Heroes

"Listen, Bill. Can you hear something?" "What sort of something?" "Something different.""I can't hear anything different." "Exactly! Everything is the same; sounds the same, looks the same. What we need is a surprise!" "Surprise what?"

- Bill and Ben

Heroes is the twenty-fourth episode of the third season. In the US, it first aired on the Shining Time Station episode Mr. Conductor's Evil Twin.

Plot
One morning, Bill and Ben are at the Chiny Clay Company pushing the trucks in their proper sidings. They are bored and want something surprising to happen. Bill and Ben are delighted when the manager asks them to work at the harbour for the day. When they arrive, Gordon warns them to behave but the twins just tease him and Gordon fumes away.The twins unwisely ask the trucks for advice. As a result, the yard gets in a mess, causing Gordon to be late with the Express.

The next day at the Company, Bill questions a weird noise. His driver warns him that it is probably a rockslide. The alarm sounds out as the rockslide devastates the quarry, but Bill and Ben get all the workmen out just in time. The next day, the Fat Controller arrives on board Edward and praises the twins for saving the day. Bill and Ben think that being called "heroes" is quite a nice surprise.

Characters

 * Gordon
 * Bill and Ben
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Edward (does not speak)
 * Jem Cole (cameo)

Locations

 * Sodor China Clay Company
 * Brendam Docks
 * Sodor Trading Co.

Trivia

 * In Norway, this episode is named, "Bill and Ben Become Heroes". The Italian title is "What a Surprise!". In Japan this episode is called "Bill and Ben, We did It!'.
 * This episode is adapted from the magazine story, In a Muddle by Andrew Brenner.

Goofs

 * In the second shot of Bill and Ben shunting trucks at the harbour, a truck with half a load of coal is visible. When the twins shunt this truck the load shifts, revealing it to be a wooden prop made to look like coal.
 * When the twins say "Thank goodness we're here," a bug crawls from Bill's line of trucks to Ben's and back.
 * The roof of the building is made of cardboard, as seen when it absorbs the water from the water tower.
 * In the British narration, the Fat Controller says "Hooray, hooray, hooray" without enthusiasm.
 * When the twins enter the harbour, the track on the bridge bobs up and down.
 * When the quarrymaster comes to tell the twins to go and work at the harbour, the coat on his small scale model is a different colour than the one on his large scale model.