Jitters and Japes

"Shake! Shake! Make me quake!" "Make me quake until I shake!"

- Thomas and Dowager Hatt crossing the Shake Shake Bridge

Jitters and Japes is the eighteenth episode of the fourteenth season.

Plot
Dowager Hatt is visiting Sodor. Thomas puffs into Knapford Station and Sir Topham Hatt tells him to collect his mother from Maithwaite Station and take her on a tour of Misty Island. Thomas guarantees that Dowager Hatt will have fun which prompts Sir Topham to warn Thomas that his mother is an elderly woman. Thomas then asks Toby, one of the oldest engines, what he would want to do. Toby tells Thomas that he would want to go slow and then rest to smile at the beautiful views.

So Thomas sets off to Maithwaite to collect the Dowager. Thomas tells Dowager Hatt that he has a plan for their day and Dowager Hatt tells Thomas that she has a few plans herself, but Thomas does not listen and sets off through the Misty Island Tunnel. Unfortunately, the mist is down over Misty Island which rather upsets the Dowager. Thomas then remembers Toby's idea of fun and stops to let Dowager Hatt admire the view, but she is not happy. She does not consider the view very fun at all. Thomas assures her that the next stop will be fun and they soon stop at the Misty Island Seashore. Dowager Hatt waits and waits, but she does not smile. Finally, the mist lifts and Thomas sets off again to have more "fun". Thomas, remembering Toby's advice, puffs slowly and steadily up and down hills. But Dowager Hatt is getting more and more annoyed until, finally, she demands Thomas to stop. He does and Dowager Hatt orders Thomas to take her home. Thomas tells her that he was only trying to be fun for her, but Dowager Hatt tells Thomas that she wanted thrills and spills, jokes and japes, jitters and flitters. Thomas does not know what those are so he agrees to the Dowager's orders and decides to go home the quickest way possible.

Thomas chuffs through the Hollow Tree Tunnel, and to his surprise Dowager Hatt is clapping and laughing. This gives Thomas an idea. He races faster and faster towards the Shake Shake Bridge. Dowager Hatt loves the bridge! Next, it's Ol' Wheezy's turn to impress. He throws logs all over the place - much to the Dowager's content. All too soon, it was teatime and Dowager Hatt had to go back to Sodor. Dowager Hatt tells her son all about the fun she has had and the Fat Controller praises Thomas, who now realises that different people have different ideas of fun - regardless of their age!

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Toby
 * Dowager Hatt
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Ol' Wheezy
 * Hee-Haw
 * Gordon (cameo)
 * James (cameo)
 * Diesel (cameo)
 * Annie and Clarabel (cameo)
 * Harold (cameo)
 * Lady Hatt (cameo)
 * Mr. Percival (cameo)
 * Jem Cole (cameo)
 * The Bird Watcher (cameo)

Locations

 * Island of Sodor
 * Island Record Office
 * Topham Hall
 * Knapford
 * Maithwaite
 * Sodor Search and Rescue Centre
 * Misty Island Tunnel
 * Misty Island
 * Shake Shake Bridge
 * Hollow Tree Tunnel
 * Misty Island Seashore
 * The Fat Controller's Office

Trivia

 * Going by production order, this is the nineteenth episode of the fourteenth season.
 * This episode marks the first for several things:
 * The road entrance to Knapford to be seen.
 * Both Jem Cole and Mr. Pervical's appearances in full CGI.
 * The first time Annie, Clarabel, and Dowager Hatt have visited Misty Island.
 * The first episode where Misty Island has been seen without the logging locos present.
 * Part of Dowager Hatt's portrait is framed on the Fat Controller's mantle-piece along with a photo of himself and one of his granddaughter, Bridget.
 * Photographs from the episodes James Goes Too Far and Toby's Afternoon Off and one of Henry can be seen on the wall of the stationmaster's office at Knapford. In the picture of James, his face has been removed.
 * The Norwegian title is directly translated to a Norwegian term old people use to describe young people.

Goofs

 * The narrator says that Dowager Hatt climbed aboard Annie and Clarabel, but she can only be in one or the other.
 * In some shots, the backs of both Annie and Clarabel are completely black.

UK

 * The Complete Fourteenth Series
 * 1st Class Stories

UK/US/Sweden/Norway/Denmark/Finland

 * Pop Goes Thomas

AUS

 * Spills and Thrills