- “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 agrees to do. But, while pushing five loaded stone trucks, Percy accidentally pushes the trucks through a set of buffers and sends them toppling off the high 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 has been able to get over his own disappointment when both he 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 Organizer (does not speak)
- Trevor (cameo)
- Jem Cole (cameo)
- The Vicar of Wellsworth (cameo)
- Farmer Trotter (cameo)
- Refreshment Lady (cameo)
- One Little Boy (cameo)
- The Crovan's Gate Policeman (cameo)
- The Painter (cameo)
- The Boy's Father (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
- 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.
- 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 it never happened 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 leading role in the original television series.
- Trevor's only appearance in the fourth series.
- 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.
- 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 appearance of Knapford Harbour until the Meet the Steam Team video, Meet Percy.
- 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.
- In the US dub, after Bulstrode says "Come on! Come on!", George Carlin hiccups.
- An alternate scene shows Percy with his eyes spinning after the trucks fall into Bulstrode.
- Deleted stock footage from Bulls Eyes is used.
Goofs
- Studio equipment can be seen when Toby puffs through the seaside.
- Before Percy's driver takes him down to the Docks, he has dark brown hair. But, as Percy puffs away, his driver has a different facial feature and a light brown hair colour.
- 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's trucks land in Bulstrode's hull, Percy's wheels derail and he is crooked on his chassis.
- 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.
- In a close-up of Toby at the seaside, his left window (viewer's right) appears to be burnt.
- In the close-up of the trucks' wheels when they wail "Help! Help!" the track bounces slightly.
- When Percy reverses with the trucks, they are facing him but when he is lining them up, they are facing away from him.
- When Percy whistles just before buffering up to the trucks, a fast puffing noise can be heard.
Quotes
- Driver: Well, if that doesn't take the biscuit! They've run out of room in the parade and don't need a special attraction after all. We've got to go home, Toby. I'm sorry, old boy.
- Toby: So am I.
- Bulstrode: C'mon, c'mon! Why aren't you trucks where you should be?
- Trucks: There's no engine and we can only go where we're put! You're in the wrong place, not us!
- Bulstrode: Oooof! I'm sinking!
- Trucks: Serves you right! You were always barging in and moaning!
In Other Languages
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Merchandise
- My Thomas Story Library book - Bulstrode
Home Video Releases
Episode
Reference
| #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 | |