Pussycat (robot)

Pussycat was a robot that appeared in the TV show Robot Wars. It was unique as it was a pyramid shaped robot that could drive on its base (4 wheels) or on either side (2 wheels + roller) or even on the sides of its wheels until it flipped back onto the tyres. It made its debut in the Third Wars and competed in all series from then onward, bar the Sixth Wars, until the show's final series, the Seventh Wars.

Pussycat was built by the Cold Fusion team, consisting of Robin Herrick and the Gribble family (father Alan and son David), replacing their previous robot, the Bodyhammer. With five titles in side events, it has won more side events than any other robot without ever becoming series champion, its best performance being in the series 4 final, in which it lost to Chaos 2, who retained its title. Pussycat's titles, in chronological order; Series 4 Celebrity Special, Extreme 1 Tag Team Terror (with Diotoir), Extreme 1 Annihilator, Series 7 All Stars, Extreme Warriors War of Independence. It was also the only robot besides Razer to take the All Stars title.

It was driven by David Gribble, considered as one of the best roboteers in Robot Wars, from series 3 until his untimely death in between filming for series 5 and 6. Their new driver from series 6 was Stuart Barnwell. Pussycat's driver in the Extreme 2 Iron Maidens was Alan's wife, Ann Gribble.

Its main weapon was a spinning blade designed by Robin Herrick and perfected by Alan Gribble, replacing the original diamond-coated blade and the hardened blade that shattered against the arena wall, leading to disqualification from the Third Wars.

Robot Wars

Series 3

Pussycat's first battle was in the Third Wars, Heat M. It made it to the heat final against Scutter's Revenge, but was disqualified for using a hardened spinning blade which shattered during the battle and thus missed out on a Semi-Final appearance in its debut.

Series 4

Pussycat returned, this time with a patented blade, and was number 19 seed. This was the robot's best performance, making it to the grand final against the reigning UK champion Chaos 2. After a very mixed battle, Pussycat lost on a judge's decision, declaring Chaos 2 as champion once again, and Pussycat as the runner-up. It took its first ever title in the Celebrity Special with actor Adam Woodyatt. In the final, Vic Reeves' Diotoir was attacked by the House Robots, thrown by the Floor Flipper and pushed into the Pit, leaving Pussycat and Woodyatt to be crowned Champion of the Celebrity Special.

Extreme 1

In Extreme 1, it was known as Pussycat 2, and it won the tag team terror with Irish robot Diotoir, having been brought in as a substitute after Mega Morg broke down after the first round and couldn't take their place in the competition. It also took the Annihilator title after a long, drawn out battle with Arnold A. Terminegger which ended in the Judges awarding victory to Pussycat. It won despite its blade having broken off in the fight before, and the team managed to restore it in time for the final. Despite the problems, their form remained unhindered.

Series 5

This was the final series in which David Gribble drove Pussycat before his death in a motorbike accident in 2001. Pussycat, for the second time, won its respective heat and advanced to the Semi-Finals, but lost to Firestorm 3.

Death of David Gribble

After David Gribble died at the age of 17 in October 2001 in a motorbike accident between filming for series 5 and 6, the driving was taken over by Stuart Barnwell in Series 7, the team having not competed in the Sixth Wars. They did, however compete in Extreme 2.

Extreme 2

Pussycat's first competition since the death of David Gribble, Stuart Barnwell and Ann Gribble acted as drivers on separate occasions. In the Tag Team Terror, it and Diotoir returned as reigning Tag-Team Terror champions, but they didn't put up much of a defence of their Tag Team Title. They were up against Bulldog Breed and Robochicken in the first round. Pussycat went out against Bulldog Breed and was flipped around the arena into the air a couple of times. In the Iron Maidens (a female roboteers challenge), the robot was driven by Ann Gribble, Alan Gribble's wife and made it to the final against Chompalot (driven by Debs Cook), almost regaining the form they had when David was driver, but lost out on the title after Chompalot grabbed hold of the pyramid shaped robot and pitted it, thus taking the Iron Maidens title.

Series 7

Their first appearance in the main series since David Gribble's death, the Gribbles handed the robot over to the Barnwells for these Wars. They were defeated by newcomers M2 in the second round on a judge's decision. Despite its poor performance in the heats, it was All-Stars champion, its first title since David Gribble's death.

War of Independence (US)

In the War of Independence, part of Robot Wars: Extereme Warriors, Pussycat took the title representing the UK, taking out three American robots in the process, including General Chompsalot (no relation to the Chompalot that won Iron Maidens), in the final.