This section documents aspects of the construction of the original R2-D2 droids, which were designed and built between 1975 and 1976. These are ofte

II: The Astro-droids of 1977

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This section documents aspects of the construction of the original R2-D2 droids, which were designed and built between 1975 and 1976. These are often referred to as 1977 robots, since that’s the year that Star Wars/ANH came out .

In other words this chapter focuses solely on the key ANH droids, which were mostly built by Peteric Engineering, with mechanical and electrical work by John Stears’ team at EMI Elstree and some subcontracted work by C&L Developments . The eight fibreglass droids built later for the Empire Strikes Back are discussed in a separate chapter .

When I started writing (the Star Wars screenplay), I found the most intriguing thing was to take two robots and make them into human beings, and make them the most interesting characters in terms of the comedy element. So I wanted to make the film around them, using them as a framework for the film. And I knew when I did that that I would be getting myself into a lot of trouble.

Figuring out the specifics of our friend R2-D2 is difficult. The ANH/1977 robots were famously inconsistent in details, reflecting the limited budgets and time available for their construction. The ones built for ESB were more consistent among themselves, but introduced minor variations from their predecessors. The prequels , sequels, and TV shows introduced more changes. And so there are tons of continuity errors in the movies; often within the same scene. W hich droid is “correct” is really up to you!