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"Whatever next?! Those aren't coaches, they're cattle trucks!"
"OOH!! What a horrid engine!"
"It's not what I'm used to!"
― Sir Handel insulting the coaches

A Bad Day for Sir Handel is the sixth episode of the fourth series. It is based on the story simply titled Sir Handel from the The Railway Series book Four Little Engines.

Plot

Skarloey and Rheneas enjoy working on their railway that weaves around the lakes and along mountainsides. Their coaches are filled with visitors and the engines are proud to run the line come rain or shine. They will never let their passengers down but, due to their old age, they tire more easily. Their drivers understand this and tell them that the Manager is sending two more engines to help run the line since there is more than enough work for the two of them on the railway. Both Skarloey and Rheneas are pleased with the news and they promise that they will give the new engines a big welcome.

The newcomers, who are named Sir Handel and Peter Sam, arrive one day. Sir Handel is rude, complaining about the sheds and insulting Skarloey. Peter Sam is much friendlier, explaining to a sympathetic Skarloey that Sir Handel is a quite nice engine but is simply upset at the moment. Sir Handel's fireman comes to get him ready for a passenger train to the Top Station. Because he is tired, Sir Handel refuses, telling the fireman to let Peter Sam do it instead but the fireman firmly tells Sir Handel he must go first. When Sir Handel picks up some of the coaches, he despises their looks and insults them by calling them cattle trucks. The coaches are hurt but Sir Handel simply says that they are not the sort of coaches he is used to.

Sir Handel arrives at Crovan's Gate and meets Gordon, who brings some passengers to board Sir Handel's train. The two engines introduce themselves and Sir Handel recognises Gordon as a fellow express engine. He goes on to say that he is used to smart coaches and praises Gordon's own but quickly heads off, leaving Gordon speechless. When Sir Handel reaches the Top Station, he hopes for a rest but his driver tells him that he is expected to collect trucks at the quarry. He crossly refuses to do so and punctuates his point by deliberately derailing himself. By the time Peter Sam arrives with workmen to put Sir Handel back on the rails, Sir Handel starts to feel rather silly. The Fat Controller, who is also on board, sternly tells Sir Handel he will talk to him later. Then, the Fat Controller leaves aboard Peter Sam.

That evening, Sir Handel returns to the sheds to find the Fat Controller waiting for him. He scolds Sir Handel for his naughty behaviour and shuts him up in the sheds as punishment until he can be trusted to behave again.

Characters

Locations

Trivia

  • This episode marks:
  • Both UK dubs are the same, although the early one lacks some sound effects.
  • Many whistle sounds are missing in the US dub.
  • Some models from Tugs can be seen in this episode at Lakeside, notably Lakesider III, which is actually a modified model of the character O.J.
  • From this episode throughout the rest of the fourth series, Gordon has Duck's whistle sound. However, his normal whistle sound can be heard in certain episodes when other engines are whistling.
  • Gordon's smiling face gains modified eyebrows in this episode.
  • In both the original UK dub and the US one, a wheeshing sound effect can be heard when Sir Handel blows steam as he goes on the Mountain Line but not in the later UK dub, most international ones or the Ukrainian voice-over.
  • Two small rocks were placed between the two sets of the track to derail Sir Handel.
  • This was one of few Thomas episodes featured on Mister Moose's Fun Time on FOX Family as a promo to advertise the show.
  • This episode was shown alongside Four Little Engines in an airing of Storytime with Thomas.

Goofs

  • One broadcast of this episode on JimJam in Romania in 2011 had no narration and only included the music and sound effects.
  • At the beginning, Skarloey has Duke's original whistle sound and Rheneas has Peter Sam's. Rheneas would later use Peter Sam's whistle again in Series 6-12.
  • In the UK dub and the Ukrainian voice-over:
    • Sir Handel has Rheneas' original whistle sound.
    • When Sir Handel backs onto his coaches, he can still be heard puffing for another four seconds after he stops.
  • The red coach Sir Handel backs onto has a face. However, at Crovan's Gate, the coach's face disappears.
  • Gordon is missing his brake pipe.
  • When Sir Handel goes off-camera on the mountain ledge, the steam platform blows steam too late.
  • When the Fat Controller scolds Sir Handel, a fly crawls on the workbench next to Sir Handel.

In Other Languages

View content
Language Title
Albanian Një ditë e keqe për Ser Hendel
Brazilian Portuguese Um dia ruim para o Sir Handel
Chinese Mandarin 汉德尔先生糟糕的一天
Czech Handelův špatný den
Danish En dårlig dag for Sir Handel
Dutch Een slechte dag voor Meneer Hendel
Finnish Sir Handel ja kurja päivä
German Ein schlechter Tag für Sir Handel
Greek Ο Παύλος είναι θυμωμένος
Hungarian Sir Handel rossz napja
Italian Giornata no per Sir Handel
Japanese わがままなきかんしゃ
Korean 헨델 경의 수난 일
Latin American Spanish Un mal día para Sir Handel
Norwegian En dårlig dag for Sir Handel
Polish Zły dzień Pana Handla
Romanian Sir Handel are o zi grea
Russian Плохой день для Сэра Хендэла
Slovenian Silvester ima slab dan
Swedish En dålig dag för Sir Handel
Thai หัวรถจักรมีปัญหา
Ukrainian Поганий день Сера Хендела

Merchandise

Book

MyThomasStoryLibrarySirHandel Sir Handel (2004 My Thomas Story Library book)

Magazine Story

ABadDayforSirHandel45 A Bad Day for Sir Handel (2004 De Agostini magazine story)

Home Video Releases

United Kingdom UK

Rock'n'Rollandotherstories Rock 'n' Roll and Other Stories (direct-to-VHS, original dub)
BiggestPartyVideoEver!VHS Biggest Party Video Ever!
TheCompleteFourthSeriesVHS The Complete Fourth Series

United Kingdom UK DVD Boxset

ClassicCollectionSeasons1-5boxset Classic Collection

Wales WAL

ThomastheTankEngineBumperSpecial2cover Thomas the Tank Engine: Bumper Special 2

Australia AUS

RocknRollandotherStoriesAUS Rock 'n' Roll and Other Stories (direct-to-VHS)
RescuesOntheRailwayAustraliancover Rescues on the Railway
TheCompleteFourthSeriesAustralianDVD Series Four

Australia AUS DVD Packs

AustralianS1-5Collection Classic Collection: Series 1 - 5
SeriesThreeandFourAustralianDoublePack Series Three and Series Four 2-Disc Collection
CompleteSeries1-10 The Complete Series 1-10

New Zealand NZ

RockNRollNZCover Rock 'n' Roll and Other Stories

USA US

RustytotheRescueandOtherThomasStories1995FrontCover Rusty to the Rescue and Other Thomas Stories (direct-to-VHS)
ThomasandFriendsClassicVolume4 Thomas & Friends Classic Volume 4

Canada CAN

RustytotheRescueandOtherThomasStories1995FrontCover Rusty to the Rescue and Other Thomas Stories (direct-to-VHS)

USA Canada US/CAN DVD Pack

AdventureOntheTracks Adventure on the Tracks

South Africa ZA

BulldogSouthAfricanVHScover Bulldog (Volume Seven)

India IND

OliverOwnsUpandOtherStories Oliver Owns Up and Other Stories

Malaysia MYS

FourLittleEnginesandOtherThomasAdventuresMalaysianDVD Four Little Engines and Other Thomas Adventures (Volume 14) (VCD)
OneGoodTurnandotherAdventures One Good Turn and Other Adventures (DVD)

Philippines PHL

Rock'n'RollPhilippineDVDcover Rock n' Roll

Mexico MEX

FavouriteCharactersVol.6 Favourite Characters Volume 6

Italy ITA

TheSleepingBeauty Sleeping Beauty

Netherlands NL

Rock'nRoll2006frontcover Rock 'n Roll
Dubbeldik4frontcover Double Feature 4
TheGreatestStoriesTheAdventuresofThomascover The Greatest Stories: The Adventures of Thomas

Germany GER

LikeaRockand4OtherAdventures Like a Rock and 4 Other Adventures
ThomasandHisFriendsVol.7VHSCover Thomas & Friends Volume 7

Norway NOR

OnNewAdventuresNorwegianVHS On New Adventures

Denmark DK

FourSmallLocomotivesandOtherStoriesDanishVHScover Four Small Locomotives and Other Stories

Sweden SWE

RockNRollSwedishVHSCover+BackCover Rock 'n' Roll (VHS)
Thomas,PercyandtheDragonSwedishDVD Thomas, Percy and the Dragon and Rock 'n' Roll (DVD)

Finland FIN

Rock'n'RollLocomotiveFinnishVHS Rock 'n' Roll Locomotive

Slovenia SVN

GranpuffSlovenianDVDcover Granpuff

Greece GRC

ReadyforDepartureGreekVHScover Ready for Departure (VHS)
AdventuresattheRailwayStation2005GreekDVDcover Adventures at the Railway Station (DVD)

Greece GRC DVD Boxset

3DVDBoxset2 3 DVD Boxset 2

Thailand THA

ThomasandFriendsVolume12ThaiDVDCover Thomas & Friends Volume 12

Japan JPN

NewThomasTheTankEngineVol3VHSFrontCover New Thomas the Tank Engine Volume 3: Be Careful with Fish (direct-to-VHS)
TheCompleteWorksofThomastheTankEngine2Vol3cover The Complete Works of Thomas the Tank Engine 2 Volume 3: Oops! Failure Edition
ThomasandtheMountainRailwayEngines Thomas and the Mountain Railway Engines

South Korea KOR

Thomas&FriendsVolume3(Korean) Thomas & Friends Volume 3

China CHN

ThomasSeason1-4DVD Thomas & Friends Season 1-4

Hong Kong HK

NoImagePlaceholder Thomas & Friends Volume 9 (VCD)
ThomasandFriendsVolume2HongKongDVDFrontCover Thomas & Friends Volume 2 (DVD)

Taiwan TWN

Thomas&FriendsVolume1TaiwaneseDVD Thomas & Friends Volume 1

Episode

Reference



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