Thomas the Tank Engine Wikia
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This article is about the episode. You may be looking for the UK DVD, the Ladybird book, the Buzz Book, the Step into Reading book or the magazine story.
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“I'm sorry. I didn't know you were being a brave engine."
"That's all right, sir. I didn't know that either.”
― The Barber and Duck

A Close Shave, lengthened to A Close Shave for Duck on North American releases, is the fourteenth episode of the second series. It is based on the story of the same name from the Railway Series book Duck and the Diesel Engine.

Plot

After being framed by Diesel for telling lies about the big engines to the trucks, Duck puffs sadly to Wellsworth and tells Edward what has happened. Edward assures Duck that everything will be alright and suggests helping him with his goods train, which cheers Duck up.

The two engines work hard for the whole afternoon to make the noisy trucks behave less silly while taking them up Gordon's Hill. Once at the top, Duck says goodbye to Edward and heads back to the station. As he coasts down the hill and enjoys the breeze, he suddenly hears a guard's whistle. The guard had been knocked out of the brake van, as Edward's trucks have broken away and are racing back towards Duck at breakneck speed, intending to derail him.

ACloseShave14

"We've broken away, we've broken away!"

Duck hurries through Wellsworth, trying his hardest to outrun the trucks but they gradually catch up to him on the viaduct and begin pushing him. Just as they are starting to regain control, Duck and his driver see James ahead on the same track, pulling a passenger train out of Crosby Station. Duck puts all of his weight against the trucks but is unable to stop. He shuts his eyes and prepares for the worst, but gets diverted onto a siding at the last second as James and his coaches have cleared the platform and points.

At the end of the siding is a small barbershop. While the barber is shaving a customer, Duck is pushed by the trucks into the end of the siding, comes off the rails and crashes right into the front of the shop, destroying the wall. Some trucks derail as well but pay no attention to this, feeling rather pleased with themselves having successfully derailed Duck, who stares nervously at the crowd in front of him. Duck tries to apologise, but the barber is furious with him for frightening his customers and covers his face with shaving cream.

Thomas and Percy both arrive to help clear the mess and soon the Fat Controller comes in to speak with the barber, who is still fuming. The Fat Controller explains that Duck and his crew helped to prevent a much worse accident with James, adding that it was "a very close shave". The barber quickly washes the lathering off of Duck's face and apologises for misjudging him.

Once the trucks have been cleared, Thomas pulls Duck out of the barbershop. The Fat Controller tells Duck that he will be returning to the yard once he is mended. Duck still thinks that the big engines dislike him, but the Fat Controller reveals that he never believed Diesel's lies and sent him away in disgrace; the other engines are now sorry and want Duck to come back. After being mended, Duck returns to the shed and all the other engines welcome him back with happy whistles.

Characters

Locations

Trivia

  • A large scale model of Duck is used for the scenes inside the barbershop. The face used for this was originally designed for Thomas' large scale model, although always off-camera.
  • The events were later mentioned by James in the fourth series episode Rock 'n' Roll.
  • This episode marks:
    • Duck's first accident/derailment in the series.
    • The only speaking role of the Barber and his last appearance.
  • The Lynton and Barnstaple van that was used in this episode is currently owned by Twitter user ThomasTankMerch.
  • A promotional image shows the barber and his customers looking at Duck before he crashes and the barber putting shaving cream on the customer's forehead by mistake, which may explain why it is there after the crash.
  • In the original version, there are five shots of the barber lathering Duck's face. However in the restored version, there are only four as shot three is omitted.
  • In the restored version, the scene in which the trucks pass through Wellsworth is sped up.
  • When Duck races into Crosby Yards, the stationmaster's house from Thomas Comes to Breakfast can be seen.

Goofs

  • When Duck arrives at Wellsworth, his whistle valves are missing.
  • In Ringo Starr's US dub, an echo of audio from the UK dub can be heard in the background at Wellsworth.
  • When Edward pulls out of the yard at Wellsworth with the train, the Lynton and Barnstaple van behind him does not have a face but later gains one as the train heads up Gordon's Hill.
  • As the trucks race through the level crossing, a string can be seen pulling them and the brake van also has a face despite not being present in the other scenes.
  • In the German dub, when Duck passes through Edward's station, the line "but the trucks were catching up" is omitted.
  • When James pulls his coaches away from the next station, some roofs of the coaches are crooked.
  • Both of Ringo Starr's dubs and the Ukrainian voice-over state that Duck shut his eyes when he was diverted into the siding, yet his eyes are wide open due to a wincing/clenched face never being made for Duck.
  • Just before Duck crashes into the barbershop, the face of the Lynton and Barnstaple van is facing forwards instead of backwards.
  • Because Thomas' large scale face is used for Duck, his nose changes shape during the scenes of the barbershop.
  • Both the barber and his customers are smiling when the barber says, "I'll teach you!" Likewise, Duck appears to be smiling while being lathered.
  • When Thomas arrives to help with the cleanup, a second track appears next to the siding and his eyes are also misaligned as he pulls Duck out.
  • The barber only washes half of the lathering off of Duck's face but after Duck is pulled out, his face is fully lathered again.
  • In the close-up shot of Duck when he is being pulled out of the barbershop, studio equipment can be seen in the background.
  • In a close up of Thomas's wheels while pulling Duck out of the barbershop, a red wire is visible underneath him.
  • When Duck is being pulled out of the barbershop, his wheels do not move.
  • In the final scene, Duck's handrails are gold instead of silver and Henry has Duck's five steps high pitch whistle when blowing his whistle for the first time.
  • When this episode was originally released on the Thomas Comes to Breakfast 1998 VHS in Canada, it had no narration and only included the music and sound effects. This was later corrected on the 2000 VHS tape release in Canada.

Quotes

Duck: [Arrives at Wellsworth and speaks to Edward] It's not fair. Diesel has been telling lies about me and made the Fat Controller and all the engines think I'm horrid.
Edward: I know you aren't and so does the Fat Controller. You wait and see. Why don't you help me with these trucks? [Moves forward with the trucks]
Narrator: Duck felt happier with Edward and set to work at once. [Buffers up behind and helps Edward push the trucks]
Duck: [after crashing into the barber shop] Beg pardon, sir. Excuse my intrusion.
Barber: No, I won't. You frightened my customers. I'll teach you!
Narrator: And he lathered Duck's face all over. Poor Duck. Thomas was helping to pull the trucks away when the Fat Controller arrived.
Barber: I do not like engines popping through my walls!
The Fat Controller: I appreciate your feeling, but you must know that this engine and his crew have prevented a serious accident. It was a very close shave.
Barber: Oh. Oh, excuse me!
Narrator: He filled a basin of water to wash Duck's face.
Barber: I'm sorry. I didn't know you were being a brave engine.
Duck: That's all right, sir. I didn't know that, either.
The Fat Controller: You were very brave, indeed. I'm proud of you!

In Other Languages

View content
Language Title
Albanian Rosa dhe berberi
Brazilian Portuguese Um visitante inesperado
Chinese Mandarin 一次擦肩而过
Croatian Za dlaku
Czech O fous
Danish Duck hos barberen
Dutch Op een haartje na
Finnish Tarkka rajaus
French D'un cheveu
German Um Haaresbreite
Greek Η Τζάκι στον κουρέα
Hungarian Hajszál híján
Italian Scampato pericolo
Japanese とこやにいったダック
Korean 다시 집으로 돌아간 덕
Latin American Spanish Una afeitada al ras para Duck
Norwegian Nære på
Polish Rehabilitacja (Original)
O mały włos (Alternate)
Romanian Pe aproape bărbierit
Romansh Ina rashura glischa per Duck
Russian Опасное бритье
Serbian Brijanje
Slovenian V brivnici
Swedish Nära på
Turkish Kıl Payı
Welsh Sôn am Helynt

Merchandise

Home Video Releases

UK

UK DVD Boxset

WAL

US

CAN

  • Better Late than Never and Other Stories (Ringo Starr's US dub)
  • Thomas Comes to Breakfast and Other Thomas Adventures (No narration on 1998 VHS)

US/CAN DVD Packs

AUS

AUS DVD Packs

NZ

ZA

IND

MYS

PHL

LATAM

LATAM DVD Boxset

BRA

ITA

FRA

ROM

ROM DVD Pack

NL

GER

GER DVD Boxset

MYS

NOR

DK

SWE/FIN

ICE

  • Thomas the Tank Engine 4

SVN

HRV

SRP

GRC

GRC DVD Boxset

TUR

THA

JPN

JPN DVD Boxset

KOR

CHN

HK

Episode

References



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