The Trap Door

This article is about the TV series. For the video game, see The Trap Door (video game). For other uses, see Trapdoor (disambiguation).

The Trap Door
Genre	Horror Comedy
Format	Clay animation
Created by	Terry Brain Charlie Mills
Voices of	Willie Rushton
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	40 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	5 min.
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV Network (CITV)
Original run	1984 – 1986

The Trap Door was a claymation-style animated television series, originally shown in the United Kingdom in 1984. The plot revolves around both the daily lives and the misadventures of a group of monsters living in a castle. Although the emphasis was on humour and the show was marketed as a children's programme but also for famliy entertainment, the show drew much from the genres of horror and dark fantasy. The show has since become a cult favourite and remains one of the most widely recognised kids' shows of the 1980s.^[1][2] Digital childrens channel, POP, started re-running the show in 2010.

Show production

The show was created by British animators Terry Brain and Charlie Mills, and produced through their own companies, CMTB Animation and Queensgate Productions Ltd. Brain and Mills were also responsible for another animated show, Stoppit and Tidyup, a few years later in the late 1980s. Together they were referred to as "Brainbox Mills" ^[3]. Later, Terry Brain went on to be an animator with Aardman Animations and has since worked on the six Wallace and Gromit animated films, as well as the animated film Chicken Run and animated television shows such as Gogs and Creature Comforts.

A total of 25 episodes of The Trap Door were made in 1984, with each episode with a running time of around four minutes. Two years later in 1986, when the show had proved successful, a second series was produced and aired with a further 15 episodes of similar running time. There were a total of 40 episodes of the show produced and, despite the show's success, no more episodes were made. All the character voices were provided by Willie Rushton, an English cartoonist, satirist, comedian, actor and performer who co-founded Private Eye, the satirical magazine. He died a decade after the show was halted. Rushton had made the show his own and, even after his death, he still has no replacement voice-actor for a possible new series.

The recognizable theme song of the show was written by Scottish songwriter Bob Heatlie, who also wrote the Shakin' Stevens hit Merry Christmas Everyone, and also one of the popular hits of the 1980s, Japanese Boy, sung by Aneka.

Intro

The introduction scene of The Trap Door was a parody of many of Vincent Price's horror film introductions:

“

Somewhere in the dark and nasty regions, where nobody goes, stands an ancient castle. Deep within this dank and uninviting place, lives Berk (Allo!), overworked servant of "the thing upstairs" (Berk! Feed Me!) But that's nothing compared to the horrors that lurk beneath the trap door, for there is always something down there, in the dark, waiting to come out...

”

The main theme song would start after this:

“

Don't you open that trapdoor, You're a fool if you dare.... Stay away from that trapdoor, 'Cos there's something down there....

”

Outro

“

Creepy, crawly, slimy things, that stick on to your skin... Horrid beasts with tentacles, that want to pull you in... Squirmy worms, slugs and snails, that rot there in a goo... They'll wait down there forever, 'till they get their hands on you... Stay away from that trapdoor, 'Cos there's something down there....

”

Plot

The world of The Trap Door is completely inhabited by monsters, and almost all the show takes place in the monsters' castle, and especially the pantry or cellar where Berk, the castle servant and central character of the show, resides. Beneath the castle are a series of dark and mysterious caverns inhabited by all manner of "horrible things", accessible by the eponymous trap door in the bowels of the castle.

The master of the castle, "The Thing Upstairs", resides in the attic of the castle and is never actually seen, remaining an unseen character throughout the entire show, only shouting down orders to Berk. This happens when it is hungry and wants dinner or supper, or when it wants something attending to, such as shelves putting up or the giant venus fly traps in the castle garden feeding. Berk has two companions, Boni and Drutt, and occasionally the eponymous trap door is opened by Berk to retrieve something from the caverns below and another monster will escape and cause havoc. In most episodes, Berk, who is quite docile, will accidentally leave the trap door open for something more nasty to escape later on. Though mostly hostile or mischievous, occasionally a helpful or friendly creature does emerge. One such monster, Rogg, becomes friends with Berk and frequently returns to visit.

Episodes

Main article: List of The Trap Door episodes

Regular characters

Berk

A blue-skinned monster who speaks with a Cornish accent, Berk is the protagonist of the show, and steward or caretaker of the monsters' castle. Loyal and versatile, he is servant of "The Thing Upstairs", an unseen character. Berk often goes about his duties with simple-minded glee, and enjoys cooking exotic things in his kitchen, with ingredients such as mud, eyeballs, snakes and worms. Berk is often warned not to open the trap door by his friends and is strictly forbidden from doing so by his master, although in most episodes Berk does so. His usual exclamations include "Oh, Globbits!" and "Sniff that!" He also enjoys hitting other monsters over the head with blunt objects which he refers to as "bonking"

Boni

Boni is a disembodied, undead, well spoken skull, and Berk's only real friend. He hates to be moved from his favourite spot, an alcove in the wall near the trap door and spends most of his time moaning, being paranoid, or unsuccessfully trying to warn Berk about trap door monsters. Boni often tries to remind Berk to close the trap door before something nasty come out. It is left untold why Boni is just a skull and has no body.

Drutt

Berk's pet "thing", vaguely resembles a frog with the legs of a spider. Drutt is hyperactive and makes bizarre noises resembling flatulence. Drutt often causes trouble when chasing after worms and other creepy-crawlies, sometimes going down into the caverns in search of them.

The Thing Upstairs

The grumpy and demanding master of the castle, "The Thing Upstairs" rarely leaves his penthouse room, and consequently is never seen. He always has a job for Berk, which he orders in a booming voice, usually involving fixing something or preparing meals.

Only hints are given as to what "The Thing Upstairs" looks like. In the 14th episode of series one, "The Little Thing", Berk enters his room and a lightning flash illuminates a mass of spongy tentacles, although this is only seen for a small second it gives some idea to what the Thing Upstairs looks like. but it is questionable if this was even the Thing Upstairs at all. In the 13th episode "The Pain", Berk asks which head "The Thing Upstairs"'s toothache is in implying that he has more than one head. The tooth itself is a fang and about two-thirds the size of Berk. In a later episode ("Not Very Nice"), Berk loses one of "The Thing Upstairs"'s eyeballs down the trapdoor, demonstrating that his eyes are removable; Berk later recovers it. The master said he saw everything that happened dispite the eye being detached from his body. The master's eye is almost as big as Berk implying that the master is indeed massive. In the episode "The Stupid Thing" it is mentioned he has three humps on his back. Later it is revealed that the master can fly, though this is never shown the sound of wings can be heard flapping.

Other characters

Trap door monsters

Many different monsters emerge ranging from annoying to dangerous, and of all different shapes, sizes, colours, and powers. They are often referred as "horrible things". Some of the repeat appearances include:

Rogg

Rogg is a large pink-skinned creature. His first appearance is in the fourth episode of the first series, "Lurkings". Rogg returns often after that. Not very intelligent, he likes Berk and often helps him out. They eventually become friends.

The Splund

A big round horrific sounding monster which Berk pops with a giant needle. It has a rather posh voice and has a scary laugh. It has the ability to disappear and reappear wherever it wants. Its voice was edited with a Hamonizer.

Bubo

A mischievous small yellow creature who is initially invisible until covered in yellow "scunge", a messy gourmet dinner. Bubo occasionally returns in further episodes, still covered in yellow scunge and therefore visible, and causes Berk further annoyance.

Big Angry Red Thing

This large red-skinned monster makes its first appearance in the first episode, when it escapes from the caverns below the trap door and into the castle. In the last episode it makes a reappearance, with Rogg apparently sacrifing himself to save Berk, Boni and Drutt. Its worst fear is a mirror.

Broadcast history

In the UK The Trap Door was originally aired during the mid-1980s on ITV, in the afternoon children's programming line-up. The show was aired again in the 1990s when it was broadcast by Channel 4 during early weekday mornings. It was repeated in 2005 on Trouble and 2009 on POP in the UK. In Australia, both series of The Trap Door were broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, with the final episode airing in 1987. Repeats aired on the ABC until 2001. It has also been shown in most countries across the world; the show was aired by American Broadcasting Company in the United States and Canada.

Games

The television series spawned a video game in the mid-80s called The Trap Door and a sequel called Through The Trap Door. These games were available for the ZX Spectrum, the Amstrad CPC and the Commodore 64.

In addition, a board game was released entitled Berk's Trapdoor Game which involved going around the board while trying to knock one's opponent off the edge with a die hidden behind a trapdoor in the game board.

VHS and DVD Releases

All 40 episodes were released over 4 VHS videotapes in the UK by Channel 5 Video and BBC Video in the 1980s,

• THE TRAP DOOR: Creepy Crawly Adventures (CFV 05752)

Episodes contained- Breakfast Time, Slither Wriggle and Writhe, Food for Thort, Lurkings, Gourmet's Delight, Creepy Crawly, The Big Thing, Ghoulies, The Dose, The Thingy, Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite, Fester Rancid.

• THE TRAP DOOR: Watch out for that Nasty Stuff (CFV 05762)

Episodes contained- The Pain, The Little Thing, Don't Open that Trap Door, Junk Food, Yechh!, Flying Wotsit Fingy, Strange Goings On, Mignight Snack, Nasty Stuff, Sniff That, Vile Pile, Slightly Weird, Bye Bye Berk.

• THE TRAP DOOR: Scunge (CFV 04672)

Episodes contained- Scunge, Oh Globbits, Moany Boni, The Horrible Thing, Not Very Nice, Bugs, Yum Yum, Birthday Surprise.

• THE TRAP DOOR: The Stupid Thing (CFV ?)

Episodes contained- The Stupid Thing, Boo!, The Lump, The Splund, Nasty Beasty, What a Weirdo, The Big Red Thing.

and 36 episodes were re-released over 3 videos in the early 90s. A rare double video-cassette released in Canada at one point contained every single episode. All 40 episodes of The Trap Door were released on DVD by Universal Pictures in 2005. a re-release is planned for August 2011.

References in pop culture

• The heavy metal band Hospital of Death recorded a song titled "Down the Hatch" all about the series.
• The Drum and Bass group Chase & Status released the song 'Trapdoor' with the intro of the program in the song.

Reference list

1. ^ http://www.80scartoons.co.uk/trapdoor.html
2. ^ http://www.retrojunk.com/details_tvshows/976-the-trap-door/
3. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1313787/

External links

• The Trap Door at the Internet Movie Database
• The Trap Door at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• The Trap Door at TV.com
• Trap Door Page on 80scartoons.co.uk
• Trap Door Page on retrojunk.co.uk
• TheTrapDoor.org The Trap Door CG Animation website
• Boni's Trapdoor Appreciation Page Another fan site
• Berk's Trapdoor Game A page about the Trapdoor Board Game.