The Trap Door is a British animated series. It originally aired on ITV between October 6, 1984, and 1986. Although the emphasis of the show was the humor and the program itself was made for children, it drew much from horror and dark fantasy. The show would ultimately become a cult favorite and one of the most widely recognized family shows of the 1980's.
Plot
The world of The Trap Door is inhabited solely by monsters, and almost all the action takes place in the monsters' castle, especially in the pantry or cellar where Berk, the central character, lives. 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 and remains there as an unseen character throughout the entire series, shouting down orders to Berk whenever he becomes annoyed or gets hungry. Berk has two companions, a disembodied human skull named Boni, and Berk's pet, an over-sized spider named Drutt. In most episodes, Berk accidentally leaves the trap door open, admitting a more troublesome monster than himself; but some monsters open the trap door from underneath. Though mostly hostile or mischievous, the monsters emergent from the trap door include the amiable and periodic Rogg, a large gorilla-like creature that is mostly friendly to Berk and his friends, The Big Red Thing, The Bubo, an originally invisible monster, until he was covered by a yellow substance that rendered him visible, and The Splund, a large, round monster capable of teleportation.
Episodes
Season 1
- 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 Pain
- The Little Thing
- Don't Open That Trap Door
- Junk Food
- Yechh!
- Flyin' Wotsit Fingy
- Strange Goings On
- Midnight Snacks
- Nasty Stuff
- Sniff That
- Vile Pile
- Slightly Weird
- Bye Bye Berk
Season 2
- Scrunge
- Oh Globbits
- Moany Boni
- The Horrible Thing
- Not Very Nice
- Bugs
- Yum Yum
- Birthday Surprise
- The Stupid Thing
- Boo!
- The Lump
- The Splund
- Nasty Beasty
- What a Weirdo
- The Big Red Thing
