Fish (Series 8)

"Only take five trucks at a time and go slowly and carefully."

- Arthur warning Thomas

Fish is the nineteenth episode of the eighth season.

Plot
The Fat Controller sends Thomas to help Arthur at the Fishing Village as the fishermen have caught a huge catch of fish. When Thomas arrives, he sees a very long line of trucks waiting for him. Arthur tells him that, due to the rough track-work on the route to Brendam, he must take five trucks at a time and go slowly and carefully. So Arthur buffers up and takes five trucks, but Thomas prefers to get the smelly job over and done with and buffers up to all of the trucks in front of him.

However, the trucks take full advantage of the rough track-work and make fish fly into Thomas' face. When climbing up Gordon's Hill, the trucks are very heavy and on the way down, they pull Thomas, making him go way too fast. Unfortunately, Salty is at the bottom of the hill waiting for a signal. The trucks crash into Salty, sending fish everywhere. Thomas apologises to Salty, but Salty does not mind; the smell of fish reminds him of the sea.

Soon Harvey arrives to clear up the mess and the Fat Controller scolds Thomas for neglecting Arthur's advice. Once the mess is cleared up, Thomas takes five trucks and finds it easier. After the first batch of five fish trucks, Thomas collects another five, and then the final three, arriving at Brendam just in time. The Fat Controller praises Thomas for a good job well done, especially as he knows that Thomas does not like fish.

Thomas goes to the washdown where Arthur and Salty are being cleaned and they all agree that being cleaned is the best part of the day.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Arthur
 * Salty
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Harvey (does not speak)
 * Henry (cameo)
 * Gordon (cameo)
 * Cranky (cameo)

Locations

 * The Fishing Village
 * Gordon's Hill
 * Brendam Docks
 * Knapford
 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * McColl Farm

Trivia

 * Slow motion is used when some of the fish first splatter onto Thomas.
 * When the front truck sees Salty in the distance, he is wearing Bulstrode's shocked face mask, but just before it crashes into Salty, he is wearing Toad's eyes-closed face mask and then when Thomas reaches the docks its face disappears completely.
 * When the fish fly into Thomas, he is in his large scale form.
 * In the Peep! Peep! Hurray! Three Cheers for Thomas DVD narration and the Nick Jr broadcasts, Sir Topham Hatt says, "The fisherman are celebrating their biggest catch of fish ever." However, in the TV and The Complete Eighth Series narration it was changed to, "The fisherman have caught their biggest catch of fish ever."

Goofs

 * A wire is visible under Thomas when is he pushing trucks at the fishing village.
 * When Thomas races through the countryside, his trucks gain faces.
 * Michael Brandon refers to the freight cars as "troublesome trucks" in one scene.
 * When the trucks crashed, only two fish flew onto Salty, but in the next scene there are more than two fish on him.
 * The fish are transported in an extremely unhygienic way. They should have been in vans.
 * Brakevans should have been added to Thomas and Arthur's trains.
 * In some close-ups of Thomas, he does not appear to be pushing any trucks.
 * Arthur has Murdoch's whistle sound.
 * Sir Topham Hatt tells Thomas he has to be "more safe", but "safer" is the proper term.