THE last time teams of roller skaters rammed each other into the rails while racing on a raised, banked track in this country, the carnage was choreographed and broadcast in black and white. But now the banked-track roller derby is back and, its promoters hope, it's here to stay.

The live events arms of Fremantle Media and the Nine Network have joined forces to stage the Roller Derby Xtreme tour this summer, in which American teams Gotham Girls (New York) and Derby Dolls (Los Angeles) will do battle over six bouts on the east coast.

The teams are amateur, which is part of the reason the tour isn't going to Adelaide, where the resurgent sport is at its strongest. ''Most Americans only get two weeks off a year, so the tour is really built around their work schedules,'' says Dustin Lockett, vice-president of live experiences, Fremantle Media.

Gori Spelling (real name Anneke Jens), a 32-year-old skater with the Derby Dolls, is keen to point out that modern roller derby - which is barely a decade old and almost entirely female - is a different beast to the game some of us may recall from decades past. ''It's not scripted like derby from the '70s was on TV,'' she says. ''It was more entertainment than an actual sport, like it is today.''