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Thomas' Christmas Party

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This article is about the episode. You may be looking for the Railway Series book, the Buzz Book, the Ladybird book or the 1987 magazine story.

“Thomas and Toby are old friends and now, Percy, you are my friend too.”
―Mrs. Kyndley

Thomas' Christmas Party is the twenty-sixth and final episode of the first series.

Plot

It is Christmas time on the Island of Sodor and Thomas and Toby are very busy carrying people and parcels along the branch line. Despite Annie and Clarabel complaining that they are overloaded, Thomas retains his festive spirit.

Near his branch line is a little cottage. This is the home of an older woman named Mrs. Kyndley. Thomas always whistles "Happy Christmas!" to her and agrees that Christmas would not be the same without her.

At the sheds, all the engines have been polished but Thomas does not mind and tells them he wants to throw Mrs. Kyndley a party to thank her for saving him from a landslide the year before. When she was ill in bed, she waved her red dressing gown out the window to warn Thomas and the Fat Controller sent her to Bournemouth to get better as a reward.

All the engines agree that a party is a great idea and hope that the Fat Controller agrees as well. He does, but on the day of the party, there is a heavy snowfall, trapping Mrs. Kyndley in her house. Thomas bravely puts on his snowplough and sets off with Toby to rescue her and soon, they arrive at the cottage which is covered in snow. Thomas whistles to Mrs. Kyndley to tell her they have arrived when suddenly, Terence arrives with his snowplough to help clear a path from the cottage to the railway. Once everything is cleared away, Percy takes the workmen home and Terence stays behind to look after Mrs. Kyndley's cottage.

Thomas and Toby take her to the shed, where the party is supposed to be, but as they arrive home, they find the sheds in darkness. Suddenly, a switch is thrown and the sheds are covered in lights. The Fat Controller congratulates the two engines, everybody sings carols and Mrs. Kyndley says it is the best Christmas party ever.

Characters

Locations

Trivia

  • This is the first episode written entirely by Britt Allcroft and David Mitton, and not based on a Railway Series story.
  • This episode was adapted by the Rev. W Awdry into a book of the same name nearly two months before airing.
  • While was the last episode of the series to be produced, it aired in the UK before Off the Rails and Down the Mine. It was only a year later that it aired as the final episode on Christmas Eve when the first series episodes were repeated individually every weekday in November and December 1985. When it aired on Christmas Eve 1985 as the last remaining standalone episode outside of of Children’s ITV, its runtime was at 9.50am after Fraggle Rock, which aired at 9.25 after TV-AM.
  • A flashback of The Railway Series story, Mrs. Kyndley's Christmas, is featured in the episode, never having been depicted in the series prior.
  • Stock footage from Thomas' Train and Thomas, Terence and the Snow is used.
  • The backing vocals of We Wish You a Merry Christmas are likely from Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell.
  • In George Carlin's narration, Bournemouth is not referred to by name. When Carlin says James and Henry's line "But the rest of us have never thanked her properly," he does not address them by their names either. In addition, Carlin refers the railway line as a "railroad line," deferring to American terminology for the American audience.
  • This is the first Christmas-themed episode.
  • The platform the Fat Controller is standing on is made out of LEGO bricks.
  • The text in the end credits is red in the original version to suit the Christmas theme.
  • Only one line of the Christmas carol is sung in the Welsh version, replacing other lines with Thomas's theme.
  • Unlike George Carlin's other narrations, his narration for this episode was never aired on an episode of Shining Time Station. Instead, it was first released on home video on Thomas' Christmas Party and Other Favorite Stories in 24 August 1994. It aired on television on the final airing of Storytime with Thomas with the episode Snow in May 2000.
  • In the Japanese version, Gordon speaks Percy's lines during Thomas' flashback and Terence gains lines in the place of the narrator saying, "Goodbye, Mrs. Kyndley. If something happens to you in the future, I will go help you."
  • Going by order of release, this is the final episode narrated by Ringo Starr for Shining Time Station (excluding Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree, which was just an edited version of the UK narration).
  • This is the final episode narrated by Marián Labuda in Slovakia and dubbed in Slovak, as well as the last episode narrated by Dário de Castro in Brazil until the eighth series.
  • In some international dubs, We Wish You a Merry Christmas was sung in English. The Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese dubs are the only ones where the characters are not heard singing in English, and Ringo Starr cannot be heard in the background. This was achieved by using the music cue heard in Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree.
  • Christmas lights are used for the decoration lights in Tidmouth Sheds.
  • This is the last episode where Thomas has a realistic-looking brake pipe.
  • This is the last time Thomas' whistle supports are blue until Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
  • On its original broadcast, this episode was paired with Dirty Objects. However, early VHS releases have it paired with Down the Mine, as do Norwegian and Swedish broadcasts.
  • This was the last episode to air in 1984, it did not air in the usual afternoon block but was aired at 9.45 on Christmas Day after a Dangermouse Double Bill, which in turn aired at 9.25 after TV-AM.
  • This episode went through many changes after the original airing: The episode aired four days after Down the Mine aired on 20th December 1985 as an individual episode and was later repeated again on 30th December 1987 after a series of repeats ending with The Flying Kiper/Whistles and Sneezes on 9th September 1987, where the series went on hiatus for two months. This episode finally aired on 13th February 1989, two weeks before the repeat of Thomas' Train/Thomas and the Trucks. Thomas' Christmas Party was not shown during the four pairings between 30th July-20th August 1990.
  • This was the last episode video edited by Lee Myung-pil for JEI TV in South Korea until the third series episode, A Scarf for Percy.

Goofs

  • In the opening shot, Clarabel is facing the wrong way.
  • When Thomas has his snowplough fitted, one of the workmen has Blu Tack on his leg.
  • In-between the stock footage from Thomas, Terence and the Snow and Thomas and Toby stopping at the cutting near the Cottage, Toby loses his brake van.
  • In Ringo Starr's narrations, Thomas, Edward and Henry's whistles are heard with the last part of James' whistle heard intact before the others. In the George Carlin dub, when the engines whistle, only Thomas, Edward and Henry's whistles can be heard.
  • At the Christmas party, Henry is in his old shape.
  • In the Sprout Channel broadcast, around the time the engines save Mrs. Kyndley and the time Thomas gets back to the sheds, the narration is dramatically out of sync.
  • In a deleted scene, Thomas' eyes are wonky.
  • When the Fat Controller stands on the platform, some Blu Tack can be seen under his feet.
  • At the beginning when Thomas whistles "Happy Christmas" to Mrs. Kyndley, Clarabel is the front coach and facing forwards.
  • The audio clip of the engines singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" was placed on the M&E track instead of the dialogue track, as can be heard on some prints of the original "Volume 2" Guild Home Video release. As a result, in the George Carlin dub and all other non-British narrations (excluding the Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese dubs), Ringo Starr can still be heard when the engines are singing.
  • In George Carlin's narration, it is said that Terence was "working hard to clear a patch to the railroad line," rather than "clearing a path."
  • In the close-up of Gordon when the narrator says that the Fat Controller has bad news, Tidmouth Sheds is missing.
  • In the close up of Thomas at the sheds, the camera shakes a bit.
  • At the sheds:
    • The engines eyes are wonky.
    • The chimney above Gordon's shed is crooked.
    • Gordon's lamp irons are crooked.
    • Percy's left cylinder (viewers right) is dangling down a bit.
    • Edward is tilted a bit.
    • James's eyes jolt down at one point, and his left buffer (viewers right) is scratched.
    • Henry has some white paint marks on his buffer beam, running board and his face, and his tender is crooked.

In Other Languages

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Language Title
Albanian Festa e Krishtlindjeve te Tomasit
Brazilian Portuguese A Festa de Natal de Thomas
Chinese Mandarin 托马斯的圣诞聚会
Croatian Tomičina Božićna Zabava
Czech Tomášův Vánoční Večírek
Danish Thomas Holder Julefest
Dutch Thomas' Kerstfeest
Finnish Tuomas-Veturin Joulujuhlat
French La Noël de Thomas
German Die Weihnachtsfeier
Greek Το Χριστουγενίατικο Πάρτυ του Τόμας
Hungarian Thomas Karácsonyi Partija
Italian La Festa di Natale di Thomas
Japanese トーマスのクリスマス・パーティー
Korean 토마스의 크리스마스 파티
Latin American Spanish La Fiesta de Navidad de Thomas
Norwegian Juleselskapet til Thomas
Polish Świąteczne Przyjęcie Tomka
Romanian Petrecerea de Crăcuin a lui Thomas
Romansh Festa da Nadal da Tumasch
Russian Рождественская вечеринка Томаса
Serbian Tomasova Božićna Zabava
Slovak Thomasova Vianočná Oslava
Slovenian Tomaževa Božična Zabava
Swedish Thomas och Julfesten
Ukrainian Томас святкує Різдво
Welsh Parti Nadolig Tomos

Merchandise

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Books

Name Published Publisher Highlights Photo
Thomas's Christmas Party 1984 Heinemann
  • Written specifically for the show
Thomas'sChristmasParty(book)1992Cover.jpg
Thomas's Christmas Party 1984 Ladybird Books
  • Ladybird book
  • Illustrated using photographs from the show
Thomas'sChristmasPartyLadybirdBook.jpg
Thomas' Christmas Party 1990 Buzz Books
  • Buzz book
  • Illustrated using photographs from the show
Thomas'ChristmasPartyBuzzBook.jpg

Magazine stories

Home Media Releases

UK

DVD Packs

WAL

US

DVD Boxsets

AUS

  • Coal and other stories
  • The Biggest Ever Christmas Collection
  • The Complete Series 1

DVD Boxsets

  • Complete Series 1-10
  • Classic Collection
  • Series One and Series Two Double Pack

NZ

JPN

FRA

KOR

PHL

NOR

FIN/ISL

  • Thomas the Tank Engine 3

GER

DVD Boxsets

NL

BRA

IN

ITA

MYS

ROM

DVD Packs

SER

SVN

HRV

WAL

TWN

CHN

  • Thomas and Friends Season 1-4

HK

THA

DNK

Series 1

Series 2 >>

#01 Thomas and Gordon #10 James and the Express #19 The Flying Kipper
#02 Edward and Gordon #11 Thomas and the Guard #20 Whistles and Sneezes
#03 The Sad Story of Henry #12 Thomas Goes Fishing #21 Toby and the Stout Gentleman
#04 Edward, Gordon and Henry #13 Thomas, Terence and the Snow #22 Thomas in Trouble
#05 Thomas' Train #14 Thomas and Bertie #23 Dirty Objects
#06 Thomas and the Trucks #15 Tenders and Turntables #24 Off the Rails
#07 Thomas and the Breakdown Train #16 Trouble in the Shed #25 Down the Mine
#08 James and the Coaches #17 Percy Runs Away #26 Thomas' Christmas Party
#09 Troublesome Trucks #18 Coal
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