Meet the Robot Wars 2016 House Robots

Sir Killalot, Matilda, Shunt and Dead Metal have all been “evolved and upgraded to modern-day standards to be even more impressive and even more menacing," according to the BBC, which obviously sounds like a good thing.

And everyone's present and correct in these images from the new Robot Wars.

It's hard to get a sense of scale from the new images, but all four have been significantly enlarged for the new series.

Sir Killalot 2.0 we're told weighs 741kg – the old version was a piffling 520kg.

The added drill lance and super-sized jaws are obviously not just cosmetic additions for Sir Killalot either. Each arm can lift up to 300kg and the claws can crush with 2.5 tonnes of force.

The face mask looks more Stormtrooper-esque than ever, and those huge tank tracks are surely going to make him impossible to flip. His top speed is twice the old version too – Sir Killalot will be racing round at 10mph.

Dead Metal keeps the classic crab pincers and circular saw combo – the saw spins at 340kph and is 450mm wide. He's also over twice the weight of the old model at 343kg.

We're also liking the look of the bulky new tyres – core stability is a key robot design requirement.

Lovely Matilda has terrifying new red LED eyes, plus a smoothed 21st century body that makes her look more Alien than prehistoric metal monster. Dent her at your peril.

She weighs 350kg (versus a previous weight of 116kg), travels at 14mph, and her CO2-powered head can lift 1.5 tonnes.

If anything, Shunt shows clearest of all just how big the 20126 House Robots have become. Again, fatter tyres and an enlarged bulldozing scoop makes you wonder what the Robot Wars creators are expecting from the public this time round.

Shunt weighs 327kg (old weight was 105kg), and a "new high torque drive" has enough power to tow a van apparently. What you can't see clearly from this picture is the titanium swinging axe, which fires at the speed of 0.25 seconds.

Clearly, size matters in the Robot Wars arena.