This article is about the episode. You may be looking for the character or the magazine story. |
- "Right you horrible lot - I'm in charge now! So no bumping and none of your cheek!"
"Ah! But we like bumping!"
"Not on my watch, matey! This is now a bump-free zone! Oh dear, how sad, never mind. When you're ready, Thomas." - ― Bradford and the trucks
Bradford the Brake Van is the fifth episode of the twentieth series.
Plot
One day, Thomas is having trouble with the troublesome trucks. When Samson arrives and sees him, he brags that his trucks are not a problem. Leaving the yard, he leaves his brake van: Bradford. Bradford is ashamed of the trucks and offers to be Thomas' brake van. Thomas happily agrees.
Once in position, Bradford barks at the trucks to be quiet. As Thomas passes the other engines, they wish they had a brake van like Bradford, but at the Blue Mountain Quarry, Bradford makes Thomas stop; the stones in his trucks are nine millimetres above the allowed height. Thomas is surprised that Bradford is enforcing such a minor rule, even more when Bradford demands him to unload some stone, making him become very late.
At the docks, Whiff asks Thomas to borrow Bradford. Thomas agrees, happy to get away from him. Whiff soon runs into a problem with him; Bradford claims Whiff's trucks are too dirty. When Henry comes to pull the Flying Kipper, Bradford orders Henry to get a new lamp after seeing a tiny crack. Henry comes back very late, and all the engines complain about Bradford.
When Thomas collects his trucks later that day, the only brake van left is Bradford, but Thomas does not want to travel with him. He decides to sneak away, and when Bradford calls Thomas out, he pretends he cannot hear him. Then there is trouble; Thomas' trucks are filled with too many stones, and without a brake van, the Troublesome Trucks surge forward and push Thomas down Gordon's Hill and into the back of Percy's train, derailing his brake van and rear truck.
Later, Harvey arrives to help Percy, and the Fat Controller arrives as well. He asks Thomas why he left without taking Bradford, to which Thomas answers he did not want to be late again. The Fat Controller tells Thomas that safety comes first before being on time, and Thomas realises that Bradford was right all along.
Thomas apologises to Bradford, but Bradford says that he is leaving. As Samson pulls him away, the engines all whistle for him, but Bradford orders to not whistle while stationary, but then makes an exception this time. After what the engines and the trucks went through, they are all quite happy that Bradford is leaving Sodor.
Characters
- Thomas
- Henry
- Gordon
- Percy
- Emily
- Whiff
- Samson
- Troublesome Trucks
- Bradford
- Sir Topham Hatt
- Edward (not named; sighs only)
- James (not named; sighs only)
- Owen (does not speak)
- Harvey (cameo)
- Winston (cameo)
- Skarloey (cameo)
- Rheneas (cameo)
- Sir Handel (cameo)
- Peter Sam (cameo)
- Troublesome Vans (cameos)
- Cranky (cameo)
- Big Mickey (faceless, cameo)
- Annie and Clarabel (mentioned)
Locations
- Island of Sodor
- Knapford Yards
- Blue Mountain Quarry
- Brendam Docks
- Tidmouth Sheds
- Gordon's Hill
- Sodor Steamworks (mentioned)
- Whiff's Waste Dump (mentioned)
- The Washdown (mentioned)
- The Mainland (mentioned)
Cast
UK
- John Hasler as Thomas
- Keith Wickham as Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Whiff and the Fat Controller
- Nigel Pilkington as Percy
- Teresa Gallagher as Emily
- Robert Wilfort as Samson
- Rob Rackstraw as Bradford
- Christopher Ragland as the Troublesome Trucks
US
- Joseph May as Thomas
- William Hope as Edward and Whiff
- Kerry Shale as Henry and Gordon
- Rob Rackstraw as James and Bradford
- Christopher Ragland as Percy and the Troublesome Trucks
- Jules de Jongh as Emily
- Robert Wilfort as Samson
- Keith Wickham as Sir Topham Hatt
Trivia
- Going by production order, this is the eighth episode of the twentieth series.
- Apart from sighing, Edward and James do not have any dialogue in this episode.
- This episode is distinct as it was never aired on television or released on DVD in the US. It can only be watched on the twentieth series digital release.
- Bradford's theme is based on the theme from the 1963 film The Great Escape.
- This episode marks:
- The first time the vans have been seen with faces since the seventh series episode, Something Fishy.
- Bradford's only appearance in the twentieth series.
- The only time Owen is acknowledged by name in the twentieth series and the last time until the twenty-third series episode, Diesel Glows Away.
- Bradford's line "Oh dear, how sad, never mind" is a reference to a catchphrase used by the character of Battery Sergeant Major Williams from the British sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum.
Goofs
- During the opening when the screen splits to show Thomas and the trucks, the smoke emitting from the chimney in the top left of the shot is not animated.
- In the US dub:
- The UK term “trucks” is used in a few scenes, specifically during the opening scene at Knapford Yard, and later when Thomas passes Emily with Bradford and his trucks and during the scene where The Fat Controller tells Thomas to leave his trucks at the Docks.
- Thomas’ exclamations and chuckling when he leaves Knapford Yard with Bradford and the Troublesome Trucks are not heard, despite his mouth moving as if he were doing so.
- When Emily is struggling to pull the trucks, her front and trailing bogeys are moving.
- At the sheds when Emily is telling Henry her experience with Bradford, her eyelids clip into her eyes.
- As Thomas races down the hill, some of the stones on the ground do not have shadows. This is due to the rocks or background being rendered separately.
Merchandise
Name | Published | Publisher | Highlights | Photo |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bradford the Brake Van | 28th June 2017 | Egmont Publishing |
In Other Languages
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Home Media Releases
UK
US
IDN
ITA/LATAM/BRA
#01 Sidney Sings | #11 Letters to Santa | #21 Henry in the Dark |
#02 Toby's New Friend | #12 Love Me Tender | #22 Three Steam Engines Gruff |
#03 Henry Gets the Express | #13 The Railcar and the Coaches | #23 Engine of the Future |
#04 Diesel and the Ducklings | #14 Mucking About | #24 Hugo and the Airship |
#05 Bradford the Brake Van | #15 Cautious Connor | #25 The Missing Breakdown Train |
#06 Saving Time | #16 All in Vain | #26 Skiff and the Mermaid |
#07 Ryan and Daisy | #17 Buckled Tracks and Bumpy Trucks | #27 The Christmas Coffeepot |
#08 Pouty James | #18 Tit for Tat | #28 Over the Hill |
#09 Blown Away | #19 Mike's Whistle | |
#10 The Way She Does It | #20 Useful Railway | |