- "Surprise, surprise! Catch us if you can!"
"Oh, no!" - ― The Troublesome Trucks after breaking away from Percy who is surprised
A Surprise for Percy, lengthened to A Big Surprise for Percy in one North American release, is the twenty-first episode of the fifth series. In the US, it aired with Snow in the first airing of Storytime with Thomas.
Plot
Percy has been working at the coal mines and is fed up with the work. One day, his driver tells him they need to make the best of a bad situation, and Percy agrees to try. But the next morning, the trucks start teasing Percy and sing about him being small, useless and slow, much to his annoyance as he bumps some of them hard. He takes some trucks to be loaded with coal, then he glumly takes them up the hill to the yards. On his way back down, he has to stop at a crossing where Bertie is waiting. Percy explains his situation to Bertie, who tells him that excitement is surprising; he never knows when it will happen, otherwise it would not be exciting. As Bertie leaves, Percy thinks about how things would be exciting if something surprising happened.
Later that day, Percy stops at the water tower where Toby is waiting. Percy says that things are boring, so Toby tries to cheer him up by suggesting he have a few fast spins on the turntable, but Percy thinks it will just make him dizzy. As he leaves, Toby tells him that he will soon know more about trucks than any other engine, and that would be exciting. When he returns to fetch more coal trucks, there are more trucks than ever, and they all begin complaining that Percy is too small to pull all of them uphill, calling him slow. Percy crossly biffs them, making the trucks giggle at his temper.
Percy is soon coupled up to a line of trucks and pulls them backwards towards the hill. The trucks continue joking about Percy being slow and taking all night and into the next day to get up the hill, but Percy finally snaps and demands them to be quiet. At that moment, just as he reaches the top, a coupling breaks and the trucks race backwards down the hill. They speed backwards through the level crossing where Bertie is waiting, and Percy hurries down to the signal box. His driver tells the signalman, and the yard foreman tells the Fat Controller that the trucks are heading for the big hill. It would slow them down, but they may roll back into the village. The Fat Controller declares that they will just have to stop the trucks themselves.
In no time, the workmen board Bertie, and he and the Fat Controller chase the trucks down the road while Percy follows them on the track. As the Fat Controller and Bertie reach the hill, they overtake the trucks. They come to a stop near the top of the hill just as the trucks begin to climb it themselves. The trucks slow to a stop, and the workmen manage to put chocks under the trucks' wheels to keep them from rolling away again. Just then, Percy arrives, and Bertie asks him what he thought of the chase. Percy admits that it was exciting and surprising. He decides that Bertie was right: a Really Useful Engine should never be surprised by surprise.
Characters
- Percy
- Toby
- Troublesome Trucks
- Bertie
- Sir Topham Hatt
- The Marshalling Yards Foreman
- Henrietta (cameo)
- Farmer Trotter (cameo)
- Thomas (deleted scene)
- Mavis (deleted scene cameo)
Locations
- The Coal Mines
- Miner's Halt
- Sir Topham Hatt's Office
- Old Manor Station
- Brendam Docks (deleted scene)
Trivia
- This episode is inspired by a runaway in the Garw Valley that occurred during David Maidment's time as Area Manager at Bridgend. That true story would also inspire Busy Going Backwards, two episodes after this one.
- According to the film slates:
- A deleted scene featuring Thomas and Percy at Brendam Docks was filmed on 26 September 1997.
- The Miner's Halt scenes were filmed on 21 and 24 November 1997.
- The Big Hill was filmed on 25 and 26 November 1997.
- Close-ups in Sir Topham Hatt's office were filmed on the 26th. A close-up of Percy's driver was filmed on the 27th.
- Close-ups of Percy's driver at the Coal Mine were filmed on 16 December 1997.
- The Old Manor Station was filmed on 13 January 1998.
- The close-up of Percy's driver shouting "Go to it, Percy!" was filmed on 16 January 1998.
- Music is used when Percy returns to the coal yard and the trucks sing at him in the US and international dubs but not in the UK dub.
- In the UK dub, just before the runaway, the narrator refers to the Fat Controller by his real name. This is one of only a few occurrences in the UK dub where this happens.
- Stock footage from Put Upon Percy is used.
- Much of the footage during the runaway is sped up.
- The load that Cranky dropped on Percy from Cranky Bugs is seen on the ground to the right of the screen when the trucks at the coal mine sing.
- This marks the only appearance of the Miner's Halt station in the television series.
- A brown building, the three berth garage and the steel rig outer frame from TUGS appear at the coaling plant.
- The wooden part of the Skarloey Engine Sheds appears at the coaling plant.
- The old station from Oliver's Find is seen as the Fat Controller and Bertie chase the trucks, which possibly implies that it is located somewhere between Miner's Halt and the Coal Mines.
- The boat repairs building from Lakeside and Norramby Fishing Village can be seen at the miner's village.
- A deleted scene that takes place at Brendam Docks during night features Thomas with Percy, which indicates that Thomas was going to have a role in this episode. It is unknown what the scene was meant to convey, but it is likely that Thomas was supposed to help cheer Percy up.
- This marks the first appearance of Bertie's unused shocked face from the second series.
- When the trucks grumble, one has a face only seen in this episode. It has yet to surface in production materials and post-production events.
- An unused extended scene reveals that Mavis was used to push the trucks up the hill during the runaway sequence.
Goofs
- The backdrop is visible during a close-up of Percy struggling up the hill.
- Just before the truck's coupling breaks, Percy's cylinder appears to be broken. Interestingly, the first take of the same shot revealed that Percy's cylinder was actually fixed, but that take was unused in the final cut.
- In the bird's-eye shot of the trucks, a wire can be seen pulling the trucks forward.
- In some shots of Percy pulling the trucks up the hill, his first red stripe is out of place.
- In one scene the Fat Controller and Bertie park at the end of the stone wall, but in the next scene, they are nowhere to be seen.
- In the last shot of Bertie, he has cracks on his roof and driver's window.
- As the Fat Controller's car and Bertie drive past the line, there is green foliage covering the tracks.
- In a close-up of the trucks racing up the hill, the brake van is at the wrong end of the train.
- Shortly after the chase begins, Bertie has stopped at the far end of the set.
- When Percy goes in between the two lines of trucks, the first truck on the viewer's right is coming off its wheel frames.
- When the narrator says "The trucks were still grumbling," the first truck in line's left (viewer's perspective right) buffer is missing. In the next shot, the same truck has disappeared altogether.
Quotes
- Bertie: What's the matter, Percy?
- Percy: Nothing exciting ever happens, that's the matter. It's just coal, coal, coal and trucks, trucks, trucks! I'm bored, bored, bored!
- Trucks: You're much too slow to pull all of us. We want another engine, or we'll be struggling up the hill all night! [chant] All night! Alright! You can puff and blow! But on that hill, you're still too slow!
- Percy: (stuttering) S-s-slow yourself! [bumps the trucks again]
- Trucks: Temper, temper! [laugh]
- Narrator: Percy decided just to carry on.
- Percy's Driver: Go to it, Percy!
- Trucks: Too slow, more power, here all night, tomorrow too!
- Percy: Be quiet!!
In Other Languages
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Reference
#01 Cranky Bugs | #10 Toby and the Flood | #19 Happy Ever After |
#02 Horrid Lorry | #11 Haunted Henry | #20 Sir Topham Hatt's Holiday |
#03 A Better View for Gordon | #12 Double Teething Troubles | #21 A Surprise for Percy |
#04 Lady Hatt's Birthday Party | #13 Stepney Gets Lost | #22 Make Someone Happy |
#05 James and the Trouble with Trees | #14 Toby's Discovery | #23 Busy Going Backwards |
#06 Gordon and the Gremlin | #15 Something in the Air | #24 Duncan Gets Spooked |
#07 Bye George! | #16 Thomas, Percy and Old Slow Coach | #25 Rusty and the Boulder |
#08 Baa! | #17 Thomas and the Rumours | #26 Snow |
#09 Put Upon Percy | #18 Oliver's Find | |