It’s fair to say it’s not been a great year for Top Gear.
Jeremy Clarkson was given the boot, fans got the hump and when the new series kicked off with Chris Evans there followed an almighty viewer slump.
But if anyone needed an indication of how far the BBC’s flagship motoring show had fallen in the post Clarkson-era, then it came in the form of Robot Wars.
The 90s cult classic robot battling show returned to our screens on Sunday night after 12 years and its fair to say it went well.
Tonight two #RobotWars legends return. Meet teams Razer and Behemoth.https://t.co/muQBaOEhEU
— BBC Two (@BBCTwo) July 24, 2016
Fans were giddy with delight at watching the Sir Killalot and the other house robots smash people’s automatons to smithereens – even if Craig Charles wasn’t involved.
The Robot Wars reboot, which is fronted by Irish duo Dara Ó Briain and Angela Scanlon, saw a staggering two million viewers tune in to see the show’s big comeback at 8pm on BBC 2.
That’s 10 per cent of the audience share for the prime Sunday night slot. Even more incredibly, the figures put Robot Wars ahead of the Top Gear grand finale which aired on July 3, according to The Telegraph.
Top Gear’s final episode only managed to attract 1.9m viewers in that same primetime Sunday slot. It came at the end of a dismal run for the money-spinning motoring show which saw figures drop from 4.2m to 2.9m and then even lower, culminating in Chris Evans leaving after one series.
Robot Wars was revived to fill the Top Gear-shaped hole in the BBC’s Sunday night bill and hopes are that it can grow to the behemoth it was in the later 90s, pulling in 6m viewers at its zenith.
Fans who caught the show seemed impressed with the reboot…
One episode in and Robot Wars is already better than Post-Clarkson Top Gear. #RobotWars
— Sean The Mondasian Psychic (@WhoPotterVian) July 24, 2016
Were you watching @BBC_TopGear ? THAT is how you reboot a programme! #RobotWars
— WhoIsJames? 🍊 (@jamesianhunter) July 24, 2016
The BBC couldn't have done a worse job on bringing Top Gear back but they couldn't have done a better job on Robot Wars #itisback
— Alex Sweeney (@Sweeney95Alex) July 24, 2016
https://twitter.com/MooEvilBoffin/status/757300985882636288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Well, what a triumph #RobotWars was. Loved the group stage, Dara and @angelascanlon were superb, J-Pearce a delight. Bloody brilliant.
— Will Downes (@WillDownes) July 24, 2016
https://twitter.com/JacobDavies2/status/757305785022091265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
BBC Commissioning Editor Jo Street said: “We are delighted with the success of Robot Wars and thrilled that so many viewers loved the first episode.
“The reaction to the new series has been brilliant and there is still much robot carnage to come.”
If you didn’t catch it, or missed it first time around and want to know WTF a load of grown men are doing smashing seven shades of shit out of each other’s heavily armoured remote-controlled cars, then read this.
This article originally appeared on JOE.co.uk.
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