In a forest clearing in the heart of the Wicklow mountains, two battle-scarred robots go at each other in a shower of sparks. Amid the cacophony of grinding metal, a gold Dalek blurts “exterminate” from the sidelines and R2-D2 issues a series of alarmed bleeps and chirps from the back of a nearby Transit van. Welcome to the wonderfully wacky world of inventor and roboteer Peter Redmond.

As a mainstay of the first six seasons of Robot Wars, Redmond is used to hanging out with automatons hell-bent on destruction.

Following a 12-year layoff, the cult television show — which attracted up to 6m viewers at the height of its popularity in the late 1990s — is back with an extra slice of mechanised mayhem.

Launched