Thomas and the Rumours

"But because of watching Harold, he missed a signal and went onto a wrong line. Gordon was traveling to trouble, there ahead is a tunnel under repaired. His driver reduced steam and brake hard, but it was too late!"

- The narrator

Thomas and the Rumours, retitled Thomas and the Rumors in American releases, is the seventeenth episode of the fifth season.

Plot
Some children are upset that their playground has been closed, but before Thomas can tell the others, Percy butts in with news that Harold has been hired to show a special visitor around Sodor. A few days later, Gordon is going to collect his train when he sees Harold and goes down the wrong line into a tunnel being bored. Thomas is worried that Gordon will be scrapped, but the Fat Controller laughs and says Harold was hired so the man could find a new site for the playground from the air, and the man declares that the sand cleared from the tunnel will be perfect for the playground.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Bridget Hatt
 * The Special Visitor
 * Harold (does not speak)
 * Duck (cameo)
 * Annie and Clarabel (cameo)
 * Jem Cole (cameo)
 * Farmer Trotter (cameo)

Locations

 * Callan
 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Henry's Tunnel
 * Glennock
 * The School

Trivia

 * Stock footage from Trucks! is used.
 * When Gordon hits the tunnel, music is heard in the US version but not in the UK version.
 * Michael Angelis says "But it was too late", long after Alec Baldwin does.

Goofs

 * When Thomas puffs into the yard, the decals on the milk wagon beside him are incorrectly placed.
 * When Percy is on the turntable, part of its fencing is snapped.
 * Studio equipment can be seen in the top-left corner in the close-up of Henry before he enters the tunnel.
 * Percy does not have his own branchline, as opposed to this episode's script.
 * Why would Gordon's driver take the rumour so seriously?
 * When the engines look up at Harold at the end, Henry's eyes look wonky.
 * When Thomas puffs out of Callan, a signal tilts slightly to one side.
 * When the children tell Thomas about the playground, one child looks happy.

Quotes

 * Percy: "I know what he's doing! He's counting sheep!"
 * Gordon: "Counting Sheep! Pah! He's counting how many engines he can get rid of!"

Episode
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