This article is about the episode. You may be looking for the Slovenian VHS/DVD or the Malaysian VCD. |
- "Percy, you are not to blame for the points failure but I do not run a jam factory."
"Yes, Sir—No, Sir!" - ― The Fat Controller and Percy
Percy, James and the Fruitful Day is the twenty-fifth episode of the third series. It is based on the magazine story Percy Gets Jammed written by Andrew Brenner.
Plot
It is market day on Sodor and James is on his way to the harbour when he sees Percy at Lower Suddery. Percy is late with his line of trucks, as he should already be at the next station. James tells Percy that engines should always be on time and puffs importantly away. Feeling resentful, Percy mutters "bossy buffers" and continues on his way.
James arrives at the harbour to see all the wonderful fresh fruits being unloaded from the cargo ships. James waits as his trucks are loaded, then sets off along the main line. During his journey, he meets Thomas and cannot resist boasting. Thomas tells Annie and Clarabel that he knows that there will be trouble ahead for the boastful James.

"Got yourself in a bit of a jam, eh James? What you might call a 'sticky situation'?"
Back at Lower Suddery, Percy is busy shunting in the yard when the stationmaster informs his driver that James' brakes are jammed and that Percy must go and help him at once. Percy quickly sets off and soon finds James stranded on the main line, which gives Percy an opportunity to tease him, since James was so boastful about his timeliness. Percy's driver intervenes and asks Percy if he can push the fruit trucks, to which Percy happily obliges. Soon, Percy is coupled to the trucks and sets off, leaving James fuming. Percy is in a hurry and is not paying attention to the line. With the trucks in front of him, he does not see that the points have failed and that he has been diverted onto a siding. Percy's driver sees the danger and applies the brakes but it is too late. The trucks run straight into the buffers and Percy crashes into the back of the van in front of him. His driver and fireman jump clear but Percy gets squirted and covered from funnel to buffers in squashed fruit. The Fat Controller arrives and sternly reminds Percy that, while the points failure was not his fault, he does not run a "jam factory". After that, Percy sadly chuffs back home.
That night in the sheds, all the engines are silent, with James and Percy both in disgrace and feeling very sorry for themselves. Thomas breaks the silence by reminding everyone that there is more than one way to end up in a jam and that, even when engines help each other out, things can still go wrong. One of the engines asks what the point is and Thomas points out that it means they learned a lot that day and therefore they are all Really Useful Engines after all, to which all the engines happily agree.
Characters
- Thomas
- Edward
- Henry
- Gordon
- James
- Percy
- Duck
- Annie and Clarabel
- Sir Topham Hatt
- Troublesome Trucks (do not speak)
- Jeremiah Jobling (cameo)
- Farmer Trotter (cameo)
- The New Signalman (cameo)
- Big Mickey (faceless; cameo)
- Jem Cole (deleted scene cameo)
Locations
Trivia
- This episode was first broadcast in the UK on Ringo Starr's 52nd birthday.
- Stock footage from Thomas, Percy and the Post Train as well as a deleted scene from the previous episode are used.
- This episode marks:
- The first time a character angrily says "Be quiet!" instead of "Shut up!"
- Annie and Clarabel's only speaking roles in the third series.
- The only appearances of the Logging Halt.
- The last appearances of Brendam Drawbridge and The Three Way Road.
- Izzy Gomez, Big Mickey, the Fuel Depot Manager's office, a station and a warehouse from Tugs appear.
- The van in front of Percy has "NE" written on it.
- Dishwasher soap was used for the projectile green liquid squirted on Percy. Additionally, the horn sound uses a slowed down version of Bertie's horn.
- For the 1993 repeat of the third series on Children's ITV, this was the last episode before the terrestrial broadcast ended until the sixth series ten years later.
- This episode was shown alongside the second series episode Percy and Harold in an airing of Storytime with Thomas.
- Both episodes, coincidentally, feature Percy as a spotlight character.
Goofs
- At the start of the episode, the studio can be seen reflecting off James's tender.
- At Lower Suddery:
- When James arrives, his front bogie wheels comes off the track.
- James' tender body is not properly assembled to its chassis.
- When James leaves Lower Suddery, his smoke generator is visible.
- When James is watching his trucks being loaded, there are four open-topped trucks but, when he leaves the harbour, one of them has been replaced with a goods van.
- As Percy sets off with James' trucks, the latter' pony truck is derailed and the former also jerks back before starting.
- Just before Percy crashes, some rocks can be seen on the other track. This means that, even if switches did not fail, Percy still would have crashed anyway.
- When Percy crashes:
- The van jolts up but in the next shot it remains on the track.
- He slightly shifts forward when he smashes into the van, indicating a film cut.
- Percy is on the track when he crashes but later he shown to be derailed.
- His cab roof is lifted.
- His cylinder is dangling.
- In the close up of the Fat Controller, his right arm (viewer's left) is weakly connected to his body.
- At the sheds:
- Some of the engines' eyes are misaligned.
- Black tack is wrapped around James' funnel.
- Thomas has some problems with his eyes:
- They do not move the same time when the narrator says, "Still there was silence."
- They also slightly jolt up when he says that things can still go wrong when helping each other out of a jam.
- His left eye (viewers' right) moves up when he says, "So, that means we've learned a lot today."
- This episode was mistitled on two US and Canadian VHS Releases:
- On the back cover of some early copies of the Best of James VHS, it was titled "Percy and the Fruitful Day". Later copies have the complete title on the back cover.
- On the back cover of the Two Thomas Adventures VHS, it was titled "Thomas, Percy and the Fruitful Day".
In Other Languages
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Home Video Releases
Episode
English
Other Languages
References
#01 A Scarf for Percy | #10 The Trouble with Mud | #19 One Good Turn |
#02 Percy's Promise | #11 No Joke for James | #20 Tender Engines |
#03 Time for Trouble | #12 Thomas, Percy and the Post Train | #21 Escape |
#04 Gordon and the Famous Visitor | #13 Trust Thomas | #22 Oliver Owns Up |
#05 Donald's Duck | #14 Mavis | #23 Bulgy |
#06 Thomas Gets Bumped | #15 Toby's Tightrope | #24 Heroes |
#07 Thomas, Percy and the Dragon | #16 Edward, Trevor and the Really Useful Party | #25 Percy, James and the Fruitful Day |
#08 Diesel Does It Again | #17 Buzz, Buzz | #26 Thomas and Percy's Christmas Adventure |
#09 Henry's Forest | #18 All at Sea | |