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- "Look here, Percy. Whatever is that dirty object?"
"That's James, didn't you know?"
"It's James' shape but James is a splendid red engine and you never see his paint dirty." - ― Toby and Percy teasing James
Dirty Objects, retitled James in a Mess on North American releases, is the twenty-third episode of the first series. It is based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book Toby the Tram Engine.
Plot
"I am a splendid engine, ready for anything. You never see my paint dirty."
Toby and Henrietta are enjoying their new lives on the Island of Sodor. However, because of their old paintwork and old-fashioned appearances, James often insults them by calling them "dirty objects". One day, having finally lost patience, Toby asks why James is red and James says that it is because he is a splendid engine who is ready for anything and boasts that his paint would never be seen dirty. After hearing this, Toby teasingly reminds James of the time a bootlace was used to mend a hole in his coaches, enraging him.
Later, at the end of the line, James leaves his coaches behind and starts pulling a slow goods train, which he despises, making him angrier. Although the trucks initially behave well, James is so rough with them due to his own rage that they decide to pay him back. At the top of Gordon's Hill, James doesn't stop to have his brakes pinned down, something he should have remembered to do given his previous accident with trucks. He is too busy thinking of what to say to Toby the next time they meet. Seizing the opportunity, the trucks push James down the hill. Unable to stop, he flies through Maron Station and derails by crashing into two tar tankers. Although James is not badly hurt, he is left covered in tar from smokebox to cab, while the tankers and some of his trucks are destroyed.
As Percy and Toby arrive at the scene, Toby teases James yet again, pretending not to recognise him due to his dirty paint since James is a splendid engine whose paint is never seen dirty. James sheepishly pretends that he has not heard. Eventually, Toby and Percy take James back to Tidmouth Goods Station where the Fat Controller is waiting. He commends Percy and Toby for their hard work and tells James that he needs to be cleaned immediately. The Fat Controller rewards Toby with a new coat of paint and accepts his request that Henrietta have one as well. Toby happily runs off to tell Henrietta the good news while James watches in silence, only too aware that today he is the "dirty object".
Characters
- James
- Percy
- Toby
- Troublesome Trucks
- Sir Topham Hatt
- Henrietta (does not speak)
- Gordon (mentioned)
- Henry (mistakenly mentioned in the Spanish dub)
Locations
- Elsbridge
- Knapford
- The Cow Field
- Gordon's Hill
- Maron
- Maron Signals Runby
- Maron Bridge (deleted scene)
- Tidmouth Sheds
- The Viaduct (deleted scene)
- Hawin Ab (deleted scene)
Trivia
- Extended stock footage from Troublesome Trucks is used.
- During its original UK broadcast, this episode was paired with Thomas' Christmas Party as they both aired at 9.45am on Christmas day, 1984. However, VHS releases have the episode paired with Off the Rails. The episode later aired individually in the UK in 1985. It was paired again with Thomas' Christmas Party on 13 February 1989.
- Deleted scenes of James crossing Maron Bridge and the side angle of him crashing into the tar tankers were later released in the Troublesome Trucks music video.
- This episode marks:
- The first time an engine gets covered in tar. It would happen later in the eighth series episode Percy's Big Mistake.
- The last appearance of Maron Station until the sixth series episode It's Only Snow and thus the last appearance of Maron in its original form.
- When James crashes into the tar wagons in both Ringo Starr's dubs and the Ukrainian voice-over, the crashing sound is much louder than in other dubs of the episode.
- The crashing sound of James crashing into the tar wagons was also heard in the 1983 film The Wind in the Willows.
- Percy's whistling when he and Toby set to work clearing the mess is absent in both of Ringo Starr's dubs and the Ukrainian voice-over.
- The events of this episode were referenced by Douglas in the second series episode Break Van and by Thomas in the twenty-third series episode Chucklesome Trucks. James' crash was also recreated in CGI in the latter episode.
- The episode's US title was later reused for the 2023 reprint of the 2020 magazine story All in Vain.
Goofs
- When James arrives at Elsbridge at the beginning, his eyes jolt up a bit.
- When Toby asks James why he is red, his sad face is missing his eyebrows and his mouth isn't painted in.
- When James leaves Elsbridge, his brake coach is at the back of his train. But when he arrives at Knapford, his brake coach has moved to the middle of his train and his whistle is also crooked.
- When James says, "Dirty trucks from dirty sidings!" his eyes are misaligned.
- When James sets off with his long train, the chuffing sound can be heard before he starts to move.
- When James ascends Gordon's Hill with the trucks, a piece of string can be seen pulling him upward.
- In the Spanish dub, when the narrator says, "banging their buffers, they pushed him down the hill," James is incorrectly referred to as Henry.
- When James passes the signal, the signal is given the "all clear" position but there are tar wagons in the way.
- When James races through Maron, his brake van changes from grey to brown.
- James is nowhere to be seen in the close-up of the tar wagons, even though he just passed through Maron station.
- A hand can be seen pushing the trucks and James as he crashes into the tar wagons.
- When James runs into the tar wagons, the truck behind him has no buffers.
- Due to portions of the script being taken verbatim from the original Railway Series story, the narrator says that James ran into two tar wagons but there are four, although only two appear derailed as part of the crash.
- Studio equipment is reflected on James' tender when he crashes into the tar wagons. Also, blu tack is visible in James' tender.
- Percy's position changes when he and Toby come to help James.
- Percy's eyes slightly jitter a few times and his left eye (viewers' right) also moves on its own for a second when he and Toby tease James.
- When Toby says, "you never see his paint dirty," the edge of the set is visible.
- When Percy and Toby arrive at the yards, the man next to the Fat Controller has blu tack on his feet.
- In a close-up of the Fat Controller, he has a hole in his chin.
- In Ringo Starr's US dub, when Sir Topham Hatt says, "Fancy letting your cars run away. I am surprised," the audio from the UK dub can be faintly heard in the background.
In Other Languages
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Merchandise
Thomas and Terence and James and the Tar Wagons (1985 Ladybird book)- James and the Tar Wagons (1990 Buzz Book)
- James in a Mess and Other Thomas the Tank Engine Stories (1993 Random House Pictureback book)
Magazine Story
- James and the Tar Wagons (1988 magazine story)
Home Video Releases
Episode
UK narration
US narration (George Carlin)References
| #01 Thomas and Gordon | #10 James and the Express | #19 The Flying Kipper |
| #02 Edward and Gordon | #11 Thomas and the Guard | #20 Whistles and Sneezes |
| #03 The Sad Story of Henry | #12 Thomas Goes Fishing | #21 Toby and the Stout Gentleman |
| #04 Edward, Gordon and Henry | #13 Thomas, Terence and the Snow | #22 Thomas in Trouble |
| #05 Thomas' Train | #14 Thomas and Bertie | #23 Dirty Objects |
| #06 Thomas and the Trucks | #15 Tenders and Turntables | #24 Thomas' Christmas Party |
| #07 Thomas and the Breakdown Train | #16 Trouble in the Shed | #25 Off the Rails |
| #08 James and the Coaches | #17 Percy Runs Away | #26 Down the Mine |
| #09 Troublesome Trucks | #18 Coal | |