- "Well, we've both had some seaside surprises today but driver says that I'm a 'Special Attraction' anyway and so are you, every time we go on our own line."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, all we have to do is smile and blow whistles at everyone!" - ― Toby and Percy
Special Attraction is the twenty-fifth episode of the fourth series. It is based on the stories Toby's Seaside Holiday and Bulstrode from The Railway Series book Toby, Trucks and Trouble.
Plot
One day, Toby the Tram Engine, wearing a shiny new bell, is sent to a seaside village to be the "Special Attraction" in the parade they hold every year. Toby asks his driver what a "Special Attraction" does and his driver replies that he, "smiles and blows whistles at everyone." Later, when he arrives at the seaside station, his driver learns from a man on the platform that there is no room for Toby in the parade.
After Toby sadly returns to the junction, Percy pulls in and sees how upset he is. Before Toby can tell him why, the Fat Controller tells Percy to take care of an emergency at the harbour. Percy's driver says that it will be trouble with Bulstrode, a disagreeable barge who never stops complaining.
At the harbour, Bulstrode and the trucks are arguing about who is in the wrong place. When Percy arrives, the trucks ask to be shunted into a siding so that Bulstrode can be loaded with their stone and can leave, which Percy begins to do. While pushing some loaded stone trucks, Percy accidentally pushes them through a set of buffers and sends them toppling off the wharf and into Bulstrode's hull, which nearly sinks him, much to the other trucks' amusement. After the mess is cleaned up, Percy watches as a disgraced Bulstrode is towed to a nearby beach. The workmen leave him there, telling him that he can stay for children to play in all day and, at last, he will be useful.
When Percy returns, Toby and Percy exchange their news. He tells Percy that his driver says that both of them are "Special Attractions" wherever they go. After all, a "Special Attraction" simply has to smile and blow whistles at everyone.
Characters
- Percy
- Toby
- Troublesome Trucks
- Bulstrode
- Sir Topham Hatt
- The Parade Organiser (does not speak)
- Trevor (cameo)
- Jem Cole (cameo)
- The Vicar of Wellsworth (cameo)
- Farmer Trotter (cameo)
- Refreshment Lady (cameo)
- The Crovan's Gate Policeman (cameo)
- The Painter (cameo)
- The Father (cameo)
- The Cart Horse Rider (cameo)
- Mr. Walsh (cameo)
- Prince Philip (cameo)
- The Queen Mother (cameo)
- Big Mickey (faceless, cameo)
Locations
- Elsbridge
- Hackenbeck
- Tidmouth Beach
- Gordon's Hill
- The Second Seaside Station
- Knapford Harbour
- Road Beside Rail and Canal Runby (deleted scene)
Trivia
- This episode marks the first and only appearances of three things:
- Bulstrode's only appearance in Thomas & Friends, although his model and face were used in later episodes such as Fish (Series 8) and The Green Controller. According to Abi Grant, he was meant to appear in the tenth series and have a large scale model built for the Wharf but this did not happen due to budget constraints. However, Bulstrode's model did appear without his face in some fifth series episodes and he has appeared in All Engines Go.
- Bulstrode's only speaking role in the original television series.
- Trevor's only appearance in the fourth series.
- This episode marks the last of some things:
- The last episode to be featured on Shining Time Station, as the remainder of the fourth series would air on Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales.
- The last appearance of Elsbridge, though it appears in a deleted scene in the next episode, had been planned to be seen in the eighth series episode, Thomas and the Circus, but was cut out for unknown reasons and would later be mentioned in the nineteenth series episode, Wild Water Rescue.
- The last episode to be adapted into one episode from two stories from The Railway Series. It was also the only episode to be adapted from two stories written by Christopher Awdry.
- The last episode where Kōhei Miyauchi voiced the Fat Controller in the Japanese dub before his death.
- The last time Toby's unseen whistle is heard.
- A deleted scene from Bulls Eyes is used as stock footage.
- Modified models for O.J., Izzy Gomez, Big Mickey, the Bigg City Port Fire Station and the three berth garage from Tugs appear in the episode.
- The splashing sound effect that is heard after Percy drops the trucks onto Bulstrode would later be reused in the fifth series episodes Something in the Air, Busy Going Backwards and Duncan Gets Spooked, the sixth series episode Dunkin Duncan and the seventh series episodes James and the Queen of Sodor and The Runaway Elephant.
- An extended scene shows Percy with his eyes spinning after the trucks fall into Bulstrode, which was used in several music videos.
Goofs
- Studio equipment can be seen when Toby puffs by the seaside.
- In a close-up of Toby at the seaside, his left window (viewer's right) appears to be burnt.
- Before Percy's driver takes him down to the Docks, he has dark brown hair but, as Percy puffs away, his driver has different facial features and light brown hair.
- When recording the US dub, George Carlin had hiccups. One hiccup is heard when Bulstrode says "Come on! Come on!".
- When the troublesome trucks say, "There's no engine and we can only go where we're put! You're in the wrong place, not us!" one has misangled eyes and another truck's face is loose.
- When Percy whistles just before buffering up to the trucks, a fast puffing noise can be heard.
- When Percy reverses with the trucks, they are facing him but, when he is lining them up, they are facing away from him.
- In the close-up of the trucks' wheels when they wail, "Help! Help!" the track bounces slightly.
- The buffers Percy destroys are placed quite a distance ahead of where the track actually ends. As a result, the first truck derails after running over the remains of the buffers.
- When Percy's trucks land in Bulstrode's hull, Percy's wheels derail and he is crooked on his chassis.
In Other Languages
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Merchandise
Bulstrode (2004 My Thomas Story Library book)
Home Video Releases
Episode
US narrationReference
| #01 Granpuff | #10 Rock 'n' Roll | #19 Henry and the Elephant |
| #02 Sleeping Beauty | #11 Special Funnel | #20 Toad Stands By |
| #03 Bulldog | #12 Steam Roller | #21 Bulls Eyes |
| #04 You Can't Win | #13 Passengers and Polish | #22 Thomas and the Special Letter |
| #05 Four Little Engines | #14 Gallant Old Engine | #23 Paint Pots and Queens |
| #06 A Bad Day for Sir Handel | #15 Rusty to the Rescue | #24 Fish |
| #07 Peter Sam and the Refreshment Lady | #16 Thomas and Stepney | #25 Special Attraction |
| #08 Trucks | #17 Train Stops Play | #26 Mind that Bike |
| #09 Home at Last | #18 Bowled Out | |