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- “We must now try to run the branch line with Toby and a diesel. You have put us in an awkward predicament.”
- ― Sir Topham Hatt telling Percy off.
Percy's Predicament is the twentieth episode of the second series. In the US it first aired on the "Mister Moose's Fun Time" episode, "Art Appreciation Day" on Fox Family.
Plot
Daisy's time on the Island of Sodor is going badly for everyone concerned. Not only is she frightened of bulls and cows, she remains lazy, bad-tempered, stubborn, and refuses to do jobs she does not want to do.
Percy grumpily shunts trucks one day, as Toby pulls in noticing Daisy has once again refused to take the milk wagon, forcing Percy to make a special trip with it after his normal work is done. Wanting to help, Toby offers to take the milk if Percy fetches his trucks from the quarry in return. Their crews agree to this and Percy sets off.
Percy goes to the quarry to fetch the trucks. Having never been there before, he starts enjoying himself by ordering the trucks about. The trucks do not take kindly to a strange engine entering the quarry and giving them orders, so they decide to pay Percy out. Once arranged into a goods train, the trucks lure Percy into a false sense of security by following him so quietly that he thinks they are under control. When Percy sees a sign saying "All Trains stop to pin down Brakes," he whistles to the guard to pin down his brakes only for the trucks to push him along. The signalman is too late to switch Percy into the runaway siding. Percy serves into the goods yard and crashes into a brake van, destroying it and perching himself on top of the remains of a truck.
The next day, Toby and Daisy help clear up the mess. The Fat Controller arrives too and is cross as he speaks to Percy, telling him that now the branch line will have to be run with only Toby and a diesel, leaving them in an awkward predicament. Percy, very much stuck in his own predicament, understands fully what he means. The Fat Controller tells Percy that he is going to be left where he is until everything else is cleared up, hoping the experience will teach him to be more careful with trucks in future.
The Fat Controller is also cross with Daisy and tells her off for her laziness, declaring that he sends lazy engines like her away. Daisy is left feeling ashamed of herself, but the Fat Controller has decided to give her another chance, given how hard she worked after Percy's accident. Daisy is happy and promises to work hard with Toby's help. Knowing Toby has a lot of experience with running a branch line, the Fat Controller is satisfied.
The next day, Thomas returns from the works, fully mended, and is happily reunited with Annie and Clarabel while Percy is sent away to be repaired. All the engines are now friends and Daisy learns a lot from Toby, leading her to become a really useful engine, even managing to scare a cow away all on her own.
Characters
- Percy
- Toby
- Daisy
- Sir Topham Hatt
- Thomas (does not speak)
- Annie and Clarabel (do not speak)
- Henrietta (does not speak)
- The Ffarquhar Policeman (cameo)
Locations
Trivia
- This episode is based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book, Branch Line Engines.
- Stock footage from Percy Runs Away and Percy and Harold is used.
- The small truck wears the Spiteful Brake Van's angry face.
- A deleted photo shows that Thomas came back just before Toby was coupled up to Percy's flatbed.
- In the English version, the sign says "All trains stop to pin down brakes." In the Welsh version, it says "Stop! All trains [must] wait." In the Norwegian version, it says "To all trains: Stop. Brakes must be checked." However, the Norwegian sign was not used in the episode itself, only in a VHS trailer. In the episode, the narrator just says "Stop! All brakes must be checked!"
- For the US, This episode along with Daisy were never shown on Shining Time Station. They first appeared on Daisy and Other Thomas Stories
- This was one of few Thomas episodes to be featured on the Captain Kangaroo spin-off series Mister Moose's Fun Time on Fox Family Channel. This was also one of the few episodes from the second series to air on said programme.
- This is the first episode to feature short wheelbase trucks with faces.
Goofs
- Percy's trucks' faces continuously disappear and reappear.
- When the narrator says "Percy had never been to the quarry before," he shunts four trucks together and there is a gap between the last two trucks and the brake van, but in the very next scene, a fifth truck appears and the brake van is now behind the last truck.
- When the first truck says "Pay Percy out!" its face is on the back end.
- When Percy passes the signalbox, his brake van changes.
- When Percy passes by the signalbox, the signalman moves slightly, since Percy's weight moves the ground where he is standing.
- Just before Percy crashes into the brake van, a stone used to lift Percy on top of the trucks is seen on the track that the brake van is on.
- Percy's cab reveals part of the motor casting after the accident, during the panning shot from Toby to Daisy to Percy.
- The brake van is already broken before Percy destroys it.
- After the accident, the van behind Toby has a face, but in a deleted scene, it does not have a face.
- When Thomas couples up to Annie and Clarabel his driver is facing the back. However, when Thomas puffs away, his driver is still looking back.
- Because stock footage is used, Percy's load of gravel changes into stone slabs and Percy is smiling when he cries "Help! Help!"
- When the narrator says "Come along.' puffed Percy," the truck on the right of the screen does not have a chain on his hook.
- Percy only has half of his screw-link coupling.
- When Percy crashes, his whistle is crooked.
Quotes
- (after the accident)
- The Fat Controller: We must now try to run the branch line with Toby and a diesel. You have put us in an awkward predicament.
- Percy: I am sorry, sir.
- The Fat Controller: You can stay there till we are ready. Perhaps it will teach you to be careful with trucks. (turns to Daisy) My engines work hard. I send lazy engines away! However, Toby says you worked hard after Percy's accident. So, you shall have another chance.
- Daisy: Thank you, Sir! I will work hard, Sir. Toby says he'll help me.
- The Fat Controller: Excellent! What Toby doesn't know about Branch Line problems isn't worth knowing. Our Toby's an experienced engine!
Merchandise
- Buzz Books - Percy's Predicament
- Magazine Stories - Percy's Predicament
- Ladybird Books - Daisy & Percy's Predicament & Woolly Bear
- My Thomas Story Library - Daisy (discontinued)
In Other Languages
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Home Media Releases
| #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: The Missing Coach |
| Cancelled: Gordon Goes Foreign | ||