Bad Robots

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Bad Robots
Also known asBad(ish) Robots (pre-watershed edition)
Genre Comedy
Created byNathan Eastwood
Written by
  • Ben Spiteri
  • Paul Routledge
  • Lee Kern
  • Charlie O'Connor (additional material)
  • George Sawyer
Directed byPaul Routledge
Voices of
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series2
No. of episodes12
Production
Running time35 minutes
Original release
Network E4
Release11 November 2014 (2014-11-11) 
29 September 2015 (2015-09-29)

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.

Contents

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.[ citation needed ]

Transmissions

SeriesStart dateEnd dateEpisodes
111 November 201416 December 20146
225 August 201529 September 20156

List of Machines

Model No.MachineVoice Over (unconfirmed*)No. episodes
TEZ1BAD ROBOTSir Michael Gambon12
TEZ#002Digi-Photo-Matic photo boothMatthew Holness7
TEZ#003Frank and Send postage machineTom Allen4
TEZ#004Non-Stop RadioN/A2
TEZ#005Hotel BOTLee Kern1
TEZ#006Cimema BOTLee Kern1
TEZ#007Charge-O-Matic mobile phone chargerAnnabel Raftery2
TEZ#008Tourist Information MachineNico Tatarowicz5
TEZ#009Cab BOTLee Kern1
TEZ#010Con-Struct-A-BearDave Benson-Philips3
TEZ#011Reception BOTLee Kern1
TEZ#012Audio Tour GuideSimon Greenall*1
TEZ#013Bouncer BOTLee Kern1
TEZ#014Maxwave MicrowaveN/A1
TEZ#015Takeaway BOTLee Kern1
TEZ#016Floor Buffer with autobuff modeMatthew Holness*2
TEZ#017Nails Babez manicure machineMatthew Le Tissier*1
TEZ#018Tezbrowze web browserMatthew Holness*1
TEZ#019TezToys: Yank It!Rob Delaney1
TEZ#020British Language TestSimon Greenall*2
TEZ#021Vet BOTLee Kern1
TEZ#022Self-Serving Chocolate FountainMatthew Le Tissier*2
TEZ#023Border Control BOTLee Kern1
TEZ#024S.A.L.Y (Survey - Analysis - Learning - You) survey machineRoss Kemp2
TEZ#025Career BOTLee Kern1
TEZ#026DNA Testing MachineSimon Greenall*1
-British Roadways Centre: 2014-2015 Theory TestTerry Mynott*4
-Change MachineRob Delaney1
-Digi-e-Card boothFelicity Montagu1
-Dog motorbike kids' ridesN/A2
-Hear 2 Stay hearing test machineRob Delaney1
-London Global Money Exchange machineAdam Buxton2
-Optical Prime eye test machineSimon Greenall*3
-Parking Ticket MachineTerry Mynott*3
-Power roller with automatic painting assistantRob Delaney1
-Quiziemodo Pub Quiz MachineMatthew Holness8
-Simple SamplesKelly-Anne Lyons5
-Speak & Search shopping companion/reference indexJohn Hopkins7
-Tandalous spray tanning boothDiane Morgan (S01)/Vikki Stone (S02)2
-Tez Tees golf ball dispenserMatthew Le Tissier*1
-Tezcorp Alarm SystemRob Delaney1
-Traffic SignN/A2
-Water CoolerN/A1

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References

  1. Wollaston, Sam (12 November 2014). "Hotel in The Clouds review – is the Shangri-La a hotel for voyeurs?". theguardian.com . Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  2. http://comedyblaps.channel4.com Archived 8 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine