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Goodbye Fat Controller

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"The Fat Controller won't still be here, will he?"
"No, no. He won't be here. I'll find out when he's going."
"Well, the sooner he's gone, the better. So, we can get started."
― The Painters

Goodbye Fat Controller, retitled Goodbye Sir Topham Hatt for North American releases, is the twenty-fifth episode of the nineteenth series.

Plot

One morning, Percy pulls into Knapford with the mail train. He notices a group of people talking to the Fat Controller outside his office. As he leaves for a moment to answer the telephone, one of the men tells the other two that he will soon find out when the Fat Controller is leaving. Percy is very surprised to hear this. The men catch him listening, so he hastily leaves the station. When he meets Thomas later that day, Percy tells him what the men had said. They conclude that the Fat Controller must be leaving the Island of Sodor.

By that evening, all of the engines are talking about it. Edward and Gordon both agree that they will miss the Fat Controller once he is gone, even though he sometimes gets very cross with his engines. Emily reminds them that they are always causing confusion and delay and Percy comes to the conclusion that maybe that is why he is leaving: because of them. Thomas decides that they must convince him to stay.

The next morning, the Fat Controller was very surprised to see the engines arriving at Knapford bright and early. Thomas tells him that they are doing their best to make Sodor a very good railway. All day long, the engines work hard to show the Fat Controller how reliable they can be, much to his confusion. In the evening, Emily nearly collides with Diesel's goods train. Diesel begins to snap at her before stopping himself so as to not upset the Fat Controller. As Diesel leaves, the controller asks Henry why the engines are behaving so strangely. Henry tells him how happy they are that he is running the railway and the Fat Controller replies that he loves the railway very much.

At Tidmouth Sheds, Henry tells the engines what the Fat Controller said. They all begin to think that maybe he is not leaving Sodor at all, but Percy is still not sure what to think as he leaves to take the mail train.

The following morning, Percy arrives at Knapford and sees the same group of men. This time, they are taking the Fat Controller's belongings out of his office, including his beloved telephone. Percy quickly hurries back to the sheds to tell the other engines. They are all very sad when they realise that he must be leaving after all. Thomas decides to put his wheel down and tells the engines that they must go on strike, to persuade the Fat Controller to stay on Sodor.

At Knapford, the passengers are all complaining about their trains running late and telling each other what a bad railway it is. The stationmaster tells the Fat Controller about the engines refusing to leave the sheds, so he hurries to see what is going on. When he arrives, Thomas tells him all about their strike to persuade him to stay. But it turns out the Fat Controller is not leaving at all. He explains to them that his office is being redecorated and his belongings had to be moved to a temporary one. Percy was sorry and all of the engines feel very silly as they leave to start work.

Because of the engines' strike, they have caused confusion and delay, but they have to work very hard to make up for lost time. Meanwhile, the Fat Controller struggles to work in his temporary office: a small shed in Knapford Station Yard.

Characters

Locations

Cast

UK

US

Trivia

  • Going by production order, this is the twenty-sixth and final episode of the nineteenth series.
  • This marks the only with a few things:
    • The only episode in the nineteenth series to have different titles in both dubs. This is also the first episode with the Fat Controller's name in the title that addresses him as such in the UK dub.
    • The only episode story idea by Robin Gay.
  • An instrumental snippet of the 2010 song is heard during the montage scene. Also, the singers can be faintly heard. The original one is also heard a few times.
  • This episode is similar to the magazine story, Come Back, Please!, and the engines' strike is similar to the first series episode, Trouble in the Shed. The stationmaster even says the exact same phrase from said episode: "There's trouble in the sheds, sir!"
  • Percy claiming that the Fat Controller is always cross with Thomas could be a reference to the fact that he got cross with him in almost every episode and movie special that focused on him.
  • When this episode aired on Cartoonito, Sky, TalkTalk, BT, and Virgin, it was listed the episode with the US title and info. However, said services list other episodes with their UK titles.
  • In the Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Baltic Russian, and Vietnamese dubs, the UK English dub can be heard in the background as a dubbing track wasn't used.

Goofs

  • When Gordon says, "So that's what's going on?", Henry is out of scale.
  • When the Fat Controller orders his engines to get back to work, they all leave the sheds at once, but the turntable only has room for one engine at a time.
  • In one shot, Gordon is shown backing down onto his express coaches, but in the next shot of him, the express coaches disappear.
  • When Percy arrives back at Tidmouth Sheds with his mail coaches, steam is emitted from Thomas' whistle while Percy is the one whistling.
  • When Emily says "What a relief" and James says "I knew he wouldn't be leaving!", their mouths don't move.

Quotes

  • Thomas: Sodor needs the Fat Controller!
  • All: No! No! He can't go! No! No! He can't go!
  • Percy: The Fat Controller is our friend!
  • All: No! No! He can't go! No! No! He can't go!
  • Emily: (gasps) There he is!
  • All: Hooray!
  • The Fat Controller: What on earth is going on? Quiet! Be quiet, all of you! Now, could someone please explain the meaning of this outrage?
  • Thomas: This strike was my idea, sir!
  • James: Without you, the railway just wouldn't be the same.
  • The Fat Controller: But... But...
  • Percy: We don't want you to leave Sodor, sir!
  • The Fat Controller: But I'm not leaving Sodor! I'm not going anywhere!
  • Thomas: But Percy saw the men clearing your office.
  • Percy: They were taking everything away!
  • James: Even your telephone!
  • The Fat Controller: That's because my office is being redecorated.
  • Percy: Redecorated?
  • The Fat Controller: That's right. I'll have to work in a temporary office until they finish repainting and decorating.
  • All: (chatters)
  • Percy: Sorry, but I thought...
  • The Fat Controller: I know what you thought, Percy, but you got it all wrong. (laughs)

In Other Languages

View content
Language Title
Brazilian Portuguese Adeus, Sir Topham Hat
Dutch Vaarwel Dikke Controleur
Italian Addio Sir Topham
Japanese トップハム・ハットきょうにサヨナラ
Korean 가지 마요, 사장님
Latin American Spanish Adiós a Sir Topham Hatt
Polish Żegnaj, Gruby Zawiadowc
Russian Прощай, толстый инспектор

Home Media Releases

United Kingdom UK

Full Steam to the Rescue!
The Complete Series 19

USA Canada US/CAN

Ultimate Friendship Adventures

<< Series 18

Series 19

Series 20>>

#01 Who's Geoffrey? #10 Salty All at Sea #19 Diesel's Ghostly Christmas Part One
#02 The Truth About Toby #11 Den and Dart #20 Diesel's Ghostly Christmas Part Two
#03 Lost Property #12 Helping Hiro #21 Thomas the Babysitter
#04 Henry Spots Trouble #13 Slow Stephen #22 Rocky Rescue
#05 A Cranky Christmas #14 Two Wheels Good #23 The Other Side of the Mountain
#06 Snow Place Like Home #15 Reds vs. Blues #24 No Help at All
#07 The Beast of Sodor #16 Best Engine Ever #25 Goodbye Fat Controller
#08 Toad and the Whale #17 The Little Engine Who Raced Ahead #26 Wild Water Rescue
#09 Very Important Sheep #18 Philip to the Rescue
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