Escape

"Trevor and I are old friends, and you and he have a lot in common too." "Aye, and what'd that be?" "Scrap."

- Edward and Douglas

Escape is the twenty-first episode of the third season. In the US, it aired on the Shining Time Station episode, Mr. Conductor's Fourth of July in 1993 and aired on the last airing of Storytime with Thomas on Fox Family.

Plot
One day, Edward is talking to Trevor, when Douglas steams past and scolds Edward for talking instead of working. Later, Edward meets Douglas again and reminds him that Douglas and Trevor have a lot in common, such as nearly being scrapped. Douglas is shocked. Edward continues, explaining how Trevor is now really useful, but thinks that the railway could use another steam engine. Douglas agrees.

Later that night, Douglas has taken a goods train to a faraway part of the island where only diesels work. He is shunting for his return journey when he hears a hiss of steam. He pauses, and hears the hiss again. A voice comes from nearby, asking if he belongs to the Fat Controller. The engine reveals himself as Oliver, who has ran away from being scrapped with his brake van Toad, but he ran out of coal. Douglas is nervous, but then remembers Edward's story about Trevor. Douglas' crew work hard to make Oliver look as if Douglas is taking Oliver and Toad away. But just before they clear the station, a foreman stops them. Douglas' driver explains that Oliver and Toad belong to them, and although wary at first, the foreman lets them continue.

It is daylight when they finally arrive. Douglas' driver finds a place at the works for Oliver, who thanks them all.

The next day, Douglas tells the engines all about Oliver, who think Douglas should tell the Fat Controller at once, just as he arrives. He explains that unless a steam engine is saved from scrap, there is little hope to find one. But luckily, he already knows about Oliver, and decides that he will work on Duck's branch line.

Now Oliver and Toad are mended, and painted in Great Western colours. The other engines laughed and called the branch line "The Little Western" at first, but it delights Duck and Oliver.

Characters

 * Edward
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Duck
 * Douglas
 * Oliver
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * The Railway Foreman
 * Toad (does not speak)
 * Trevor (does not speak)
 * Thomas (cameo)
 * Henry (cameo)
 * Percy (cameo)
 * Diesel (cameo)
 * BoCo (cameo)
 * Mavis (cameo)
 * Jem Cole (cameo)
 * The Vicar of Wellsworth (mentioned)

Locations

 * Wellsworth
 * Tidmouth
 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Ffarquhar Sheds
 * The Works
 * Shunting Yards
 * The Other Railway
 * Vicarstown Goods Depot
 * Vicarstown Bridge (Old)

Trivia

 * This episode is based on the stories Escape and Little Western from The Railway Series book, Enterprising Engines.
 * In some of the early versions, the title has an added exclamation mark.
 * The works set is the Ffarquhar Sheds set redressed.
 * The station on the Other Railway is Tidmouth station with the roof removed.
 * A reference to the second season episode, Saved from Scrap is made.
 * This episode and the next episode feature musical variations on the theme from the 1963 film The Great Escape.

Goofs

 * In the first close-up of Edward, his whistle is severely crooked.
 * When Edward confronts Douglas, a small hair can be seen above Edward's left eye (viewer perspective).
 * When Oliver and Toad escape, a tiny bit of the rail is tilted.
 * In the US version, the term guard is accidentally used when the foreman dismisses Douglas, after believing that they are taking Oliver away.
 * Thomas and Edward have the same whistle sound.
 * When Douglas reverses into the sheds at the end, Henry's eyes are wonky.
 * When Douglas arrives on the Other Railway, Mavis is derailed.
 * On the Other Railway, the diesels keep changing place.
 * When Sir Topham Hatt arrives, two thin wires can be seen behind the sheds.
 * In the shot of Toad near the end, he appears to have a slight bump at the back of his roof. This however, does not appear in the restored version.
 * When Oliver introduces himself, the word "SCRAP" is already painted on the side of his water tanks, even before Douglas tells the drivers and firemen to do so.
 * When Douglas' point-of-view is shown of him backing away from his trucks before he finds Oliver, the track in front of him is crooked.
 * For most of the episode, Douglas' nameplates are loose.
 * In the Latin American version, when the line "I'm Oliver and I'm with my brake van Toad, we've run out of coal and have no more steam" is spoken, it was mistakenly said in plural when in fact Toad cannot run out of coal, nor is he able to produce steam.
 * Douglas has Donald's whistle.

Merchandise

 * My Thomas Story Library - Oliver (discontinued)
 * Engine Adventures - Oliver (coming soon)
 * Magazine Stories - The Play Train!

Home Media Releases
{{Scroll box|

UK

 * Escape and other stories
 * Children's Pre-School Favourites (1993)
 * Chases, Races and Runaways
 * 1st Class Stories
 * The Complete Third Series
 * Classic Collection

WAL

 * Help and 15 other stories

US

 * Percy's Ghostly Trick and Other Thomas Stories
 * Season 3 (Digital Download)

DVD Boxsets

 * Adventure On the Tracks
 * Thomas' Halloween Adventures/Percy's Ghostly Trick Double Feature
 * Thomas Gets Tricked/Percy's Ghostly Trick Double Feature

AUS

 * Escape and other stories
 * Rescues on the Railways
 * The Complete Third Series

DVD Boxsets

 * Complete Series 1-10

NZ

 * Escape and other stories
 * Bumper Video Collection Volume 5

JPN

 * Thomas the Tank Engine Volume 16
 * The Complete Works of Thomas the Tank Engine 1 Vol.1
 * Look Out! Look Out! A Great Crisis

DVD Boxsets

 * The Complete DVD Box 1

UKR

 * A Train Thomas and Friends

KOR

 * For the Story of Determination

NOR

 * Anniversary (Norwegian VHS/DVD)
 * Edward, Trevor and the Useful Party (Norwegian VHS)

FIN

 * Edward, Trevor and the Useful Party

GR

 * The Twin Engines Were Confused!

IN

 * The Trouble with Mud and Other Stories

ITA

 * Locomotive in Trouble

MYS

 * One Good Turn and Other Adventures
 * Percy, James and the Fruitful Day and Other Thomas Adventures

NL

 * Rely on Thomas
 * The Greatest Stories: The Adventures of Edward, Toby and the Diesels

DK

 * The Great Escape and Other Stories

SER

 * Synchronized

CHN

 * Thomas and Friends Season 1-4 (DVD)

THA

 * Thomas and Friends - Volume 11 (Thai DVD)

TWN

 * Thomas and Friends Volume 8 (Taiwanese DVD)|}}