Bad Robots
Bad Robots is a British television prank show that originally aired on E4 from November 2014.[1] Made by Objective Productions, the show centres on a fleet of seemingly defective and even mischievous machines, devices and robots produced by the fictional TezCorp Industries. Unsuspecting members of the public were filmed using these everyday machines, resulting in practical-joke and hidden-camera laughs.
| Bad Robots | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Bad(ish) Robots (pre-watershed edition) |
| Genre | Comedy |
| Created by | Nathan Eastwood |
| Written by |
|
| Directed by | Paul Routledge |
| Voices of | |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 35 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | E4 |
| Original release | 11 November 2014 – 29 September 2015 |
Bad Robots was commissioned for Comedy Blaps (Channel 4's vehicle for piloting comedy) in late 2013. The pilot was written and performed by Lee Kern, who played a prototype version of the show's primary robot, "BOT".[2] The show was subsequently commissioned for a full series of 6 episodes, to air on E4.
The series was created by Nathan Eastwood, directed by Paul Routledge, and written and produced by Ben Spiteri. Lee Kern wrote the sequences featuring "BOT". Motion graphics for the series were created by Compost Creative. A host of comedy talent provided voices for the machines, including Lee Kern as "BOT", Sir Michael Gambon, Simon Greenall, Rob Delaney, Terry Mynott, Diane Morgan and Tom Allen.
The first episode drew an average audience figure of 338,000.
Transmissions
| Series | Start date | End date | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 November 2014 | 16 December 2014 | 6 |
| 2 | 25 August 2015 | 29 September 2015 | 6 |
List of Machines
| Model No. | Machine | Voice Over (unconfirmed*) | No. episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| TEZ1 | BAD ROBOT | Sir Michael Gambon | 12 |
| TEZ#002 | Digi-Photo-Matic photo booth | Matthew Holness | 7 |
| TEZ#003 | Frank and Send postage machine | Tom Allen | 4 |
| TEZ#004 | Non-Stop Radio | N/A | 2 |
| TEZ#005 | Hotel BOT | Lee Kern | 1 |
| TEZ#006 | Cimema BOT | Lee Kern | 1 |
| TEZ#007 | Charge-O-Matic mobile phone charger | Annabel Raftery | 2 |
| TEZ#008 | Tourist Information Machine | Nico Tatarowicz | 5 |
| TEZ#009 | Cab BOT | Lee Kern | 1 |
| TEZ#010 | Con-Struct-A-Bear | Dave Benson-Philips | 3 |
| TEZ#011 | Reception BOT | Lee Kern | 1 |
| TEZ#012 | Audio Tour Guide | Simon Greenall* | 1 |
| TEZ#013 | Bouncer BOT | Lee Kern | 1 |
| TEZ#014 | Maxwave Microwave | N/A | 1 |
| TEZ#015 | Takeaway BOT | Lee Kern | 1 |
| TEZ#016 | Floor Buffer with autobuff mode | Matthew Holness* | 2 |
| TEZ#017 | Nails Babez manicure machine | Matthew Le Tissier* | 1 |
| TEZ#018 | Tezbrowze web browser | Matthew Holness* | 1 |
| TEZ#019 | TezToys: Yank It! | Rob Delaney | 1 |
| TEZ#020 | British Language Test | Simon Greenall* | 2 |
| TEZ#021 | Vet BOT | Lee Kern | 1 |
| TEZ#022 | Self-Serving Chocolate Fountain | Matthew Le Tissier* | 2 |
| TEZ#023 | Border Control BOT | Lee Kern | 1 |
| TEZ#024 | S.A.L.Y (Survey - Analysis - Learning - You) survey machine | Ross Kemp | 2 |
| TEZ#025 | Career BOT | Lee Kern | 1 |
| TEZ#026 | DNA Testing Machine | Simon Greenall* | 1 |
| - | British Roadways Centre: 2014-2015 Theory Test | Terry Mynott* | 4 |
| - | Change Machine | Rob Delaney | 1 |
| - | Digi-e-Card booth | Felicity Montagu | 1 |
| - | Dog motorbike kids' rides | N/A | 2 |
| - | Hear 2 Stay hearing test machine | Rob Delaney | 1 |
| - | London Global Money Exchange machine | Adam Buxton | 2 |
| - | Optical Prime eye test machine | Simon Greenall* | 3 |
| - | Parking Ticket Machine | Terry Mynott* | 3 |
| - | Power roller with automatic painting assistant | Rob Delaney | 1 |
| - | Quiziemodo Pub Quiz Machine | Matthew Holness | 8 |
| - | Simple Samples | Kelly-Anne Lyons | 5 |
| - | Speak & Search shopping companion/reference index | John Hopkins | 7 |
| - | Tandalous spray tanning booth | Diane Morgan (S01)/Vikki Stone (S02) | 2 |
| - | Tez Tees golf ball dispenser | Matthew Le Tissier* | 1 |
| - | Tezcorp Alarm System | Rob Delaney | 1 |
| - | Traffic Sign | N/A | 2 |
| - | Water Cooler | N/A | 1 |
References
- Wollaston, Sam (12 November 2014). "Hotel in The Clouds review – is the Shangri-La a hotel for voyeurs?". theguardian.com. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
- http://comedyblaps.channel4.com Archived 8 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine