Well there's no mention of it on Craig Charles's Twitter, as opposed to when he was spontaneously dropped for the Takeshi's Castle revivial/repackage/rehash when the KeshiHeads handle and others tweeted him copiously, so I dare say I suppose he's not particularly fussed about Robot Wars.
I think Dara O'Brian can potentially be a funny man but I don't like his presentation style much. The Apprentice: You're Fired felt awkward under his stewardship.
I can't help but think of the recent Takeshi's Castle revival, for which Charles was also overlooked, and what became of that.
In my opinion The Apprentice You're Fired is awkward now under Jack Dee and Romesh Ranganathan and has dramatically declined for me since Dara left. However your quite right about Takeshi's Castle and I thought the original Robot Wars was fantastic with Craig Charles, even as a big fan of Dara it doesn't mean he will fit the new series of Robot Wars but I will reserve judgement until the new series starts.
Filming starts on 4th March, which is the last day of Red Dwarf filming. So either that one day of filming was too much of a clash for Craig to be considered or they just didn't want him sadly.
That would mean, he would be coming off filming one thing and then straight onto another, with out any breaks.
If they'd wanted him they'd have moved it a few days to accomodate him. I really don't think the issue here is that they haven't chosen Craig Charles - the issue is they've chosen BBC2's equivalent of Nick Knowles.
That would mean, he would be coming off filming one thing and then straight onto another, with out any breaks.
Doesn't bother him currently. He leaves the studio at 10pm from Red Dwarf and goes to DJ gigs around the country that same night. I don't think the extra work was an issue for him.
I'm in the same boat as others seem to be, whereby I like Dara but don't think he suits this gig. I'm trying to imagine his presenting style from Mock the Week in Robot Wars and I just can't do it. I don't think the BBC can play the "science" card. Robot Wars was a lot more Top Gear than Tomorrow's World if you know what I mean. There was a lot of adrenaline-filled carnage that required a host that seemed ever so slightly unhinged. With Craig Charles coming across like a man who'd set his curtains on fire for a laugh, he fit the bill. Dara doesn't, but I'd be more than willing to have him prove me wrong.
So, what did we think? I had a look on Twitter before I watched on iPlayer, and expected to see many a tweet about how the show had been ruined, but was pleasantly surprised to see quite a few positive comments, and I have to say I thought it was rather good! O'Briain and Scanlon were good, decent presenters - I know, as mentioned on the previous page, that Dara seems to be in most BBC Two shows, but the thing is he fits the formats well. I thought he was just as at ease here talking to the teams (which there seemed to be a bit more of than before which I appreciated), than he is on Top Gear, Stargazing Live or when he used to present The Apprentice: You're Fired. The commentator was just as energetic as ever and it was good that he (along with one of the judges), made the return. At the end of the day it is one robot trying to completely destroy another, but the little bit of extra time spent of the technical side of things (including the brief chat on how robotics has changed) was definitely a good move, and I am quite impressed!
So, what did we think? I had a look on Twitter before I watched on iPlayer, and expected to see many a tweet about how the show had been ruined, but was pleasantly surprised to see quite a few positive comments, and I have to say I thought it was rather good! O'Briain and Scanlon were good, decent presenters - I know, as mentioned on the previous page, that Dara seems to be in most BBC Two shows, but the thing is he fits the formats well. I thought he was just as at ease here talking to the teams (which there seemed to be a bit more of than before which I appreciated), than he is on Top Gear, Stargazing Live or when he used to present The Apprentice: You're Fired. The commentator was just as energetic as ever and it was good that he (along with one of the judges), made the return. At the end of the day it is one robot trying to completely destroy another, but the little bit of extra time spent of the technical side of things (including the brief chat on how robotics has changed) was definitely a good move, and I am quite impressed!
I was very impressed by it. It stuck to what was so good about the first few series of it before they added in refbot and other house robots and had a link to the past with the likes of Razor and Behemoth with Carbide impressing and Nuts being the story of the first episode. Also reading Twitter the majority said they loved the show a few asked for Craig Charles to return but I thought Dara and Angela were very good, also getting Jonathan Pearce to return was inspired as he is great at this I may even be pressed to say I prefer his commentary on this than on March of the Day.
Dara isn't suited to hosting the show, they need Craig Charles back, or at least poke Dara the odd time with a cattle prod to get some sort of enthusiasm from him. He was too laid back and seemed like he just didn't care.
When I saw the episode was going to be an hour long I feared I might feel too padded out, as the original series was only 45 minutes long. However watching it last night I was relieved to find this wasn't the case, and that the extra 15 minutes was used in part for the new style head-to-head battles. It'll be interesting to whether the episodes get edited down to 45 minutes for commercial repeats on the likes of Dave. Personally thought Dara was okay presenting, and interacting with the participants. (Though he is in danger of being overused by BBC2 for presenting their programmes.)
I was pretty impressed, as a massive fan of the previous series. I think its 'back to basics' approach was much needed, and spending time with the roboteers and more emphasis on the science and technology was a very good thing, IMHO, rather than the shouty approach that it had evolved into by the time of the end of the original run.
I'm not totally convinced by the stylistic decisions of the new arena, nor the way in which the battles were shot and directed (too many close-ups for me, with quick camera cuts) and the house robots could have become more involved, I felt, but it really wasn't bad for a first attempt at moving it on in a new direction.
Hopefully it will do well enough to be recommissioned for a second run, when these kinks can be ironed out.