The Trap Door was a children's TV show that ran for 2 seasons & was aired here in the UK during the 80's & as with many other people it has stayed with me for many, many years even remembering specific scenes & episodes over a decade since I first saw them. Well, like any sensible person who remember this fantastic series with any fondness I jumped at the chance of buying the British DVD which contains all 40 episodes, I sat down this afternoon & watched them all back-to-back, that's over 3 hours worth & I loved very minute of this funny trip down memory lane.
The story is simple, the cuddly blue Berk & his friends the disembodied skull Boni & they're pet bug Drutt all live together in a big castle owned by 'the thing upstairs' (all hilariously voiced by Willie Rushton) whom Berk serves. The 40 short episodes tell the tales that the friends get up to & the horrible things that emerge from the trap door...
The series uses stop motion animation & it looks like they used plasticine, you can almost smell it! It's obvious that so much effort went in every shot, there are so many things happening all over the screen from little bugs & worms that slither & slide all over the place to the character reactions The Trap Door is a real joy to watch not only once but again & again. On a negative side the stories are too short & stop as soon as they get going, although to be fair it was probably commissioned for TV & a certain time slot to fill the schedule so the makers were probably working to specific requirements. All credit to them though as they have created something a bit special here, something charming, something funny, something endearing & the fact I doubt you will ever hear anyone whose ever seen an episode ever say anything bad about it more or less proves it. I'm sure people of all ages will find much here to enjoy & I can't recommend it enough. The character's are cute & extremely likable, there's some very funny dialogue (I love how Berk refers to the monsters from the trap door as 'things' like that flying thing, that little thing, that 'orrible thing or that lumpy thing), the monsters from the trap door are suitably slimy & icky & the theme tune is absolutely brilliant too! In fact I love the episode where Berk finds a radio & when he turns it on The Trap Door theme tune plays & the whole episode revolves around it. The episode where 'the thing upstairs' eyeball rolls down into the trap door & Berk has to fetch it & ends up in the huge mouth of a giant monster is also a favourite of mine. What more can I say? It has a fabulous sense of humour, it's twisted in a funny way, it's brilliantly made on what were probably meagre funds & I have never seen a bad word written about it. I think I've run out of superlatives for it, quite simply find a copy of the DVD & watch all 40 episodes as soon as possible. One more thing, with regard to that DVD each episode is presented without the opening theme which is presented as an 'extra' on the disc instead which I have to say annoyed me immensely as it's brilliant & a very important part of the show. On Monday morning I'm going to take this into work & lend it to my friend Kelly (she's too young to have seen it on TV the first time around), she's going to love it! I hope...
The story is simple, the cuddly blue Berk & his friends the disembodied skull Boni & they're pet bug Drutt all live together in a big castle owned by 'the thing upstairs' (all hilariously voiced by Willie Rushton) whom Berk serves. The 40 short episodes tell the tales that the friends get up to & the horrible things that emerge from the trap door...
The series uses stop motion animation & it looks like they used plasticine, you can almost smell it! It's obvious that so much effort went in every shot, there are so many things happening all over the screen from little bugs & worms that slither & slide all over the place to the character reactions The Trap Door is a real joy to watch not only once but again & again. On a negative side the stories are too short & stop as soon as they get going, although to be fair it was probably commissioned for TV & a certain time slot to fill the schedule so the makers were probably working to specific requirements. All credit to them though as they have created something a bit special here, something charming, something funny, something endearing & the fact I doubt you will ever hear anyone whose ever seen an episode ever say anything bad about it more or less proves it. I'm sure people of all ages will find much here to enjoy & I can't recommend it enough. The character's are cute & extremely likable, there's some very funny dialogue (I love how Berk refers to the monsters from the trap door as 'things' like that flying thing, that little thing, that 'orrible thing or that lumpy thing), the monsters from the trap door are suitably slimy & icky & the theme tune is absolutely brilliant too! In fact I love the episode where Berk finds a radio & when he turns it on The Trap Door theme tune plays & the whole episode revolves around it. The episode where 'the thing upstairs' eyeball rolls down into the trap door & Berk has to fetch it & ends up in the huge mouth of a giant monster is also a favourite of mine. What more can I say? It has a fabulous sense of humour, it's twisted in a funny way, it's brilliantly made on what were probably meagre funds & I have never seen a bad word written about it. I think I've run out of superlatives for it, quite simply find a copy of the DVD & watch all 40 episodes as soon as possible. One more thing, with regard to that DVD each episode is presented without the opening theme which is presented as an 'extra' on the disc instead which I have to say annoyed me immensely as it's brilliant & a very important part of the show. On Monday morning I'm going to take this into work & lend it to my friend Kelly (she's too young to have seen it on TV the first time around), she's going to love it! I hope...