Making of The Trapdoor (1989?)

Documentary about the making of Trapdoor, shot by BBC West at some point during the making of series 2.
My dad is the dark haired guy ;)
The documentary was half hour long but the second half was about someone I don't give a SHIT about.what?

[@TheFridgeMonsters]

I loved this show.... and now I am Head of a Film School, I constantly refer to it with my students.

[@JollyOrangeEntertainment]

It's hard to believe that The Trap Door is actually 30 years old this year since it first aired in 1984

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

Now, the show is 37 years old.

[@liam3128]

@@poweroffriendship2.0 38

[@HectorSpector1984]

@@liam3128 39

[@Finnix_mocs]

40 now

[@capmodesty]

Just found this following the announcement of Terry Brain's death, such a shame as his shows are one of the things I remember most fondly about childhood.

[@BlueBerkBoCO]

This was fantastic to watch, an insight to one of the most unappreciated animated shows ever. If your dad is Terry Brain, then tell him thank you, for creating perhaps the best show from my childhood that has stood the test of time. If only they'd make more, but alas it wouldn't be the same unless it kept it's original charm. It's ashame The Pudding was never made, bet it would have been great....

[@zacchandler8781]

R.I.P Terry Brain:(

[@ryanbarth6691]

And Willie rushton

[@josephobrien1479]

I loved this as a kid and relived it all binge watching the episodes with my 4 year old son. (Love You J).

[@Guntic]

Awesome

[@人間.敵..連合.悪のタワー]

@@Guntic that nice

[@mrathe3]

I just realized I'm a reincarnation of the voice actor Willie Rushton who died 1996 same year I was born (MIND BLOWN)

[@97channel]

Amazing work. Talented beyond belief. The amount of skill and hard work is really something else. Painstaking process, my patience would at the end of its tether before the first frame was even captured.

[@DamienRoweArts]

Its so great to see a making of this show ,my brother and i always watched it when i was younger ,great intro song too

[@flynntheskyfan3008]

The trap door is one of my favorite shows.

[@gustavorafael3044]

Con que éstos eran los genios que le dieron vida a mi primer programa!

[@Guntic]

@BlueBerkBoCO There's a 3 minute 'test' of The Pudding somewhere from the mid 90's which they were using to get funding. It's shot on 35mm film and is all big budget and epic. Not sure if I'm allowed to stick it up as I think it's still a project that ticks over from time to time but I'll look in to it.

[@Guntic]

You smell.

[@Scroteydada]

@Yul Hubbart Yeah it's says in the description he was the dark haired one

[@eye_made_this]

Any chance of seeing and clips of ‘The Pudding’ ? Thanks :)

[@alanwareham7391]

May The wind in the willows ,Danger mouse , Trap door ,Duckula , Thomas the tank engine and many other British classics continue to be shown ,as they are still loved by people of all ages .............................no matter how young they are 👍

[@greenkitty82]

Absolutely. I'm thrilled when I hear kids today getting into watching the old classics like this as it's keeping them alive for years to come - us folk who were kids when these first aired won't be around forever!

[@Peepholecircus]

Awesome, cheers for the upload : D

[@LoserNamedWyn]

wonderful to see this as someone who was obsessed with this as a child and grew up to work in film/art

[@Juganawt]

Thank you very much for spending some time with me tonight during my homage to your father, and thank you for guiding me to this video. My thoughts are with you and your family during this difficult time.

[@Guntic]

+Juganawt It stood out as a bit of a different way of thanking him, and I really appreciate that (as much as I appreciated everything else, of course!).

[@lukegreen5341]

0:30 Awesome Behind The Scenes Documentary About The Trap Door. This Is Before Wallace And Gromit And Pingu. Thanks Mate. X

[@JollyOrangeEntertainment]

OMG thank you so much for uploading this i always wanted to see how Trap Door was made :D

[@SpiderFan241]

Thank you so much for uploading this video! I've always wanted to see how they made this show and now I can watch how! Such a brilliant show!

[@JohnFotios]

I LOVE Trap Door! Amazing to see behind the scenes footage! I can't find the "The Pudding" film anywhere :(

[@Tchernobog]

it was never made due to not having money to fund it.

[@Mistopherchristopher]

Do all of the original puppets and sets for this still exist and are they in your possession? I was always fascinated by Trap Door growing up in Wells, Somerset hearing an actual West Country accent from a main character. I’ve lived in Bristol a few years now and am only finding out now it was made in Bristol! I would love to see these things in person that would be a dream!

[@Guntic]

No, long destroyed mostly. Plasticine of the 80s lasted about two weeks before they crumbled. Drutt is the only character that lives on as he was made from clay - a collector still owns him! The characters were planned to have London accents but Willie Rushton said "No I want to sound like you guys" (in regards to my dad and Charlie Mills's accent), and that's how he got that accent, haha

[@Mistopherchristopher]

@@Guntic thanks very much for the info, very cool insight 🤘🏻

[@ruthbarrett1977]

Trap Door was one of my all time favourite shows as a kid which later inspired me to study stop motion animation at uni. Awesome to see the sets and characters! Does anyone know if Berk's body was solid plasticine or did it have a foam or tin foil core or something? Would love to know more about how they were all made.

[@Guntic]

Berk's insides were bits of old plasticine (usually from old Berks) so was a solid unit! These were the days when plasticine went hard and crumbley after a few days in the open air so between that and Berk getting dirty easily they usually made a new one every couple of days

[@ruthbarrett1977]

@@Guntic Wow, that would have been one hefty puppet! Thanks for the details, appreciate your reply :D

[@MathewTizard]

The Trap Door was wonderful, thank you for uploading this.

[@Tombola1993]

Great stuff. Stoppit and Tidyup was such a laugh riot when I was young. Found the style hilarious and inspirational. If it were an ongoing show, let alone a franchise, not that it was popular enough to spawn into one anyway, I can definitely see it being animated in Adobe Animate, After Effects, Toon Boom, or even CelAction. The cut outs are essentially a similar method to what I see in modern software. But Trap Door is an instant classic and satisfying to watch.

[@omegametroyd]

I'd love to know how they made little Drut's voice and sounds :D

[@FallsHeavy1]

wow what a fantastic video thx for the upload buddy

[@josephmarrison4606]

My favourite show. Glad to see how they made it.

[@jamesknightvo]

I loved The Trap Door as a small boy and I love it even more as an adult.

[@Shebeast3]

I absolutely love trap door it's so so good! Me and my 2 sisters looove it

[@thetrapdooruniverse6425]

If I could ask the creators of The Trapdoor anything then I would like to know the following: what were Drutt's legs made of and how did they do the stones on the set - if you know please let me know!

[@Guntic]

Drutts legs were pipe cleaners dyed black (They're really good for basic animation! Just a bendy wire covered in material really). The stones on set were either drawn or made of Milliput (Decent stuff that goes hard after an hour or so but works more like Plasticine than clay. Drutt was actually made of it - He was rock solid for 99% of the shots)

[@thetrapdooruniverse6425]

@@Guntic Thanks. That's fascinating - I had a feeling Drutt was solid and the legs were pipe cleaners. Do any of the models or sets still exist? I'd love to see one. I'm a massive Trapdoor fan.

[@bronzeshield6382]

Question...did they ever draw or design what "him upstairs" looked like? Theres an episode where you see part of him (i believe) in a lightning flash!

[@Guntic]

Nope! That little flash will forever be the only extent of the design!

[@grandly_strange]

Is there a blue plaque or something in Kingswood where they filmed this? There really should be.

[@Guntic]

@@grandly_strange I wish! The place is a block of flats now (King John’s Road, Kingswood - Across from Prospect Ave). The Cossham Inn on the corner is where most of the episodes were written, they should put a plaque there 😂 (If it’s still open)

[@grandly_strange]

@@Guntic it’s hard to tell from google if the pub is open. I’ll go past and have a look and if it’s running I’ll raise a glass to your amazing Dad!!

[@emilianoaquino7438]

great video! thanks for sharing. I'll make you a question, you know where I could download the series? I existed a DVD version? I would be very grateful if I could get it and share it with many people.

[@Guntic]

It exists on DVD and indeed iTunes I believe!

[@JollyOrangeEntertainment]

would it be possible for me to send some questions to you to ask your dad Terry Brain?

[@MRBOSSFORTHEWIN]

The trapdoor universe youtube channel makes the trapdoor characters

[@JollyOrangeEntertainment]

Making of The Trapdoor (80's cartoon) featuring my dad????

[@ameerizwan7434]

Joe Bolingbroke what's your last name Brain or Mills?

[@mrathe3]

I am a voice actor and I can do the voice of berk, bony and rog very good

[@evacameron6288]

Could you do a video to show us?

[@Scroteydada]

Record Boni saying the "I'll have you know" copypasta

[@popcorntvextra327]

14:14 did they manage to make that project

[@Guntic]

Sadly not! Came very close a few times

[@ryanbarth6691]

After the trap door was cancelled terry would go on to work at aardman

[@Guntic]

yes.

[@wreckbuoy5989]

What Episode are they Filming?

[@Guntic]

They are not, they are pretending to film an episode as both series had been filmed by this point.

[@dennleavy4407]

BURK! WHERE'S MY DINNA!!

[@JollyOrangeEntertainment]

#35YearsofTheTrapDoor

[@jamesfunktrunk]

Colour Me Terry Brain

[@Da.Liar-Pig]

Is there a pilot for the series?

[@Guntic]

Episode 1 of The Trap Door is the pilot. You can tell because the characters aren't as smooth as they ended up being.

[@Da.Liar-Pig]

@@Guntic oh ok The first episode was a pilot I also thought that every pilot episode in cartoons were lost or stolen

[@Guntic]

@@Da.Liar-Pig Technically the pilot did have a different theme tune but otherwise I think they hit the ground running and kept it as the first episode

[@人間.敵..連合.悪のタワー]

@@Guntic So Many Monster

[@blinkyenjoyer]

@@Guntic Different theme? I want to hear it. But I probably can't.

[@AMLCOrey]

The series was made in 1984

[@人間.敵..連合.悪のタワー]

Yup From Godzilla 1984 Heisei Series

[@AxlePineapple]

anyone have £800,000 lying around?

[@Scroteydada]

Oi get this scunge off me

[@flynntheskyfan3008]

yum yum yup pum pum yum yum yup pum pum 9:40

[@omegametroyd]

I'd love to know how they made little Drut's voice and sounds :D

[@Guntic]

Apologies for slow reply! Fart and sick noises played in reverse and sped up I believe, in the old analogue way

[@omegametroyd]

@@Guntic thats creative :D