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Thomas and Gordon

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This article is about the episode. You may be looking for the board book, the Japanese DVD, the Croatian DVD, the US DVD, the Philippines DVD, the 2016 book or the magazine story.

“Well, little Thomas, now you know what hard work means, don't you?”
―Gordon

Thomas and Gordon, retitled Thomas Gets Tricked in American releases, is the first episode of the first series and the first episode of Thomas & Friends altogether. It is based on the story of the same name from the Railway Series book Thomas the Tank Engine.

Plot

Thomas is a blue tank engine who works at a big station on Sodor. His job is to fetch coaches for the other engines and then take them away when the engines are done pulling them. Thomas thinks he works the hardest and is often very cheeky to the bigger engines, especially Gordon, the biggest and proudest engine, who pulls the express. Thomas likes to startle him by whistling loudly.

One day, Gordon returns from a long journey and wants a rest, so he finds a siding to sleep in. Then Thomas sneaks up and gives a cheeky whistle, telling Gordon to wake up and work harder, and runs off, laughing. This is the final straw for Gordon, and instead of falling back asleep, he decides to teach Thomas a lesson by showing him what hard work really is.

The next morning, Thomas' crew is unable to make him start. Gordon and the passengers impatiently wait at Knapford station for Thomas to bring the coaches. Finally Thomas starts; he hurries to get the express coaches and brings them to the station platform behind Gordon. Gordon then enacts his plan, he quickly backs down, couples to his train and hurries his passengers to get in. Thomas usually pushes from behind the coaches to help them get a good start, but is always uncoupled first. This time, however, Thomas' crew do not have time to uncouple him and Gordon quickly starts off, with Thomas being pulled along. Gordon races through the Sudrian countryside to show Thomas how hard it is to pull the express. Thomas has never gone so fast before, and it is not long before he is quite out of breath and his wheels ache, but he is forced to go on.

After a while, the express finally comes to a stop at Wellsworth station. Thomas is very tired and feels very silly. He is uncoupled from the train, gets turned around on the turntable and moves into a siding where he has a long drink from the water tower. He then wearily puffs home, having learned not to act so cheeky toward Gordon ever again.

Characters

Locations

Trivia

  • The George Carlin narration was previously very hard to find on home video as the only release available was on the 1995 Thomas Gets Tricked re-release from Anchor Bay Entertainment featuring George Carlin's narration with four extra episodes, until it was released on Thomas' Halloween Adventures in 2006.
  • The events of this episode were retold for the 2015 special, The Adventure Begins.
  • Music cues from this episode were used in some audiobooks of Thomas & Friends, which were only released in Germany.
  • The German audiobook features an extra scene of Gordon feeling guilty about what he did to Thomas, which could have foreshadowed him and Thomas forming their alliance in Down the Mine, which was not adapted for one.
  • A clip from this episode was used in the 1995 CITV special Simply the Best.
  • A workman resembling Ringo Starr is visible.
  • In the Japanese dub, the narrator says that Sodor is a part of the United Kingdom. This is contrary to later in the show, where in The Great Race, it is revealed that Sodor is its own country. A possible explanation could be that it became an independent country between times.
  • In the Shining Time Station episode, A Place Unlike Any Other, Ringo Starr's line "and off he ran laughing" was used, much like its UK counterpart, while some US versions of Ringo Starr's narration have him say, "And off Thomas ran laughing".
  • On the Shining Time Station episode, A Place Unlike Any Other and the Thomas' Halloween Adventures DVD, the last few seconds of the episode are cut.
  • The model that would later be used for Elizabeth II in the fourth series can be seen in this episode.
  • The JEI TV version of the Korean dub added subtitles to inform viewers what a turntable is.

Goofs

  • In the first shot of Thomas:
    • Studio equipment is reflected off of his smokebox.
    • When he starts rolling his eyes, his face moves just a little bit.
    • His boiler is chipped.
    • His eyes are misaligned.
    • One of his eyes is scratched.
    • When the shot shows Thomas' wheels, the paint is chipped.
    • In the shot of his boiler, the yellow stripe around his cab is peeling off.
  • In the first shot of Thomas puffing into Knapford Station, studio equipment is briefly visible behind the nearby buildings before the camera pans closer to Knapford Station.
  • In the scene where the narrator says "Thomas thinks no engine works as hard as he does," Henry's passenger train has no brake coach.
  • When Gordon is first seen pulling the express, the reflection of some studio equipment can be seen in the lake, and the ground slightly sinks.
  • In the closeup of Thomas' driver and fireman inside his cab, the shed is missing as just blue sky can be seen in through Thomas' cab windows.
  • When the narrator says "It was nearly time for the Express," there are no coaches on the track next to Gordon. When Thomas puffs in, they suddenly appear.
  • Gordon was waiting outside platform 2 for his coaches, but when Thomas puffs in, Gordon and his coaches are outside platforms 3 and 4.
  • When Gordon backs up to get coupled up with the coaches, something can be seen moving behind the station. It is most likely a crew member.
  • In one scene, there is a set of points leading from the track outside platform 5 to the track outside platform 4. In the next scene, it disappears.
  • Just before Thomas reaches the water tower, the background shows trees and bushes instead of Wellsworth.
  • When Gordon and Thomas exit Henry's tunnel, the tracks bounce in the air.
  • When Gordon is sleeping in the siding, his buffers are crooked.
  • When Thomas stops inside Knapford at the beginning, Henry is in his new shape.
  • When Thomas wakes Gordon up the second time, the buffers in the siding in front of Gordon are not connected to the track, Thomas and a brake van move a little and his smoke vanishes due to a jump cut.
  • When Thomas backs onto the turntable at Wellsworth, he looks more annoyed than tired.
  • When Henry leaves the station, Gordon's eyes are a bit misaligned.
  • When Thomas says "Hurry (up) yourself!" the coaches cannot be seen in front of him.
  • When Henry and James puff out of Knapford, two of Henry's wheel arches are missing.
  • When Thomas puffs into Knapford in the opening scene, Henry has no coaches. In the next scene, he leaves the station with coaches, a van, and a brake van.
  • In the closeup of Thomas' and Gordon's whistles, Knapford station is missing.
  • In the wide shot of Gordon pulling the coaches with Thomas behind, Thomas has no faceplate.
  • In the closeup of Gordon when he says "Well, little Thomas, now you know what hard work means, don't you?" Wellsworth station is missing.
  • In the restored version:
    • An unidentified object obstructs the camera lens in the top-left corner of the shot when James and Henry pass by at Knapford. The object is most likely studio equipment.
    • When Thomas leaves the sheds, the edge of the set can be seen.
    • Studio equipment can be seen as Gordon pulls Thomas around the bend.
    • In the closeup of Thomas being tired out, the train in front of him is missing.
    • When the train crosses the viaduct, the edge of the set is visible.
    • Just before Thomas starts puffing to the water tower, the track ends behind him.
    • In the closeup of Gordon smiling, there is studio equipment in the background, Thomas and the express disappear, his tender bounces a little, and the tracks behind him end.
    • When Thomas backs onto the turntable, a camera stand is visible.
  • On the digital release of the first series, the narration changes from George Carlin to Ringo Starr, and back to George Carlin again, when they arrive at Wellsworth.

In Other Languages

View content
Language Title
Albanian Tomasi dhe Gordoni
Brazilian Portuguese Thomas Aprende uma Lição
Chinese Mandarin 托马斯和高登
Croatian Tomica i Gordon
Czech Tomáš a Gordon
Danish Thomas og Gordon
Dutch Thomas en Gordon
Finnish Tuomas-Veturi ja Jori
French Thomas et Gordon
German Thomas und Gordon
Greek Ένα Mάθημα για τον Τόμας
Hebrew תומס וגורדון
Hungarian Thomas és Gordon
Icelandic Tommi og Gyrðir
Italian Una bella lezione
Japanese トーマスとゴードン
Korean 토마스와 고든
Latin American Spanish Una Lección para Thomas
Norwegian Thomas og Gordon
Polish Tomek i Gabryś
Romanian Thomas şi Gordon
Romansh Tumasch e Gordi
Russian Серьезный урок
Serbian Tomas i Gordon
Slovak Thomas a Gordon
Slovenian Tomaž in Gorazd
Swedish Thomas och Gordon
Turkish Thomas ve Gordon
Welsh Tomos a Gordon

Merchandise

View content
Name Published Publisher Highlights Photo
Thomas and Gordon 1985 Dean and Son
  • Board book
ThomasandGordon(boardbook).png
Thomas 2003 Egmont
MyThomasStoryLibraryThomas.png
Thomas (Book/CD) 2007 Egmont
  • My Thomas Story Library book
  • The book was released with a CD narrated by Michael Angelis
ThomasStoryLibrarybookandCD.jpg
Thomas the Tank Engine Book Pack 2015 Egmont
ThomasWoodenRailwayStoryLibraryBookPack.png
Thomas and Gordon 2016 Random House
ThomasandGordon(book).png

Home Media Releases

UK

DVD Boxsets

WAL

US

VHS/DVD Boxsets

AUS

DVD Boxsets

FRA

JPN

ZA

SWE

NOR

BRA

MYS

FIN/ISL

GER

SVN

NL

NZ

ITA

PHL

ROM

DVD Boxsets

DNK

SER

ISR

HRV

IND

CHN

HK

THA

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