The Trap Door is a British animated television series, originally shown in the United Kingdom in 1986. The plot revolves around the daily lives and the misadventures of a group of monsters living in a castle. These include a blue creature called Berk, a spider-like creature called Drutt and Boni who was a skull of unknown origin. Although the emphasis was on humour and the show was marketed as a children's programme, it drew much from horror and dark fantasy.
The show has since become a cult favourite and remains one of the most widely recognised British children's shows of the 1980s.
Show production
The show was created by British animators Terry Brain and Charlie Mills. It was 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, and Bump the Elephant in the 1990s. There was a stop motion movie that was in the works that was never made called The Pudding.
Together they were referred to as "Brainbox Mills". Later, Terry Brain went on to be an animator with Aardman Animations and worked on the six Wallace and Gromit films, as well as Chicken Run and animated television shows, Gogs and Creature Comforts.
A total of 25 episodes of The Trap Door were made in 1986, with each episode running for around four minutes. Years later in 1990, when the show had proved successful, another series was produced and aired with a further 15 episodes of similar running time. There was a total of 40 episodes of the show produced.
Berk, Boni and most character voices were provided by Willie Rushton, an English cartoonist, satirist, comedian, actor and performer who co-founded the satirical magazine Private Eye. Nick Shipley provided the voice of Drutt, and other characters.
The recognisable 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. The vocals were performed by Zygott. A 7" record of the extended theme song (as heard in the episode "Don't Open That Trap Door") was released, with a B-side featuring an instrumental song called "Ghost Chase", performed by The Ghost Chasers.
Intro and outro
The introduction scene of The Trap Door was a parody of many of Vincent Price's horror film introductions:
The following lines of the theme song, thereupon commence:
Outro
Plot
The world of The Trap Door is solely inhabited by monsters, and almost all action takes place in the monsters' castle, and especially the pantry or cellar where lives Berk, the central character. Beneath the castle are a series of dark and mysterious caverns inhabited by all manner of "horrible things", accessible by the eponymous trap door.
The master of the castle, "The Thing Upstairs", resides in the attic of the castle and remains an unseen character throughout the entire show, shouting orders to Berk when hungry or annoyed. Berk has two companions, Boni and Drutt. In most episodes, Berk accidentally leaves the trap door open, admitting a more troublesome monster than himself; but some monsters open it from below. Though mostly hostile or mischievous, the monsters emergent from the trap door include the amiable and periodic Rogg, and occasionally others as harmless as he.
Episodes
Regular characters
Berk
Berk (voiced by Willie Rushton) is an oviform blue creature who speaks with a West Country accent. He is the protagonist of the show, and steward or caretaker of the monster's castle. As such, Berk often goes about his duties with simple-minded glee, and enjoys cooking with ingredients such as mud, eyeballs, snakes, and worms. Berk is often warned not to open the trap door by his friends, or forbidden by his master, but often does so nonetheless. His usual exclamations include "Oh, Globbits!" and "Sniff that!"
Boni
Boni (voiced by Willie Rushton) is a disembodied human skull, and Berk's closest friend. Speaking with an upper-class accent, he is something of an intellectual, but has a tendency to complain or bore others. Boni dislikes to be moved from his favourite spot—an alcove in the wall near the trap door—and is often shown failing to warn Berk about the various monsters that come from it. Although serious most of the time, he is given to childish excitements on par with those of Berk.