- “Slow and out-of-date, eh? I'll show him!
Hurry, hurry, hurry!” - ― Percy
Letters to Santa is the eleventh episode of the twentieth series.
Plot
It is Christmas Eve on the Island of Sodor, and the children are sending their letters to Santa for Percy to pick up, who would then take them to Vicarstown, where Hiro would take them to the airport on the mainland for them to be taken to Santa at the North Pole.
Percy is delivering the letters to Hiro. It is difficult, as there is snow on the line. Harold offers to help, but Percy objects, thinking he is trying to prove helicopters are better than steam engines, remembering the time he met Harold and won against him in a race. Percy changes his mind as he comes to a tunnel which is blocked by a massive snowdrift. He asks Harold to take the letters to Hiro, which Harold is more than willing to do so.
Later that evening, Hiro is waiting at the Vicarstown Bridge for Percy, but decides he is already late and that he must leave without the letters. He is just setting off when Harold catches up with him, who explains he has got Percy's mail. Hiro collects the letters and carries on with his delivery.
At Tidmouth Sheds, Percy is worried about the children's letters, but Thomas assures him that Harold is very responsible and will do what he is supposed to.
The next morning, Percy meets up with Toby, who tells him that Harold did not return to the Sodor Search and Rescue Centre the night before. Harold, who is out of fuel and stranded in a field, is worried he will have to spend Christmas stuck on the ground where he is. Percy remembers that Christmas is a time of good will to everybody, including "whirly-birds" like Harold. That evening, he brings him a tanker of fuel. Harold is overjoyed, and gives Percy his many thanks.
On Christmas Day, thanks to Percy, Harold and Hiro, all the children get what they asked for from Santa, and everyone has a Merry Christmas.
Characters
- Thomas
- Percy
- Toby
- Hiro
- Harold
- A Dryaw Porter
- A Signalman
- Tom Tipper (does not speak)
- Edward (cameo)
- Henry (cameo)
- Gordon (cameo)
- James (cameo)
- Duck (cameo)
- Emily (cameo)
- Annie and Clarabel (cameos)
- Henrietta (cameo)
- Slip Coaches (cameos)
- The Dock Manager (cameo)
- The Birdwatcher (cameo)
- The Blond-haired Boy (cameo)
- Albert's Wife (cameo)
- Jeremy (toy cameo)
- Father Christmas (mentioned)
Locations
- Island of Sodor
- Tidmouth Town Square
- Dryaw
- Tidmouth Sheds
- Sodor Suspension Bridge
- Crosby Tunnel
- Ffarquhar (flashback)
- Brendam Docks (flashback)
- Sodor Search and Rescue Centre (mentioned)
- Vicarstown (mentioned)
- The Mainland
- Isle of Man (map only)
Cast
UK
- John Hasler as Thomas
- Nigel Pilkington as Percy
- Rob Rackstraw as Toby
- Keith Wickham as Harold and a Signalman
- Togo Igawa as Hiro
- Kerry Shale as the Dryaw Porter
US
- Joseph May as Thomas
- Christopher Ragland as Percy
- William Hope as Toby
- Kerry Shale as Harold and the Dryaw Porter
- Togo Igawa as Hiro
- Keith Wickham as a Signalman
Trivia
- Going by production order, this is the second episode of the twentieth series.
- This episode is the first of a few things:
- Harold's first episode with a leading role since the eighth series episode, Don't Tell Thomas.
- The first appearance of Crosby Tunnel since the tenth series episode, James the Second Best.
- Jeremy's first appearance since the twelfth series episode, Excellent Emily. However, he is not a CGI model, but instead represented by an image of his TrackMaster toy. This also serves as his final appearance in the original show.
- A recreated CGI flashback of the second series episode, Percy and Harold is used as well as a reference to said episode.
- The flashback uses Ffarquhar station as the starting point, making it more accurate to the original story of The Railway Series book, Percy the Small Engine, rather than the episode, which had Percy starting from the quarry.
- Brendam Docks was used to represent Knapford Harbour.
- The plot is inspired from the 1988 annual story, Post Early for Christmas, which was written by Christopher Awdry.
- This episode marks Hiro's only appearance in the twentieth series and his last speaking role and appearance in an episode until the twenty-fourth series episode, Kenji on the Rails Again.
- This episode is Jane Sobol's last episode as supervising producer.
- The signalman's line "Oh no!" is reused from the nineteenth series episode, Rocky Rescue.
Goofs
- Christopher Ragland is credited in the UK credits despite none of his characters speaking in that dub.
In Other Languages
| View content | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Home Media Releases
UK
Thomas' Christmas Carol (Direct-to-Home Video)
The Complete Series 20
AUS
- Thomas' Christmas Carol (Direct-to-Home Video)
US
- Tinsel on the Tracks (Direct-to-Home Video)
- Series 20 (Digital Download)
IDN
| #01 Sidney Sings | #11 Letters to Santa | #21 Henry in the Dark |
| #02 Toby's New Friend | #12 Love Me Tender | #22 Three Steam Engines Gruff |
| #03 Henry Gets the Express | #13 The Railcar and the Coaches | #23 Engine of the Future |
| #04 Diesel and the Ducklings | #14 Mucking About | #24 Hugo and the Airship |
| #05 Bradford the Brake Van | #15 Cautious Connor | #25 The Missing Breakdown Train |
| #06 Saving Time | #16 All in Vain | #26 Skiff and the Mermaid |
| #07 Ryan and Daisy | #17 Buckled Tracks and Bumpy Trucks | #27 The Christmas Coffeepot |
| #08 Pouty James | #18 Tit for Tat | #28 Over the Hill |
| #09 Blown Away | #19 Mike's Whistle | |
| #10 The Way She Does It | #20 Useful Railway | |