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"Steamies are fast, steamies are first!"
― Thomas

Don't Go Back is the fourteenth episode of the twelfth series.

Plot

One spring day, Thomas is to load and shunt trucks of stone at the quarry for Henry. However, Diesel states that he has also got an important job and claims he is faster than Thomas - and declares that they race backwards (so it is harder) to the hopper prove it, which Thomas accepts.

The two race and Thomas thinks that he is first, but Diesel is actually first and Thomas accidentally bumps him under the hopper and gets himself covered in stone. When Diesel boasts that he has won, Thomas challenges him to another race to the washdown which he states that he will win. They soon race, but Thomas cannot see Mavis is at the washdown and accidentally bumps into her, causing her to derail. However, Thomas forgets about Mavis, instead focusing on having won, so Diesel offers a tie breaker to the engine sheds.

Thomas soon races ahead, but neither he nor Diesel can see that 'Arry and Bert are behind them and also cause them both to be derailed after colliding with them. When Henry arrives, Thomas confesses that none of the trucks have been loaded and gets in trouble with the Yard Manager for what he did. Although Diesel attempts to challenge Thomas to another race, Thomas instead arranges the train and collects Rocky to put Mavis, 'Arry and Bert back on the rails.

Thomas and Diesel then work together to clear away the mess from the races. When the two are done, Diesel challenges Thomas to another race, which Thomas orders to be forward. This time, both arrive at the quarry gates at the same time.

Characters

Locations

Trivia

  • Stock footage from eleventh series episode Hector the Horrid! and the 2008 special, The Great Discovery is used for most of the opening sequence.
  • The credits in the 2009 DVD release, High Speed Adventures, incorrectly states that Sharon Miller wrote the episode when it was actually Simon Spencer.
  • This episode marked the last several things:
    • The last episode written by Simon Spencer.
    • Henry, Diesel and Mavis' last appearances in the model series, as well as Mavis' only appearance in the twelfth series.
    • The last appearance of Henry's smiling face modified to resemble a sly face and 'Arry and Bert's shocked faces.
  • The music of the engines fighting each other in Calling All Engines! is reused during Thomas and Diesel's races, albeit slightly sped up. The underscore version from Topped Off Thomas is also used very briefly for the first few seconds of Thomas and Diesel's second race.
  • In the book adaptation of the episode, Mavis is shown in a different part of the quarry, next to a water tower and a red lorry. This is likely a deleted scene.

Goofs

  • When Thomas and Diesel are at the quarry shed and the manager is walking towards them, Thomas' face is differently angled from his smokebox.
  • Thomas appears to be covered in dust before he reaches the chute.
  • In the second shot of Thomas and Diesel lined up from the back, a bush is edited over Thomas' crank pins.
  • A third rail is used to make Mavis derail and is clearly visible.
  • Diesel blows steam from his cab when he and Thomas shunt the trucks of rubble and wood.
  • 'Arry and Bert are missing the stubble on their CGI faces. Their faces are also considerably smaller than usual.
  • Diesel's wheels do not move as he reverses away from the hopper.
  • Right before Thomas and Diesel crash into 'Arry and Bert, one of the twins' eyes are wonky.
  • When Thomas tells Henry that his train will be ready, his CGI face is not proportioned correctly.
  • In the close-up of the trucks filled with rubble from the sheds, one of them is over Thomas' steam platform.
  • When Thomas puffs away from Henry in the overhead shot, he is missing his face.
  • When Thomas shunts Rocky to the shed:
    • His eyes are wonky.
    • His face is not on properly
    • His lamp, and whistle are crooked.
  • Throughout the episode, Thomas is dirty, then clean, and back to dirty again at random.

Merchandise

In Other Languages

Language Title
Brazilian Portuguese Não Anda Para Trás
Canadian French Ne Pas Revenir
Chinese Mandarin 别倒车
Czech Prozpátku Ne
Finnish Peruuttamatta Paras
French La Compétition
German Nicht rückwärts!
Indonesian Jangan Mundur
Italian Vietato Correre All'Indietro
Korean 뒤로 달리기 (Kids 1/DVD/VOD)
거꾸로 칙칙폭폭 (EBS)
Latin American Spanish A No Retroceder
Polish Wyścig Tyłem
Serbian Ne idi unatraške

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