Hullo Twins[2], also known as The Missing Coach[3], is an unreleased episode of Thomas & Friends. Originally planned as the seventeenth episode[4] of the second series, production was halted during filming due to being deemed too confusing for younger viewers. It was to be based on the stories Hullo Twins! and The Missing Coach from The Railway Series book The Twin Engines.
Production
The episode would have marked the first appearances of Donald and Douglas. During an interview with Sodor Island Fansite shortly before his death, David Mitton said that the episode was halfway through filming when Britt Allcroft decided to have it cancelled, as she thought the plot would be too difficult for children to understand (most likely due to the twins switching tenders) and lacked action. Mitton also mentioned that he was in possession of all the film negatives for the episode.[3]
An abridged version of the first half of this episode would be used as the opening for the twins' actual debut episode, Break Van. Footage from Hullo Twins would be repurposed for Break Van and another second series episode, Saved from Scrap. The episode slot Hullo Twins took up would be backfilled by Percy's Predicament, the episode's number being listed as "20 (17x)" as seen in Lot #31 of The Britt Allcroft Collection.
Plot
Work on the railway has become harder, so the Fat Controller orders a new goods engine from Scotland. However, two identical twin engines arrive instead. When the Fat Controller learns about this, he goes to meet the engines, named Donald and Douglas, and discovers they have lost their numbers. The Fat Controller has numbers painted on their tenders and has Duck show them around, but still plans to find out which engine should be sent back.
That night, Gordon and Henry tease the Scottish Twins for their whistles, so Donald and Douglas sort them out.
Sometimes, the Express has a special coach for passengers traveling on Thomas' branch line. Whoever takes away Gordon’s coaches must remember to collect Thomas' special one and leave it at the bay platform at Tidmouth for him to collect. Douglas offers to do this job, but worries about being sent away and shunts the empty express coaches and the special one, still full of passengers, into the carriage siding. Shortly thereafter, Thomas arrives and panics when he finds that his coach is missing. The angry passengers emerge from the siding and complain to the Fat Controller.
The two engines switch tenders, hoping to trick the Fat Controller into thinking they were not involved with the incident. Once Donald is coupled to Douglas' tender, he leaves with his goods train while Douglas stays behind with Donald's tender. The Fat Controller and the passengers question Douglas, who pretends to be Donald and tells them his cover story.
The Fat Controller appears to have fallen for it, but after the passengers have left, he watches Thomas fetching his special coach from the siding, swings around and exposes Douglas. Secretly, the Fat Controller is amused by the twins' trick.
Characters
- Thomas
- Henry
- Gordon
- James
- Duck
- Donald and Douglas
- Sir Topham Hatt
- Engine Inspector
- Annie and Clarabel (do not speak)
- The Foreign Gentlemen (do not speak)
- Percy (cameo)
- The Spiteful Brake Van (faceless cameo)
Locations
- Island of Sodor
- England (mentioned)
- Scotland (mentioned)
- Wales (mentioned)
Trivia
- For several years, this episode was usually referred to by its alternate title, The Missing Coach, as David Mitton had originally referred to it as "that Missing Coach episode" in his Sodor Island Fansite interview, which he was interviewed between 2006 and 2008.[3]
- Had this episode been produced, it would have been:
- The first episode to feature tender engines switching tenders. Because the episode was cancelled, this honour instead went to the tenth series episode, It's Good to be Gordon.
- The first episode of the television series to mention Scotland by name.[2]
- There exist two different script drafts for the episode. The one that was later filmed, sold in 2025 as part of the Britt Allcroft Collection auction, and another, earlier draft, that was leaked in 2022, that is more faithful to the original story's text. The early draft had a few things that were later cut or changed, including:
- An extended opening, where Henry, Gordon, and James complain. The script and filmed episode only keeps James' dialogue.
- The twins explain to The Fat Controller how they lost their numbers.
- Extended dialogue between both Donald and Douglas about the fact they only have numbers. In later drafts, only Donald speaks.
- A later removed scene where the Inspector introduces the twins to Duck.
- Duck's line about watching out for the big engines is absent. It was added back in later on.
- The scene where Gordon and Henry make fun of Donald and Douglas' whistles is absent. It was also added back in later on.
- Much longer dialogue explaining about Thomas' special coach. Here it mentions the Express by its name in The Railway Series, the Wild Nor' Wester, as well as mentioning England and Wales by name.[2]
- A later removed scene where Douglas offers shunt the coaches onscreen, while Duck is busy shunting Donald's trucks.
- Extended dialogue where Thomas asks Donald directly where his special coach is.
- Cut ending dialogue where it's revealed Douglas has the greatest respect to the Fat Controller, and promises not to play tricks again after getting caught.
- It is uncertain if Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell composed the music for this episode, as O'Donnell stated in an interview that he had no recollection of the episode.
- While the special coach was a red express one in the original story from The Railway Series, the episode used a third class Orange Stroudley Coach instead.
- Despite this episode's cancellation, Thomas' special coach can be seen in the background with the green express coaches in Percy and the Signal and Duck Takes Charge.
- While this episode is one of the five episodes in the second series that were otherwise cancelled, the other four being Percy's Promise, Gordon Goes Foreign, Double Header and Drip Tank with Percy's Promise and Double Header eventually being adapted for Series 3, this is the only one to make it into the stages of filming before being cancelled midway.
- While Gordon Goes Foreign, Double Header, and Drip Tank only made it as far as scripts, concept art reveals that Percy's Promise was originally going to be the tenth episode of the second series and Hullo Twins was originally going to be the seventeenth episode. Drip Tank was also considered to be an initial sixteenth episode idea.
- The incident of Donald and Douglas hiding nameplates and numbers and impersonating one another was referenced on their official character bios.[1][2][3][4]
Goofs
- In the scene where the twins are introduced, they are already numbered 9 and 10.
- Gordon's eyes are misaligned when he and Henry get spooked by Donald and Douglas.
References
| #01 Thomas, Percy and the Coal | #10 The Runaway | #19 Daisy |
| #02 Cows | #11 Percy Takes the Plunge | #20 Percy's Predicament |
| #03 Bertie's Chase | #12 Pop Goes the Diesel | #21 The Diseasel |
| #04 Saved from Scrap | #13 Dirty Work | #22 Wrong Road |
| #05 Old Iron | #14 A Close Shave | #23 Edward's Exploit |
| #06 Thomas and Trevor | #15 Better Late than Never | #24 Ghost Train |
| #07 Percy and the Signal | #16 Break Van | #25 Woolly Bear |
| #08 Duck Takes Charge | #17 The Deputation | #26 Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree |
| #09 Percy and Harold | #18 Thomas Comes to Breakfast | Cancelled: Hullo Twins |
| Cancelled: Gordon Goes Foreign | Cancelled: Drip Tank | |