Things Always Seem to Happen When You Least Expect Them is the fifth German audiobook.
Plot[]
Strike of the Big Steam Engines[]
What is going on in the railway depot of Knapford Station? You can see the big engines complaining for days: Gordon, Henry and James... The Fat Controller has laid an eye on their behaviour. So, he can act quickly, when the strike begins. His response to the refusal to work is called Percy, the new engine from the railway workshop!
Percy's Backwards-Journey[]
The strike did not end very well for Gordon, Henry and James. With sad faces, they stand there and have to watch the "small" engines Thomas, Edward and Percy pulling their lovely coaches over the island. Soon, however, the Fat Controller lets mercy go well and everything gets harmonic like before. After a near-disaster, Percy finally joins the friendship of them all.
Voice Cast[]
- Manfred Steffen as the narrator
- Dirk Bach as Thomas
- Henry König as Edward
- Lutz Herkenrath as Henry
- Jürgen Holdorf as Gordon
- Tobias Schmidt as James
- Achim Schülke as Percy
- Renate Pichler as Annie
- Marion Martienzen as Clarabel
- Thomas Fritsch as the Fat Controller
- Volker Bogdan as the Guard
- Thomas Naumann as the Stationmaster
- Michael Weckler as the Driver
- Werner Cartano as the Fireman
Some trucks and children speak too. It is unknown who voiced them.
Trivia[]
- The stories are based on Tenders and Turntables, Trouble in the Shed and Percy Runs Away.
- Unlike in Tenders and Turntables, James' incident with the turntable happened while Gordon and Henry were away and James had to tell them about it.
- In the Trouble in the Shed adaption, the section where the big engines are mean to Edward is cut out.
- Thomas is still able to talk to the narrator.
- This audiobook featured the introduction of Percy, despite the fact that Percy was mentioned in previous audiobooks.
- This was the last German audiobook to adapt Railway Series stories, as well as the last production to have Thomas Fritsch as the voice of the Fat Controller.
Goofs[]
- Like in the German dubs of the actual episodes, tender engines are called "Tenderloks", but a "Tenderlok" is actually a tank engine.
- At one point, Edward has a horn.