The Mantraps were large slug-like creations of the Dots of Finetime and the Homeworld, born from the technology gaining sentience and harbouring resentment for having to listen to and watch the residents constantly.
The Fifteenth Doctor theorised with Ruby Sunday and Lindy Pepper-Bean that the Dots "grew to hate" those using the Bubble social media.
A Mantrap eating Bertie Lester alive. (TV: Dot and Bubble [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 14 (BBC One and Disney+, 2024).)
The Mantraps wiped out the entire population of the Homeworld and attempted to do the same in Finetime, hunting their prey alphabetically by surname. However, many of the residents were saved by the Doctor and Ruby, and they were able to sail off into the Wild Woods.
Most of the victims who did not survive did not even realize what was happening until it was far too late, as the presence of the Bubble caused them to simply ignore what was happening around them in the real world, while the Dots provided them with directions that caused them to walk straight into the Mantraps. (TV: Dot and Bubble [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 14 (BBC One and Disney+, 2024).)
Behind the scenes[]
- Similar to the Reapers, the Mantraps were not named within the episode itself. Instead, in this case, the name was revealed in Doctor Who: Unleashed. (DOC: Dot and Bubble)
