The Trap Door facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Trap Door
DVD cover with characters Boni, Berk and Drutt (left to right)
Genre	Horror Comedy
Created by	Terry Brain Charlie Mills
Voices of	Willie Rushton Nick Shipley
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	40 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	5 min.
Production company(s)	CMTB Animation Queensgate Productions
Distributor	Link Entertainment (1984–2001) Entertainment Rights (2001–2009) DreamWorks Classics (2009–present) NBCUniversal Television Distribution (2016–present)
Release
Original network	ITV (Children's ITV) (Series 1) Channel 4 (Series 2)
Original release	1984 1990 (first run)

The Trap Door is a British animated TV show that first aired in the United Kingdom in 1984. The show is about the daily lives and funny problems of a group of monsters living in an old castle. The main characters are a blue creature, a spider, and a talking skull.

Even though it was made for kids, The Trap Door also had some spooky and dark fantasy elements. It became a very popular show and is still remembered as a favorite from the 1980s. You can still watch reruns of the show on the Pop channel, and both seasons are available on iTunes and Prime Video.

Making the Show

The show was created by two British animators, Terry Brain and Charlie Mills. They made it through their own companies, CMTB Animation and Queensgate Productions Ltd. Brain and Mills also created other animated shows like Stoppit and Tidyup and Bump the Elephant. They were sometimes called "Brainbox Mills."

Terry Brain later worked as an animator for Aardman Animations. He helped create famous films like the six Wallace and Gromit movies and Chicken Run. He also worked on TV shows such as Gogs and Creature Comforts.

The first season of The Trap Door had 25 episodes, each about four minutes long, and was made in 1984. Because the show was so popular, another 15 episodes were made in 1990. In total, there are 40 episodes of the show.

The voices for Berk, Boni, and most other characters were done by Willie Rushton. He was a famous English cartoonist, comedian, and actor. Nick Shipley provided the voice for Drutt, The Thing Upstairs, and other characters.

The show's catchy theme song was written by Scottish songwriter Bob Heatlie. He also wrote the hit songs Merry Christmas Everyone by Shakin' Stevens and Japanese Boy by Aneka. The singing in the theme song was done by Zygott.

Show's Beginning

The introduction scene of The Trap Door was a funny imitation of how many Vincent Price horror movies would start. It sets the spooky but silly mood for the show.

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....

After this introduction, the theme song begins with these lines:

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

Show's Ending

The ending of each episode also features a spooky, rhyming verse:

Creepy, crawly, slimy things, that stick onto your skin... Horrid beasts with tentacles, that want to pull you in... Squirmy worms, slugs and snails, that lie 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...

What Happens in the Show

The world of The Trap Door is only filled with monsters. Almost all the action takes place inside the monsters' castle, especially in the pantry or cellar. This is where Berk, the main character, lives. Underneath the castle are dark and mysterious caves full of "horrible things." You can get to these caves through the trap door that gives the show its name.

The master of the castle is called "The Thing Upstairs." This character lives in the attic and is never seen in the show. The Thing Upstairs often shouts orders to Berk, usually when hungry or annoyed. Berk has two friends: Boni and Drutt. In most episodes, Berk accidentally leaves the trap door open. This lets out a monster that causes trouble. Sometimes, monsters even open the trap door from below. While most monsters are mean or mischievous, some are friendly, like Rogg.

Main Characters

The show has a few main characters who appear in almost every episode.

Berk

Berk (voiced by Willie Rushton) is a blue, egg-shaped creature. He speaks with a West Country accent. Berk is the main character of the show and works as the caretaker of the monster's castle. He often does his jobs happily, even when cooking with strange ingredients like mud, eyeballs, snakes, and worms. Berk is often told not to open the trap door by his friends or his master, but he usually opens it anyway. He often says things like "Oh, Globbits!" and "Sniff that!"

Boni

Boni (voiced by Willie Rushton) is a talking human skull. He is Berk's best friend. Boni speaks with a fancy, upper-class accent and is quite smart. However, he tends to complain a lot or bore others with his talk. Boni likes to stay in his favorite spot, a small space in the wall near the trap door. He often tries to warn Berk about the monsters coming from the trap door but usually fails. Even though he is serious most of the time, he can get excited like Berk.

Drutt

Drutt (voiced by Nick Shipley) is Berk's pet. Drutt looks like a very large spider. He often causes problems when he chases worms or other creatures that come into the castle, especially near the trap door. Drutt is usually thought of as male, but he has baby spiders in the second season. Drutt does not speak words but makes various noises.

The Thing Upstairs

The Thing Upstairs (voiced by Willie Rushton) is the castle's boss. This character is always impatient, grumpy, and demanding. The Thing Upstairs rarely leaves its room and is never seen. In most episodes, it orders Berk to fix things, make meals, or sometimes even bathe or clean it. We never see what The Thing Upstairs looks like, but there are hints that it's very strange. For example, in one episode, a lightning flash shows a mass of spongy tentacles. Berk also mentions it has three eyes and asks which head has a toothache, suggesting it has multiple heads. A tooth Berk pulls out is huge, almost two-thirds the size of Berk himself. In another episode, Berk loses one of its eyes, and The Thing Upstairs claims to have "seen" what happened through the detached eye, which is almost as big as Berk. It's also mentioned that The Thing Upstairs has three humps on its back and wings, which are never shown but can be heard flapping.

Other Characters

Many other monsters appear in the show, usually coming out of the trap door.

Trap Door Monsters

In most episodes, the story is about a new monster that comes out of the trap door. These monsters are often mean to Berk and his friends. However, some are harmless and just cause minor annoyances.

The Big Red Thing

The Big Red Thing (voiced by Nick Shipley) is a monster that appears several times. It first showed up in the very first episode, "Breakfast Time." It chased Berk through the castle but ran back down the trap door when it saw its own reflection. The Big Red Thing also appears in later episodes, including the last one of the series. In that final episode, it fights Rogg, and they both disappear over the horizon. Rogg is thought to be dead, but then he reappears alive at the end.

Rogg

Rogg (voiced by Willie Rushton) is a large creature that looks like a gorilla. He first appears in the episode "Lurkings." Rogg is not very smart, but he is usually friendly to Berk and the other castle residents. In one episode, Berk initially dislikes Rogg because Rogg accidentally gets him into trouble with The Thing Upstairs. Rogg is believed to die while fighting The Big Red Thing in the final episode, but he is later shown to be alive.

Bubo

Bubo (voiced by Nick Shipley) is a monster that appears more than once. He first shows up in "Gourmet's Delight." At first, Bubo is invisible until he gets covered in a yellow goo. Berk catches him, inflates him like a balloon through a hole in his head, and then lets him float back down the trap door. In another episode, Bubo kidnaps Boni and hits him with a stick by a lake before Berk throws him into the water. Bubo's last appearance is in "Scunge," where he bothers Berk but is sent back down the trap door by Rogg.

The Splund

The Splund (voiced by Willie Rushton) is a large, round monster that can teleport. It was one of the few creatures from the trap door that could speak, doing so in a deep, scary voice. It appeared in the episode "Don't open that Trap Door," often singing along to the theme song. In the episode "The Splund," it came out of the Trap Door and scared Boni and Drutt by teleporting around and threatening to eat them. Berk touched it with a sewing needle, and it burst like a balloon, showing it was full of nothing but air. Its voice was made deeper with a special audio tool.

Games and Videos

The Trap Door TV series also led to some games and video releases.

Games

In the mid-1980s, two video games based on the show were released: The Trap Door and Through The Trap Door. These games were available for old computers like the ZX Spectrum, the Amstrad CPC, and the Commodore 64.

There was also a board game called Berk's Trapdoor Game. In this game, players moved around the board and tried to knock over their opponents by launching dice from a catapult in the middle of the game board.

UK VHS and DVD releases

All 40 episodes of The Trap Door were released on VHS videotapes in the UK in the 1980s and 1990s. Later, in 2005, all 40 episodes were released on DVD by Universal Pictures.

See also

In Spanish: La puerta del sótano para niños