Robot Wars
1998–2018BBC TwoDocumentary
Twenty-one seconds of sparks and industrial metal, for a programme in which people destroyed their own hardware for sport.
Robot Wars kept one opening title sequence, 21 seconds long, across seasons 1–4.
At 21 seconds, it opens well under the 37-second median for documentary sequences in this catalogue.
It arrived on BBC Two in 1998, when Talking Heads, Yes, Prime Minister and Absolutely Fabulous were also on the network.
The opening titles
Seasons 1–4
21sThe intro as used across the first four series.
More documentary opening titles from the 1990s
1 sequenceThe Real World
"This is the true story of seven strangers" — the narration that invented the reality format, and the one every parody since has copied.
- Season 1
1 sequenceDateline NBC
NBC's newsmagazine, which outlasted every other network attempt at the form by turning into a true-crime hour.
- Season 1
1 sequenceTime Team
Three days to excavate a site, with the clock running in the titles before anyone picks up a trowel.
- Season 1
1 sequenceWho Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Keith and Matthew Strachan's music, which unusually runs continuously under the questions rather than only over the titles — one of the few game shows scored like a thriller.
- Season 1
1 sequenceThe Beatles Anthology
The band's own account of itself, assembled with the three surviving members.
- Season 1
1 sequenceBill Nye the Science Guy
Science for children at the speed of a music video, with a theme that shouts the presenter's name.
- Season 1