- "Whoever caused this disturbance will have me to answer to."
- ― The Fat Controller
Bye George! is the seventh episode of the fifth series. In the US, it aired with Double Teething Troubles during an airing of Storytime with Thomas.
Plot
George has been working with the little engines and is waiting for Percy to take him to a new workplace. George is insulting Rheneas and Skarloey when Percy arrives. When they leave, the two little engines are pleased to see him go. Percy, however, is annoyed when George grumbles all the way to an old branch line which is being turned into a new road. Percy is still fuming when he met Thomas, who advises him to ignore George's rude remarks, which they will eventually lean is nothing to do to George.
George is enjoying himself as he tears up the old branch line when Thomas races by. George calls to him to admire his work, but Thomas takes no notice. George feels insulted and yells at Thomas by calling him a "useless blue puffball", but Thomas still does not hear. Seeing that he was ignored, George angrily vows to pay Thomas back.
Upon reaching the crossing that intersects the unused railway with the active one, George deliberately tells the workmen to tarmac it, knowing that they have not properly finished it. Thomas soon runs through on the same line with a vegetable train; the signalman has forgotten to warn his driver about the tarmacked crossing, and has fallen asleep. Thomas sees the signal is green and is delighted thinking they do not need to stop, but his driver sees the tarmacked crossing and realizes they do. However, it is too late, and Thomas ends up derailing and crashes through a barn.
The next day, Percy explains to Gordon what had happened with his experience with George, but the big engine takes no notice and claims that George doesn't cause any problems for him, but was about to find out that he had eaten his own words. Later on, George is working in a station yard when Duck arrives with a train of empty trucks. Unfortunately, George is blocking Duck's way resulting in the last truck in his train to rest on the points on the Main Line. Despite Duck's demands, George deliberately refuses to move out of the way, which only angers Duck as well as his driver, who goes to complain to the stationmaster, only to find out that the points and signal had already been set by the signalman to let Gordon pass. Before his passengers were singing his praises and the Express can be alerted, Gordon, who is already in a hurry, rushes through and hits the truck, causing it to launch into the air and smash into pieces upon hitting the ground, to Duck's horror.
At the next station, Gordon is worried that the Fat Controller is going to be angry at him. The Fat Controller is angry, but he knows it was neither Gordon or Duck's fault, and he declares that whoever is behind this incident has also caused all the other trouble on the railway and will have him to answer to. And so, a few days later, Thomas and Percy arrive to see George, who has been found out by the Fat Controller and punished by being sent to saw wood at the timber yard for an entire week, leaving him feeling miserable. Despite the fact that Thomas jokes that George will just be rude as before once his punishment is over, George sports a smile that shows he gladly learned his lesson.
Characters
- Thomas
- Gordon
- Percy
- Duck
- Skarloey
- George
- Sir Topham Hatt
- Rheneas (does not speak in the US dub)
- Edward (cameo)
- Troublesome Trucks (cameos)
- Butch (cameo)
- Stephen Hatt (cameo)
- Jem Cole (cameo)
- Farmer Trotter (cameo)
- The Mid Sodor Railway Manager (cameo)
- Duke (portrait cameo)
Locations
- Boulder Quarry
- The Fishing Village
- The Intersection Station
- Tidmouth Sheds
- Tower Windmill
- Crosby
- Wellsworth
- The Flour Mill
- Crovan's Gate (map only)
- Rheneas (map only)
- Rheneas Bridge (map only)
- Rheneas Tunnel (map only)
- Lakeside (map only)
- Skarloey (map only)
- Vicarstown (map only)
- The Scrapyards (mentioned)
Trivia
- According to film slates:
- The scene of Gordon arriving at Wellsworth Station was filmed on 20th October 1997. The close-up shot of the Fat Controller speaking with Gordon's crew was filmed on 28th October 1997.
- The scene on the Crosby Station set was filmed on 17th and 18th November 1997. The close-up shot of the signal going down was filmed on 19th November 1997, the close-up shots of the Crosby signalman changing the points was filmed on 20th November 1997, and the close-up shot of Gordon's whistle as he approaches Crosby was filmed on 27th November 1997.
- The scene of Percy taking George through the Fishing Village was filmed on 20th, 21st and 22nd January 1998.
- The close-up shots of the passengers inside an express coach were filmed on 9th February 1998.
- The scene with Thomas, Percy and George on the Flour Mill set was filmed on 12th February 1998.
- The shot of Thomas passing the Windmill was filmed on 6th March 1998.
- The scene on the Intersection Station set was filmed on 12th and 13th March 1998, while the close-up shots of Thomas' driver inside Thomas' cab and the workmen on the level crossing were filmed on 18th March 1998.
- The first scene of the episode with Percy, George, Rheneas and Skarloey was filmed on 26th and 30th March 1998.
- This episode marks:
- George's last speaking and leading role, although this should have been his last speaking role until the twenty-third series episode Free the Roads, and his last speaking role in the model series.
- The only appearances of Skarloey's angry face and George's sad face, although George's sad face also appears in a deleted scene from Lady Hatt's Birthday Party.
- The last episode to use Thomas' original wincing face, although it would later be used in Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
- The last appearances of Duck's concerned and angry faces in the Britt Allcroft Company Era.
- Just before Thomas derails, a brake sound effect is heard in the US and international dubs of the episode but not the UK dub.
- The portrait of Duke from Bulldog is seen in the signal box.
- The waiter on Gordon's express is the Elephant Keeper from Henry and the Elephant repainted with the head of the bowler hat Inspector. Another passenger is Mrs. Kyndley's seated figure with Elizabeth II's head.
- When Gordon says, "I'm the greatest! Just watch me fly by!" the footage is sped up. This shot was originally filmed for use in A Better View for Gordon.
- Duke's old shed can be seen in the background when Thomas and Percy talk to George at the mill.
- According to the 1998 website, George had his roller taken away for a while after this episode.
- This episode and Something in the Air were the only fifth series episodes to not be released on VHS in New Zealand. Both would instead appear on The Complete Series 5 DVD.
- A storyboard depicted that after Thomas crashed through the barn, he was to end up in a muddy river across from a cow field. For unknown reasons, the muddy river was later cut prior to filming.
- A map of the east of Sodor - which features Crovan's Gate and the Skarloey Railway - is seen inside the signal box. It is also seen in Sleeping Beauty, Oliver's Find and Busy Going Backwards. The map was made in the fourth series and was used as geographical reference for the locations in concept art.
- George's pupils are bigger when he was blocking Duck's way, as they were in the fourth series. This was due to the scenes on the Crosby set being filmed before every other set where George appears. His pupils were reduced in size during filming on the Fishing Village set.
- George paving over the railway at the intersection was likely inspired by an incident in 1969, where a railtour operated by the Railway Society of Scotland along the branch line between Garnqueen South Junction and Bedlay Colliery was halted due to road contractors having bulldozed part of the track before it had been closed to allow the northern end of the M37 motorway to be constructed.[2]
Goofs
- When the narrator says "George was being rude to Rheneas and Skarloey," they are smiling instead of cross.
- Percy is shown arriving to pick up George in one of the first few shots, then, after George is done insulting Rheneas and Skarloey, he is shown arriving again.
- When Skarloey talks to George, his right eye (viewers' left) jitters at one point, and his face also moves a bit.
- When Percy passes through the fishing village, his train gains a brake van. In addition, when Percy meets up with Thomas, the brake van changes and he also loses his lamp, and in Thomas' shot, the model of a driver or a fireman can be seen lying down in the background.
- In the close up shot, George's eyes appear to have scratches on his pupils.
- As the narrator says, "Thomas didn't hear," the face of the last truck is crooked.
- The Mid Sodor Railway Manager has visible dust on his hat.
- In Thomas' point-of-view of the tarmac rails:
- Studio equipment is visible at the top screen.
- He veers to the right, but in the next shot, he instead veers to the left.
- The barn switches sides from the right to the left side of the track.
- The track ends at the bushes.
- When Thomas breaks through the barn, his wheels appear to have no movement at all.
- In the shot where Thomas bursts out of the barn, the planks briefly change positions, and smoke is also suddenly bursting out indicating a film cut.
- In a long shot of George in the yard, the track which Gordon runs on dead ends.
- In some shots of Gordon, he is not pulling any coaches.
- Gordon has Duck's whistle sound when he whistles at the station.
- In the close up shot of Gordon whistling, his whistle has red stuff on it, and one of his brass fittings also appears to be crooked.
- Studio equipment is briefly visible on the top of Gordon's point of view when he first enters the station.
- In the shot of the truck flying through the air, it has already lost one pair of wheels, but both pairs are shown coming off when the truck hits the ground.
- In the Danish and Finnish dubs, the last line is said by George instead of the narrator.
- At the lumber mill, two Jem Coles are visible.
Quotes
- George: You're just worn out wheels on worn out rails!
- Skarloey: You need rocks for your roads, and we're helping you.
- George: I need to flatten little engines in the scrapyards.
- George: Railways are no good! Turn them into roads!
- Rheneas and Skarloey: Rollers are rubbish, so good riddance!
- George: Bumpy ride on rotten rails. I'm glad it's over.
- Percy: So am I!
- George: Ripping up rails! What a life!
- Gordon: I'm the greatest! Just watch me fly by!
- George: I want to get rolling again, but I've got to wait a whole week til I do.
- Thomas: And then you'll be just as rude as ever! Eh, George?
Merchandise
- Magazine Stories - Big Bad Roller
- Wooden Railway - Muddy Thomas & George (discontinued)
In Other Languages
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References
#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 | |