Corkscrew

* Live Events 2003
* Series 7
* Extreme 2
* Series 6
* Series 5

**Corkscrew** was a Scottish machine that fought in Series 5-7 of Robot Wars, and the second series of Extreme. Primarily designed to look like its namesake, the robot was most well-known for its high powered full body spinner made out from a lorry wheel hub and trademark corkscrew bobble head, which indicated to the driver which way Corkscrew was facing. It also fought a few times on the live event scene, mainly with its spinner disabled due to safety concerns.

The best performance of Corkscrew was its debut performance, where it defeated 13 Black and the seeded X-Terminator, before losing in the Heat Final to Dominator 2. Corkscrew's most powerful version was its second iteration, but it was unable to capitalise on this after driving into the pit in Series 6 and being defeated by Fluffy and Crushtacean.

Corkscrew was later redesigned as a flat, invertible disc shaped robot named Corkscrew Two. This version lost in the first round of Series 7 to Judge Shred 3 and Mute.

## Robot History

### Series 5

Corkscrew's first round battle was against a fellow horizontal spinner, 13 Black. Corkscrew started by dodging 13 Black as its opponent charged at it. Corkscrew started getting the spinner up to speed, but drove into Refbot, causing the spinner to stop. Corkscrew stayed still to get the spinner up to speed, and 13 Black hit it a couple of times, but this merely slowed the spinner for a moment. 13 Black charged back at Corkscrew as it tried to get up to full spinning speed, and Corkscrew dodged it, but drove into Refbot again, causing the spinner to stop. 13 Black drove away for another charge, but drove into Shunt, which was out of his CPZ. Corkscrew charged at it, but the spinner did no damage as it did not have time to get up to full speed before Corkscrew charged. 13 Black drove off, then charged at Corkscrew, but Corkscrew merely bounced lightly off, and 13 Black drove into an arena wall. Corkscrew was by Shunt's CPZ, and hit the House Robot, before quickly moving away, as 13 Black chased after it. 13 Black drove into Shunt, but got away before Shunt could hit it with the axe. Corkscrew got its spinner up to speed, and 13 Black reversed away. Corkscrew drove after it, but 13 Black drove past it, and Corkscrew only managed a glancing blow which did no damage. As Corkscrew stood in the middle of the arena with its spinner at full throttle, 13 Black charged at it, but was knocked away on impact. 13 Black cautiously approached Corkscrew again, but despite hitting it with the spinning disc, did not manage to stop the spinner. 13 Black drove off for another charge and turned around, but drove into the arena wall. The two competitors charged at each other, and 13 Black came off second-best, being knocked aside. One of the discs stopped after this impact. As 13 Black drove at Corkscrew again, one of Corkscrew's blades became impaled in 13 Black's body. The two machines couldn't be separated, even with help from Refbot and Shunt, so the match was halted and judged up to that point. On a close decision, the judges ruled in favour of Corkscrew.

In Round 2, Corkscrew faced the 14th seeds X-Terminator. Corkscrew's weapon motor had cut out, leaving the robot weaponless and forced to resort to ramming. The two robots charged straight at each other as the battle started, and Corkscrew nearly tipped forwards on impact. X-Terminator rammed Corkscrew into an angle grinder, but Corkscrew managed to push back. X-Terminator fired the axe, but it merely bounced off the top decoration of Corkscrew, lifting X-Terminator up. Corkscrew reversed, and X-Terminator drove at it, but Corkscrew bounced off, undamaged. X-Terminator fired the axe again, which became caught in the top decoration. X-Terminator tried pulling Corkscrew back, but the axe quickly slid out of the corkscrew. X-Terminator got the front scoop under Corkscrew and fired the axe again, but the axe head missed. Corkscrew drove to the other side of the arena, then drove at X-Terminator, pushing it back. X-Terminator fired the axe, but missed again. Corkscrew drove to the other side of the arena, but X-Terminator appeared to have stopped. After Corkscrew rammed into it, X-Terminator started moving again, but only moved forwards a little, before reversing over the flame pit. Corkscrew charged at its opponent, but missed and drove into the wall. X-Terminator pinned it against an angle grinder, but Corkscrew pushed back, and X-Terminator reversed, allowing Corkscrew to escape. Corkscrew drove to the top of the arena, and X-Terminator slowly tried to follow it. Corkscrew charged at X-Terminator, but as it hit X-Terminator, the axe hit the corkscrew, knocking a part off, and Corkscrew nearly tipped forwards again. Corkscrew reversed, and drove back at X-Terminator, which missed an axe blow. Corkscrew drove away, into Shunt, but its axed failed to pierce the top, and Corkscrew quickly drove away. X-Terminator was still moving sluggishly, and Corkscrew charged at it again. However, Corkscrew then reversed into Shunt. Shunt's axe did no damage, and Corkscrew escaped again. X-Terminator was only slightly moving, and Shunt began axing it, lifted it up with the scoop, then pushed it onto the flame pit. The match went to another judges' decision, which was ruled for the second successive time in favour of Corkscrew.

In the Heat Final, Corkscrew faced another seeded axe wielder in Dominator 2. Its weapon still wasn't working so it relied on ramming again. Corkscrew tried to avoid its opponent at the start, with Dominator 2 charging at it straight away. Dominator 2 caught up with it, but missed an axe blow, and Corkscrew got away. It dodged Dominator 2 for a time, but drove into a CPZ, where Dominator 2 was able to corner it. The House Robots came in, with Dominator 2 slipping out of the CPZ, and trapped Corkscrew, until Corkscrew managed to get at Sir Killalot's side, and escaped as Sir Killalot turned around. Corkscrew drove up the arena away from Dominator 2, which followed it, but missed an axe blow. Corkscrew continued to dodge the seeded robot, driving down, then up, then back down the arena. Eventually, Dominator 2 caught Corkscrew, but strangely, did not fire the axe and reversed. Corkscrew opened the pit, and pushed against Dominator 2's side, then drove up the arena. Dominator 2 followed it, and Corkscrew lined up another charge and rode up Dominator 2's wedge, allowing Dominator 2 to tip it onto its side, immobilising it. Sir Killalot loosened the top armour on Corkscrew before it was tossed by the floor flipper, landing hard and splitting the decorative cork. Corkscrew was pushed onto the flame pit which caused its petrol engine to catch fire, the kilt feeding the flames. Cease was called as Refbot put out the fire.

### Series 6

In Series 6, Corkscrew fought the eighth seed Panic Attack, R.O.C.S., and Kronic 2 in the first round of Heat I. Corkscrew started off by staying out of the action as Panic Attack lifted up Kronic 2 and R.O.C.S. crushed the top of Kronic 2. However, when the spinner was up to speed, Corkscrew slammed into the rear of Panic Attack, ripping off the side skirt and also part of the front. Corkscrew paused for a moment, then drove into the side of Kronic 2, ripping off one of the wheel guards, freeing it from the grip of R.O.C.S. in the process. Kronic 2 drove after Corkscrew as it tried to get up to top speed again, then opened the pit. Corkscrew hit the front of Kronic 2, but this caused it to bounce off and land on top of the pit just as it was descending. Corkscrew could not escape in time to save itself, so it was eliminated. The other three fought on, until R.O.C.S. was eliminated as well. After the battle, John Heatlie requested to see the tapes of the match, as he believed that the pit had descended without the button being depressed. The crew complied, and the tapes confirmed that Kronic 2 had indeed pressed the release button, albeit with a thirty second delay between the button press and the pit's descent.

Corkscrew also competed in the UK vs Germany special at the end of the Sixth Wars, which was also broadcast during German Robot Wars. In its first round battle, it faced a fellow horizontal spinner from the United Kingdom, Fluffy. Both machines initially held back to get their weapons up to full speed. As Corkscrew slowly moved forwards, Fluffy charged at it, but bounced off, with Corkscrew still spinning. Fluffy turned and drove away to get its blade spinning, and when Fluffy chased after Corkscrew again, Corkscrew backed away, giving Fluffy some light glancing blows on the sides. Fluffy would not be deterred, driving into Corkscrew, knocking Corkscrew into the wall. Corkscrew stopped for a moment, and when it moved again, Fluffy slammed into it, sending both robots spinning. Corkscrew was by the CPZ, and whilst Fluffy moved away, Corkscrew had stopped. Growler rammed Corkscrew into the wall, and it bounced off. Fluffy knocked it into the pit release, and Corkscrew was still not moving. Fluffy left it to be counted out by Refbot. Then, Sgt. Bash and Growler pulled it away and the latter carried it across the arena. Corkscrew was placed on the arena floor flipper and hurled away, revealing a "no pants" slogan painted underneath. Growler seized it and dumped it into the pit, eliminating it from the competition. Corkscrew was therefore eliminated at the first hurdle for the second time.

### Extreme 2

Corkscrew represented Scotland in the Commonwealth Carnage event in the second series of Robot Wars Extreme. Throughout the episode, Philippa Forrester joked about Corkscrew's history of going down the pit, claiming they "usually just throw themselves into the pit", despite this only happening once. In Round 1, it was drawn against Australian representative Bondi Titch, Firestorm 4 from England, and the Northern Irish representative Weld-Dor 3. Corkscrew stayed away from the action early, attempting to get up to spinning speed. After Firestorm 4 flipped Weld-Dor 3 over, it slammed into its wheel as it tried to right itself. As Weld-Dor 3 self-righted, Corkscrew drove after it, but reversed away as Firestorm 4 got under it again and flipped it over. Off-screen, Corkscrew delivered a big hit to the wheel of Weld-Dor 3 which bent the robot's chassis and caused it to vent CO2, preventing it from self-righting. Weld-Dor 3 did not self-right, and Corkscrew hit it again, sending it spinning. After this, it stopped spinning, so stayed away from its opponents as Firestorm 4 flipped Weld-Dor 3 out of the arena, and flipped Bondi Titch against the side wall. Once the spinner was up to speed, Corkscrew sped down the arena, driving close to the pit. It briefly paused to maintain control by the pit, before slamming into Bondi Titch to cause damage. Bondi Titch was knocked away from the wall, close to Matilda's CPZ, but Bondi Titch did not move away, and Corkscrew slammed into it again, ripping off one of the back panels. Firestorm 4 flipped Bondi Titch onto the side wall, then pushed it into the corner. It tried to flip Bondi Titch over the fence, but could not lift it high enough. Corkscrew waited outside the CPZ, not spinning, whilst this was happening. Firestorm 4 moved out of the CPZ as Mr. Psycho came in, trapping Bondi Titch in the CPZ and hammering it. Bondi Titch did manage to drive around Mr. Psycho and escape, but it reversed onto Firestorm 4, which pushed it into the arena wall and flipped it over the fence. With Corkscrew through with Firestorm 4, Corkscrew drove into Matilda, ripping off a part of its front.

In round two, it was drawn up against South African representative Crushtacean. Crushtacean charged at Corkscrew as it got its spinner up to speed, but missed. As Crushtacean tried to line up another charge, Corkscrew slammed into it, knocking it away. However, Crushtacean recovered quickly, and as Corkscrew tried to get its spinner up to speed, Crushtacean rammed it into the side wall, and grabbed the top blades with its claws, fulfilling the pre-match prophecy that Corkscrew would 'fit perfectly' in the claws of Crushtacean. Crushtacean pulled Corkscrew back, turned it around, and began trying to push it towards the pit release button. However, Corkscrew was able to push back, slamming Crushtacean into the arena wall, then pulling Crushtacean back as it tried to reversed into the pit release button. After much pushing and pulling, Crushtacean was able to reverse into the pit release button. The top "handle" on Corkscrew fell off as Crushtacean began to push. Despite Corkscrews attempts to push back, Crushtacean managed to push Corkscrew into the pit. Crustacean had toppled into the pit itself as well, being pushed fully in by Growler. The judges ruled that Corkscrew had gone in first, so it was eliminated.

### Series 7

    Corkscrew, now known as Corkscrew Two, returned for Series 7 with a completely redesigned robot sporting a rim spinner. However, the team never got to demonstrate the new weapon, as the spin motor burned out before filming. In its first-round battle, Corkscrew Two was drawn against New Blood Championship runner-up Mute, the experienced Judge Shred 3, and the redesigned Demolition Man. Left with no means of attack or defence, Corkscrew Two could do little more than evade, which it did by avoiding Mute as it charged at Demolition Man. Near the floor flipper, Corkscrew Two seemed to halt, so Judge Shred 3 flipped it over and Mute drove straight under it, allowing Corkscrew Two to drive more freely when inverted, although it merely bumped into the angle grinder and then the opposite arena wall. Judge Shred 3 tossed it over again, so Corkscrew Two drove towards Refbot in its evasion. Mute used its flipper to turn Corkscrew Two over, and then Judge Shred threw it back over. While Judge Shred 3 and Mute left Corkscrew Two alone to flip the immobile Demolition Man, Corkscrew Two drove away, but drove into a CPZ, where it was cornered by Dead Metal. Although it escaped without trouble, Mute moved away from Demolition Man, which was now being counted out, to chase Corkscrew Two near the arena wall. There, Judge Shred 3 flipped Corkscrew Two over the arena wall, eliminating it in the first round for a third time. Corkscrew Two was later joined by Demolition Man, who was pitted.

### Live Events

The original Corkscrew robot fought in several live events during Robot Wars' run. It competed at the Roaming Robots Red Nose Day 2003 event, but was barred from using its spinning shell weapon, instead using yellow bars welded onto the shell to use as battering rams. Corkscrew fought other Robot Wars competitors such as M2, Judge Shred 3, S3, Dominator 2, The Stag and Dantomkia, but was not able to win any of its battles. Corkscrew then competed at the 2003 Robot Crusade event, losing in its heat to Ripper to drop into a Losers Melee, where it lost again to Mute and was eliminated from the competition. It would then compete a year later at the 2004 Robot Crusade event, making it to the semi-finals in the heavyweight competition.

Corkscrew Two was entered into the 2006 UK Championships, hosted by Roaming Robots. It was due to participate in Heat F with PulverizeR, Twister and the 10th seeds UFO. However, Corkscrew was forced to withdraw due to driving difficulties. After this, Corkscrew Two was rebuilt as Hammertime, which kept the same circular shape, but had a hammer instead of the spinning body and two wheel drive. In 2009, Hammertime was sold to Team Batter. Hammertime's weapon was removed and is now used by Titan, and the robot went unused until Team Tilly became the owners of the machine, and converted it into their full-body spinner Tilly, which entered the Chinese TV show Clash Bots. Team Tilly had previously attempted to enter Series 10 of Robot Wars with Dizzy Tilly, their original idea for converting Corkscrew Two.

In 2010, John Heatlie still owned the original version of Corkscrew, and planned to rebuild it, but this never came to fruition. In December 2021, John Heatlie put up the shell of the original Corkscrew for sale on eBay, as he stated that he was moving to France and did not have room to store it anywhere. It would sell for £100 to Liam Bryant of Team Bud, who also owns Storm Force. Brynat has intentions of taking this version of Corkscrew to events to go on static display again.

## Wins/Losses

* Wins: 5
* Losses: 19