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This article is about the episode. You may be looking for the Chinese book.
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“Is that part of the surprise?"
"That is for
me to know and you to find out.”
― Thomas and Emily

Don't Tell Thomas is the ninth episode of the eighth series.

Plot

It is winter on the Island of Sodor and Christmas is coming, which Thomas enjoys annually. Stationmasters are decorating the stations and the children are building snowmen. However, there has been heavy snow, so Thomas has had to work hard to clear all the lines. Thanks to him, all of the engines' journeys and jobs are done on time. They are all so pleased, that they want to thank Thomas for his work with a surprise party.

After clearing the last lines of track, Thomas looks forward to seeing his friends, whom he misses. Thomas puffs into the station and sees Harold and Toby. When Thomas tries to say hello, Harold warns Toby not to let Thomas know about the planned surprise party. Thomas feels left out for not being part of the secret. When he arrives at another station, he sees Percy with colourful presents loaded in his trucks. Thomas asks him if they are part of the surprise but Percy - though bursting to tell Thomas about it - puffs away immediately to avoid ruining the surprise, making Thomas cross.

Later that afternoon, Thomas waits at a signal and sees Emily with a Christmas tree loaded on her flatbed. Thomas asks her if it is part of the surprise, but Emily strictly tells him that it is something for her to know and for him to find out. She then puffs away. An annoyed Thomas decides to find out the surprise all by himself and follows her on the same line. When Emily turns towards one of the branch lines, Thomas hurries in an attempt to follow her down the same track. However, the points change, making him stay on the main line, much to his frustration, thinking that he will never know what the surprise is.

Back at Tidmouth Sheds, everyone is excited about the surprise. Just as Thomas arrives, James and Henry warn the other engines not to tell him about it. This finally sets Thomas off, deciding that he does not want to know about the surprise at all if no one tells him. He angrily leaves the rest of the engines at sheds, and puffs far away to sulk in a far siding. Later, it is time to show Thomas the surprise, but the engines are unsure where Thomas has gone. Edward asks Harold to find Thomas, which he does and tells Thomas about the surprise is for him as a thank you for Thomas helping them out. He then tells Thomas to go to Wellsworth, where he collects the children. Thomas soon arrives at a country village station and sees the whole station decorated out to be a Christmas party, which is being held especially for him.

Characters

Locations

Trivia

  • Going by production order, this is the sixteenth episode of the eighth series.
  • This is Harold's last episode with a leading role until the twentieth series episode, Letters to Santa.
  • A CGI Series re-enactment of this episode was meant to appear in the fifteenth series episode, Percy the Snowman, but was dropped for unknown reasons.
  • This was the first episode of the series to feature every member of the Steam Team together.
  • This marks the only episode of a few things:
    • The only episode of the eighth series in which the Fat Controller does not appear.
    • Harold's only appearance in the eighth series.

Goofs

  • When Thomas is ploughing the snow, a piece of string can be faintly seen in the snow pulling him along the track. Because of this, no steam is emitting from his funnel.
  • During the scene of Gordon, Emily, and James passing each at the beginning, Emily and her coaches can be seen stopping all of a sudden after James' train moves offscreen.
  • The second shot when the engines are discussing Thomas' surprise is filmed after Thomas arrived at the sheds, as Thomas can be seen next to Percy in widescreen releases.
  • When Harold is telling Thomas about the surprise, his eyes are misaligned.
  • When the camera turns above Annie and Clarabel, its shadow can be seen.

Merchandise

In Other Languages

View content
Language Title
Brazilian Portuguese Não Contem para o Thomas
Chinese Mandarin 别告诉托马斯
Croatian Nemojte Reći Tomici
Czech Neříkej to Tomášovi
Danish Overraskelsen
Dutch Thomas Mag het Niet Weten
Finnish Tuomaksen Yllätys
French L'anniversaire d'Thomas
Non Raconte Thomas
German Thomas platzt vor Neugier
Greek O έχασε την επέτειο
Hungarian Thomas és a Meglepetés
Italian Non Ditelo a Thomas
Japanese トーマスにはないしょ
Korean 토마스에겐 비밀이야
Latin American Spanish No le Cuenten a Thomas
Norwegian Ikke si Noe til Thomas
Polish Nie Mówcie Tomkowi
Romanian Să Nu Alfe Thomas!
Russian Не говорите Томасу
Scottish Gaelic A Chuirm Dhiomhair
Serbian Ne recite Tomasu
Spanish No se lo Digáis a Thomas
Swedish Säg Inget Till Thomas

Home Media Releases

UK

DVD Boxsets

AUS

  • Peep! Peep! Hurray! Three Cheers for Thomas (Direct-to-Home Video)
  • The Complete Series 8

DVD Boxsets

US/CAN

DVD Packs

MYS

CHN

  • Holiday Express

TWN

SWE/DK

ZA

DVD Boxsets

NOR

FIN

ROM

DVD Packs

CZ

JPN

KOR

IDN

GER

POL

HUN

  • Thomas the Tank Engine 4 - Gordon, the Role Model

DVD Boxsets

SPN

DVD Boxsets

THA

HK


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