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Thomas the Tank Engine Wikia
Thomas the Tank Engine Wikia
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in: Episodes, Series 2 episodes, Railway Series adaptations, Retitled Episodes
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Percy and Harold

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For other uses, see Percy and Harold (disambiguation).
“Said Harold Helicopter to our Percy, 'You are slow. Your railway is out of date, and not much use you know.' But Percy with his stone trucks/cars did the trip in record time, and we beat the helicopter on our old branch line!”
―Percy's fireman singing the victory song

Percy and Harold, retitled Percy Proves a Point in 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 mainline 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 Percy compliments Harold for his big, strong arms and Harold responds that he thinks railways are slow and out of date.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 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 the George Carlin narration, 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 version, 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 aired alongside Percy, James and the Fruitful Day on Storytime with Thomas.
  • This is the only appearance of Knapford Airfield in the television series.
  • This episode marks Ffarquhar Quarry's first appearance in the television series.
  • This episode marks the final appearance of Knapford Beach until the twenty-fourth series episode, Thomas' Fuzzy Friend, as well its last appearance in the model era.
  • When the episode aired on 25th June 1991, Tommy Boyd referenced this episode during his time as a boy, telling his mother what a "ding-dong-dang" is.

Goofs

  • In the first shot, Percy pushes a box close to the rails, his eyes are wonky, and trucks throughout his train bounce slightly.
  • After Thomas says "Well done, Percy! The Fat Controller is very pleased with us" the camera cuts to Percy. This is the same shot as the fireman singing, as noted by the fact that the fireman's 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 happens with Percy's face when he says "Stupid thing. Why can't it go and buzz somewhere else?"
  • In the close-up of Percy complaining to Toby about Harold, Percy's eyes are misaligned.
  • Because stock footage is used, Percy's driver is seen in Henry's cab and the fireman changes appearance at the wharf.
  • When Percy says "Yes! Let's!" there is a gap between his left eye and his face mask.
  • When Percy gains speed, his back wheel derails.
  • Percy's trucks gain faces when they say "We don't want to, we don't want to!"
  • When Harold prepares for take-off, right before the shot cuts to Percy, a crew member's shadow is seen on Harold for just a split second.
  • In the aerial shot of Harold flying alongside Percy, a truck vanishes from Percy's train.
  • When Harold flies through The Branch Line Cutting, he clips a tree.
  • In the bird's-eye view of Harold flying over Percy, the end of Harold's red stripe can be seen peeling off.
  • When Percy says "Oh, dear. I'm sure we've lost," his eyes are misaligned.
  • After Percy's fireman's song, his right eye (viewer's left) pops out of the face mask slightly.
  • Throughout the episode, Percy's left (viewer's right) cylinder is loose.
  • Percy only has half of his screw-link coupling.
  • In the restored version, after Percy's fireman finishes his song, the shot of Percy freezes mid-take.
  • Percy's brake van changes constantly throughout the episode.

Merchandise

In Other Languages

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Language Title
Brazilian Portuguese Percy e Harold
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
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

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<< Series 1

Series 2

Series 3 >>

#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
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