Pop Goes Thomas

"If I bounce along the track Perhaps that sound will soon come back The sound that makes me smile and giggle When I puff on tracks that jiggle!"

- Thomas

Pop Goes Thomas is the eighth episode of the fourteenth season.

Plot
It's the day of the children's summer picnic in the Whispering Woods and Thomas is given the job of taking the lemonade to the picnic. On the way, Thomas puffs over some bumpy tracks which shakes the bottles of lemonade, making the corks fly into the air. Thomas likes the popping noise, but he can't see what is making the funny noise. So instead of going straight to the woods, Thomas takes a bumpy track in hoping that he will hear the popping noise again. Then, Thomas sees Mr. Bubbles the clown waiting at a bus stop. Thomas bounces past and one of the popping corks knocks Mr. Bubbles' big red nose off. It rolls down a drain and now Mr. Bubbles will be late for the children's picnic, as he needs to get another one. Next, Thomas puffs down an even bumpier track. The corks come flying out of the bottles once again and land amongst a field of pigs.

Next, Thomas passes the bakery where the bakers are hit by some corks, making them drop the cakes for the children's picnic. Then, Thomas goes over the bumpiest track on Sodor - the Fenlan Track! Soon after, he meets James who is taking the children to the picnic. James doesn't think the popping noise is very amusing when one hits his shiny paintwork. Thomas then causes even more trouble when his corks hit the signalman at Bluff's Cove Junction. The signalman is so surprised, he accidentally sends James down the wrong track where he hits the buffers with a jolt.

Eventually, Thomas arrives at the Whispering Woods. The Fat Controller is very cross with him and tells Thomas about all the confusion and delay he has caused with the popping corks. To add to that, all the lemonade bottles are empty. Then, the last cork flies through the air and knocks the Fat Controller's hat clean off his head!

Thomas realizes his mistake, so he puffs quickly back to the bakery. The bakers had made more cakes and they're quickly loaded onto Thomas' truck. With the cakes loaded, Thomas puffs back to Knapford to collect more lemonade. Mr. Bubbles is there too. Thomas apologises to Mr. Bubbles and offers him a lift to the picnic.

When Thomas arrives at the picnic with Mr. Bubbles, the children cheer, clap, and laugh. Mr. Bubbles explains that the children's laughs and cheers are the happiest sounds of all, and Thomas has to agree!

Characters

 * Thomas
 * James
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Mr. Bubbles
 * The Two Bakers
 * Emily (does not speak)
 * Edward (cameo)
 * Gordon (cameo)
 * Sodor Brass Band (cameo)
 * The Teacher (cameo)
 * The Birdwatcher (cameo)

Locations

 * Knapford
 * Whispering Woods
 * The Fenland Track
 * Bluff's Cove Junction
 * Farmer Trotter's Pig Farm
 * Maithwaite
 * Sodor Bakery

Trivia

 * Stock footage from Tickled Pink and A Blooming Mess is used.
 * A little boy shouts "Hello" to Thomas from James' train. It is currently unknown who voiced him.

Goofs

 * The corks would not fly off in just any direction, as they do in this episode.
 * It is said that the corks land around the pigs in the field, but at least one cork actually hits a pig.
 * When Thomas turns onto the first bumpy track, the points are set against him.
 * The narrator says that a cork hit James' shiny red paint, but it actually hits his smokebox which is colored black.
 * The lemonade should have been pulled in a refrigerated van, not an open flatbed.
 * Brakevans should have been added to Thomas and Emily's trains.
 * When Thomas puffs up to James, he is on James' left, but when they go under the signalbox, Thomas is on James' right.

Merchandise

 * Take-n-Play
 * Books - POP! Goes Thomas