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The Trap Door is 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 family 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 children's channel, POP, started re-running the show in 2010.

Show production[link]

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[link]

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

The main theme song would start after this:

Outro[link]

Full Song[link]

Plot[link]

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[link]

Regular characters[link]

Berk[link]

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[link]

Boni is a disembodied, undead, well spoken skull, and Berk's only real friend (aside from Drutt). 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[link]

Berk's pet "thing", vaguely resembles a frog, but has been proven to be 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. Drutt is possibly female, as s/he gives birth in Season 2, but it remains unknown if Drutt is similar to a seahorse and can give birth despite being male.

The Thing Upstairs[link]

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 despite 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[link]

Trap door monsters[link]

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[link]

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[link]

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[link]

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[link]

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 sacrificing himself to save Berk, Boni and Drutt. Its worst fear is a mirror.

Broadcast history[link]

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[link]

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[link]

All 40 episodes were released over 4 VHS videotapes in the UK by Channel 5 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[link]

• 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[link]

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[link]

• 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.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2010)

A trapdoor to a bomb shelter from World War II

A trapdoor is a door set into a floor or ceiling (depending on what side of the door one is on).

Originally, trapdoors were sack traps in mills, and allowed the sacks to pass up through the mill while naturally falling back to a closed position.^[1]

An exposed trapdoor is often called a hatch, although hatches may be horizontal. Many buildings with flat roofs have hatches that provide access to the roof; on ships, hatches—never called trapdoors—provide access to the deck. Cargo ships, including bulk carriers, have large hatches for access to the holds. A small door in a wall, floor or ceiling used to gain access to equipment is called an access hatch. Hidden trapdoors occasionally appear in fiction, either as entrances to secret passageways, or as literal traps into which a helpless pedestrian may fall if he or she happens to stand on one.

Most 19th- and 20th Century gallows featured a trapdoor, usually with two flaps. The victim was placed at the join. The edge of a trapdoor farthest from the hinge accelerates faster than gravity, so that the victim does not hit the flaps but falls freely.

Deck hatch of the Omega, the last square-rigged sailing cargo ship

The term trapdoor also refers to a plate in the vestibule of a railcar that permits access to high-level platforms when lying flat against the floor of the car and can be flipped open to expose steps for accessing ground-level platforms. Many American commuter railroads who operate the Comet railcars made by Bombardier have trap doors to accommodate loading and unloading of passengers on both high-level and ground-level platforms. Amtrak's Viewliner, Amfleet, and Horizon railcar fleets all have trapdoors.

Trapdoor spiders dig out an underground nest they line with their silk, and then top it with a hinged lid, the trapdoor.^[2]

See also[link]

• Trap (disambiguation)

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Trapdoors

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The Trap may refer to:

Film[link]

• The Trap (1913 film), a lost silent film starring Lon Chaney
• The Trap (1914 film), a dramatic short starring Harry von Meter
• The Trap (1922 film), a silent Western starring Lon Chaney
• The Trap (1946 film), a Charlie Chan film starring Sidney Toler
• The Trap (1950 film), a Czech drama directed by Martin Frič
• The Trap (1959 film), a crime drama directed by Norman Panama
• The Trap (1966 film), an adventure/romance directed by Sidney Hayers
• The Trap (1985 film), an erotic thriller starring Tony Musante and Laura Antonelli
• The Trap (2007 film) or Klopka, a Serbian film
• The Trap, a 2007 short film starring Jeanne Tripplehorn

Television[link]

• The Trap (television documentary series), a British TV series by Adam Curtis
• "The Trap" (Captain Scarlet), an episode of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
• "The Trap" (Code Lyoko), an episode of Code Lyoko

Other uses[link]

• "The Trap" (song), a song by X Marks the Pedwalk
• "The Trap" (short story), a 1932 short story co-written by H. P. Lovecraft
• "The Trap", a 2000 short story by Christine Harris
• The Trap, a novel by Dan Billany
• Old Trap, North Carolina, U.S., or The Trap, an unincorporated community
• Neutral zone trap or simply "the trap", a defensive strategy in ice hockey

See also[link]

• Trap (disambiguation)
• Trapped (disambiguation)
• Trapper (disambiguation)
• Trapping (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Jon Gooch, more commonly known by his stage names Spor and Feed Me, is a drum and bass, electro house and dubstep producer and DJ from Hertfordshire, England.^[1]

Biography[link]

Spor obtained his name from one of the first set of samples he collected, entitled 'Spore Tactics', and a favorite piece of artwork by a friend, Karl Kwasny^{[citation needed]}. However, he soon dropped the "e" from the word to balance the arrangement of letters when displayed in a graffiti style^{[citation needed]}. After a school friend introduced Jon to the world of Drum & Bass he began experimenting with software to create his own music.

Spor attracted the attention of Renegade Hardware's label manager (at the time) Chris Renegade, and secured a deal with the label. Much of his work was released through this label, and soon Jon began DJing sets. He has also released work under the name 'Final Reckoning' with Codex, as well as under the name 'Unicron'. After a successful partnership with Renegade Hardware and Barcode Recordings, and releases with Teebee's Subtitles Recordings, in 2006, Spor and long-term friend Chris Renegade launched Lifted Music and signed music from producers such as Apex, Evol Intent and Ewun & Phace.

On 24 February 2010, Spor released his second double EP, Conquerors and Commoners on the Lifted Music label ^[2]. In an interview with K Magazine, he said the title was inspired by a quote by Harlan Ellison^[3]. The album was well received by drum & bass fans, with two of the tracks from the album ("Halogen" and "Kingdom") being played on Andy C's popular Nightlife 5 mix CD ^[4]. Spor has since then been traversing the globe playing his music at clubs across the world under the Lifted Music guise.

Spor's electro house side project, Feed Me, has also been rather successful. A two track EP has been released under Deadmau5's label, mau5trap, along with a track on Noisia's label as well. He released a second EP under mau5trap on 25 December 2010, titled 'Feed Me's Big Adventure'. It features eight new tracks including both electro house and dubstep. His third EP of four tracks is called 'To the Stars' has been available to the public since 3 June 2011. He released another EP titled 'Feed Me's Escape From Electric Mountain' on 6 February 2012. It features 6 new tracks, with vocals from Hadouken! and Lindsay.

Jon was also involved in a second side project called 'Seventh Stitch', which produced alternative IDM. He worked with another artist called Aker.

He has said he would like to release his debut album in August, 2012.

Discography[link]

Feed Me[link]

Releases[link]

Guest appearances[link]

Production credits[link]

Remixes[link]

Spor and other[link]

• Spor – Pacifica EP (2011) (LFTDUB002D)
• Noisia & Spor – Falling Through (2010) (VSN009)
• Spor – Pacifica (Vocal Mix) (2011) (LFTDUB003)
• Spor – Pacifica (Instrumental Mix) (2011) (LFTDUB002)
• Spor – Halogen (2010) (LFTD009)
• Spor – Kingdom (2010) (LFTD009)
• Spor – Overdue (2010) (LFTD009)
• Spor – Kaori (2010) (LFTD009)
• Spor – Some Other Funk (2009) (LFTD006)
• Spor – Silver Spaceman (2009) (LFTD006)
• Spor – Do Not Shake (2009) (SHA025)
• Spor – Aztec (2009) (SHA025)
• Spor – Claret's March (2008) (LFTD005)
• Spor – Stoppit (2008) (LFT005)
• Spor – Breathe In, Scream Out (2008) (SUBTITLES066)
• Spor – Resolute (2008) (SUBTITLES066)
• Spor – Valentine (2008) (Featuring Baz Abdul) (SUBTITLES066)
• Spor – As Dust Falls (2008) (SUBTITLES066)
• Spor, Apex, Ewun & Evol Intent – Dirge (2008) (LFTD003)
• Spor & Ewun – We Dominate (2008) (LFTD003)
• Spor, Ewun & Evol Intent – Levitate (2008) (LFTD003)
• Spor & Phace – Dying Of The Light (2008) (LFTD003)
• Spor – Supernova (2007) (LFTD002)
• Spor – 103 Degrees (2007) (LFTD002)
• Spor – 1 UP (2007) (LFTD002)
• Spor – The Resistance (2007) (LFTD002)
• Spor – Molehill (2007) (SUB057)
• Spor – Knock You Down (2006) (LFTD001)
• Spor – Hydra (2006) (ZIQ159)
• Spor – Powder Monkey (2006) (SUB055)
• Spor – Ignition (2006) (RH73)
• Spor – Dreadnought (2005) (RH72)
• Spor – The Eyes Have It (2005) (RH72)
• Spor – Lose It (2005) (RH72)
• Spor – To The Death (2005) (RH72)
• Spor – Cyberpunk (2005) (BAR12)
• Spor – Way Of The Samurai (2005) (BARLP01)
• Spor – Alpha Trion (2005) (BARLP01CD)
• Spor – Dante's Inferno (2005) (BAR07)
• Spor – Brickbeats (2005) (BAR08)
• Spor – Haunt Me (2005) (BAR08)
• Spor – Haywire (2004) (RH63)
• Spor – Outbroken (That Track) (2004) (RH62)
• Spor – Nebulous (2004) (RH62CD)
• Spor – Running Man (2004) (NITE002)
• Spor – Insecticide (2004) (TOV67)
• Final Reckoning – A Thousand Worlds (2005) (TOV73)
• Final Reckoning – Ghosthacker (2005) (TOV71)
• Final Reckoning – Nothing Less (2005) (TOV73)
• Unicron – Orion's Five (2005) (TOVLP06)
• Unicron – You Must Believe (2005) (TOV69)
• Spor – Three Ravens (2004) (BAR04)
• Spor – Judderman (2004) (DMIND008)
• Spor – The Whisper (2004) (DMIND008)
• Ewun – Hate Machine (Spor Remix) (Shades of Black LP, Barcode Recordings)
• Infiltrata & Spor – Three Faces (2006) (BAR14)
• Konflict – Messiah (Spor Remix) (2005) (RH65)
• Unknown Error & Spor – Untitled (2006) (SUB057)
• Unknown Error – Shadows (Unicron Remix) (2005) (TOV69)
• The Qemists – Stompbox (Spor Remix) (2007) (ZEN12205)
• Bad Company UK – Bullet Time (Spor Remix) (2009) (BT003)
• Don Diablo & Example – Hooligans (Spor Remix) (2009) (DATA219TP1)
• Two Fingers – That Girl (Spor Remix) (2009) (BD134)
• Noisia – Machine Gun (Spor Remix) (2010) (DIVISION005)
• Hadouken! - Turn The Lights Out (Spor Remix) (2010)

Unreleased^{[citation needed]}

• Fallout – Hesitate (Spor & Toxin Remix)
• Lumidee – Never Leave You (Spor Remix)
• Pendulum – Toxic Shock (Spor Remix)
• Spor – That's That (feat. MC Illy)(Spor Remix)
• Spor – Wretch
• Spor – Blue Girl
• Spor – Electro Funeral
• Spor – Cooka
• Spor – The Origin
• Spor – Deathray
• Spor – Little Change
• Spor – Thugged Out Elves
• Spor – Push Me, Pull You
• Spor - After The Flood
• Spor - Absinthe
• Spor - Bitten
• Spor - Bad Cards
• Spor - Knock You Down VIP

References[link]

External links[link]

• Lifted Music
• Trouble on Vinyl Group
• Spor at Discogs
• Spor at rolldabeats
• Spor at Last.fm