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For other uses, see Percy and Harold (disambiguation).
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“I say Toby. That Harold, that stuck up whirlybird thing, says I'm slow and out of date. Just let him wait. I'll show him.”
― Percy

Percy and Harold, retitled Percy Proves a Point on North American releases, is the ninth episode of the second series. It is based on the story of the same name from the Railway Series book Percy the Small Engine.

Plot

Percy is now working at the new harbour on Thomas' branch line. He often has to fetch trucks and, although he works hard, he still likes his new job and prefers branch line work over shunting for the Main Line engines at the big station. Along the branch line is an airfield and Percy hears the planes flying overhead. The loudest, though, is a helicopter, the noise of which Percy ends up complaining about.

One day, Percy stops with his train at the airfield to talk to the helicopter, whose name is Harold. Percy compliments Harold for his big, strong arms and Harold responds by saying that he thinks railways are slow and out of date. When they finish, Harold flies away and Percy sets off for the quarry. Percy finds Toby and expresses his feelings about Harold. Afterwards, he collects his trucks and heads back to the harbour.

On Percy's trip back to the harbour, they hear Harold's unmistakable buzzing overhead. Percy's crew encourage him to race with the helicopter, which Percy has never been allowed to do before and is excited. The trucks wail and beg Percy to stop but it is no use. They have to slow down when they reach the wharf and Percy is sure that they have lost the race. But when the fireman climbs onto the roof of the cab, he realises they have won, as he can see Harold still hovering and looking for a place to land.

In celebration of Percy's victory, the fireman sings a song about the race which Percy loves, especially the last line.

Characters

Locations

Trivia

  • Stock footage from Coal is used.
  • In George Carlin's dub, during the exchange between Harold and Percy at the airfield, the same audio recording of the line, "...said Harold," is used twice.
  • In the Japanese dub, the music is omitted during Percy's Victory Song.
  • Events of this episode were mentioned and recreated in CGI for the twentieth series episode, Letters to Santa.
  • This episode marks Ffarquhar Quarry's first physical appearance in the television series.
  • When the episode aired on 25 June 1991, Tommy Boyd referenced this episode during his time as a boy, telling his mother what a "ding-dong-dang" is.
  • When this episode aired on Cartoon Network, the music and sound effects overlapped the original audio.

Goofs

  • Throughout the episode:
    • Percy's left (viewers' right) cylinder is loose.
    • Percy only has half of his screw-link coupling.
    • Percy's brake van also changes constantly.
  • Percy's eyes are misaligned in several scenes.
  • In the first shot:
    • Percy pushes a box close to the rails.
    • His whole train also bounces slightly.
  • The shot of Percy after Thomas says "Well done, Percy! The Fat Controller is very pleased with us," is reused from the shot as the fireman is singing, as his legs can be seen on Percy's cab. Also, blu-tack is seen on Percy's bunker.
  • When the narrator says "An airfield was close by," Thomas' face moves slightly. The same thing also happens with Percy's face when he says "Stupid thing. Why can't it go and buzz somewhere else?"
  • When Harold takes off from the airfield:
    • The windsock next to him remains completely still despite the massive amounts of wind his propeller blades would have produced.
    • A crew member's shadow is also seen on Harold for a split second right before the shot cuts to Percy, probably because this scene is reversed as a crew member would started his propeller.
  • When Percy says "Yes! Let's!", there is a gap between his left eye and his face mask.
  • Because stock footage is used, Percy's driver is seen in Henry's cab and the fireman also changes appearance at the wharf.
  • When Harold flies through The Branch Line Cutting, he hits a tree.
  • Percy's trucks suddenly have faces when they say "We don't want to, we don't want to!"
  • In the aerial shot of Harold flying alongside Percy:
    • A truck vanishes from Percy's train.
    • The end of Harold's red stripe can also be seen peeling off.
  • In the shot of the distant signal, studio equipment is visible at the top of the screen.
  • After Percy's fireman's song:
    • His right eye (viewers' left) pops out of the face mask slightly.
    • The shot of Percy also freezes mid-take in the restored version.

In Other Languages

View content
Language Title
Brazilian Portuguese A lição de Percy
Chinese Mandarin 培西和哈罗德
Croatian Pero i Hari
Czech Percy a Harold
Danish Percy og Harald
Dutch Percy en Harold
Finnish Pekka ja Harald
French Pierre et Herbert
German Percy und Harold
Greek Ο Τζέρι και ο Χάρολντ
Hungarian Percy és Harold
Italian La locomotiva e l'elicottero
Japanese パーシーとハロルド
Korean 퍼시와 헤롤드의 경주
Latin American Spanish Percy aclara las cosas
Norwegian Percy og Harold
Romanian Percy şi Harold
Romansh Parcival e Harold
Russian Паровоз и вертолет
Serbian Persi i Harold
Slovenian Poldi in Dolfe
Swedish Percy och Harold
Turkish Percy ve Harold
Ukrainian Персі і Гарольд
Welsh Prysi a Harold

Merchandise

Home Video Releases

UK

UK DVD Packs

WAL

US

CAN

  • Thomas Breaks the Rules and Other Stories (Ringo Starr's US dub)
  • Thomas and His Friends Get Along
  • Best of Percy

US/CAN VHS/DVD Packs

AUS

AUS DVD Packs

NZ

ZA

IND

MYS

PHL

ITA

FRA

ROM

ROM DVD Pack

NL

GER

GER DVD Boxset

NOR

DK

SWE/FIN

ICE

  • Thomas the Tank Engine 4

SVN

HRV

SRP

GRC

GRC DVD Boxset

TUR

  • It's Good to Be a Train (VCD)
  • It's Good to Be a Train and Full Speed Ahead (DVD)

THA

JPN

JPN VHS/DVD Boxsets

KOR

CHN

HK

Episode

References



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