons very fresh, but thankfully the whole show has changed, the world has changed, everything is bigger, and we're just a tiny element of that. It was never about trying to take ownership of someone else's thing. It was more about embracing the new series, and having fun with it in my own way.

So you didn't call Craig Charles for advice, or anything like that?

(laughs) No I didn't, but I wish I had his number! I was meant to be working with him on The One Show last week, which would have been really funny. Craig Charles is a legend, he's fabulous, and what he did – in a similar vein to Richard O'Brien on The Crystal Maze – was absolute theatrics, and very much embodying a character. It was almost like character acting rather than presenting, and that was very much 'a thing'. Now, if I attempted to replicate that it would be absolutely ridiculous.

Fair enough. You mentioned The One Show – how different was Robot Wars to other stuff you've worked on? Obviously it's pretty unique.

(laughs) That's one way to put it! There are all these wonderfully eccentric, borderline bonkers people who come together in what is basically a massive creative celebration. It's a brilliant thing to be involved in, and I remind myself of that all of the time. I feel very lucky to be part of something that people speak so fondly about. This is the thing – there's so much telly that we watch now, there's so much content that we consume, that watching something like Robot Wars, something that's just meant to make you smile, is kind of amazing.

It's wildly different to stuff I've done before in one way, but then my thing, whether it's been on documentaries, or The One Show, or whatever, has always been to get stuck in and to get involved. The appeal of Robot Wars for me was to get my hands dirty, to be in the moment and to be with people while they were getting prepared, so I could really get a sense of their personalities as well as the work and the passion that goes into building the robots. That's the best part of the show, as opposed to just standing and shouting from a great height about rules and regulations.

Sure. Obviously you've spent a lot of time with the contestants – it must get pretty emotional pit side, considering how much time is invested in engineering the robots. Watching them getting smashed to pieces with an axe must be pretty upsetting for some people, presumably?

Yeah, it really is! It's also upsetting for me to be honest because, on a human level, it's impossible not to have favourites, especially when you know the backstory and you know the people involved. On the surface, you're just watching a chunk of metal beating up another chunk of metal, but when you think about the engineering, the technology and the people behind the robots you suddenly become much more invested in them winning or not winning. It's really difficult to watch sometimes. There's a level of commitment amongst the competitors that's comparable to that which athletes have when it comes to their chosen sport.

Still, the participants are really sweet and always look after each other. People are really emotionally involved, and there are tears at times. They're all good losers and… well, no, there are a few gloaters in there. Generally, though, there's a sense of good sportsmanship.

I suppose there must also be something of a community feel as well, considering how long people spend together on the show.

There's definitely a community feel, yeah. There are a lot of personal connections. The people who look after the house robots, and who built them, are absolute troopers. Some of them are in-laws. They basically are Robot Wars. They know everybody personally, one of them was even best man at a competitor's wedding! Plus, after they've ripped each other to shreds in that bulletproof box, they also help to patch the robots back together once the lights have gone out.

So we see the destruction, but you guys see the healing process afterwards? That's sort of poignant.

Yeah, and you do see some of that as well! There was this one team that got absolutely destroyed – I mean annihilated, with bits hanging off the robot and everything – and we just assumed it couldn't go on and fight another battle. We went back into the pit afterwards, and there was a crowd of people lending a hand and giving up bits and bobs to try to get this robot going again. Everyone minds each other, it's lovely really.

That does sound lovely. Last question, then – without giving away any spoilers, is there anything in particular we should watch out for in the new series? Was there a certain battle, or a specific robot, which stood out for you?

(thinking noise) The thing is, there are so many battles. There are more battles in this series than there ever were in previous ones. Sometimes they last for 15 seconds, and somebody's totally trashed in an instant. Sometimes the battles go for the full three minutes, where it's a gruelling, bitter fight until the end.

Probably my favourite moment was when one contestant tackled the house robots, with ferocity. They literally went for every one of them, and the crowd loved it. People were enjoying the theatrics of it all, and that's part of the attraction as well. It's important to strike a balance between drama and technology on the show, so people can connect with it even when they don't define themselves as tech-savvy. It's part of the show's broader appeal.

Thanks for talking to us, Angela.