| For other uses, see Thomas and Gordon (disambiguation). |
- “Thomas is a tank engine who lives at the big station on the Island of Sodor. He's a cheeky little engine with six small wheels, a short stumpy funnel, a short stumpy boiler and a short stumpy dome.”
- ― The narrator introducing Thomas
Thomas and Gordon, retitled Thomas Gets Tricked on North American releases, is the first episode of the first series and the very first episode of Thomas & Friends overall. 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 called Knapford on a railway island named Sodor. His job is to fetch coaches for the other engines and then take them away when they 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 one who pulls the express. Thomas likes to startle him rudely by whistling at him.
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 he decides to teach Thomas a lesson instead of falling back to sleep.
One morning, Thomas' crew is unable to make him start since his fire is out and there is not enough steam. Gordon and his passengers wait impatiently at Knapford Station for Thomas to bring the coaches. Finally, a tired Thomas starts and he hurries to get the express coaches, which he brings to the station platform behind Gordon. Gordon then enacts his plan; he quickly backs up, couples to his train and tells his passengers to get in quickly. Thomas usually pushes from behind the big trains to help them get a good start but is always uncoupled first so he can stop and go back when the train is running nicely. However, Gordon starts off so quickly this time that the workmen forget to uncouple Thomas. 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.
Thomas: "I shall never be the same again! My wheels will be quite worn out!"
After a while, the express finally comes to a stop at Wellsworth Station. Thomas is very tired and feels very silly and exhausted. He is uncoupled from the train, gets turned around on a nearby turntable, moves into a siding where he has a rest and then takes a long drink from a water tower. He then wearily puffs home, having learned not to act so cheeky towards Gordon ever again.
Characters
- Thomas
- Gordon
- Green Express Coaches
- Orange Stroudley Coaches (do not speak)
- Henry (cameo)
- James (cameo)
- Clarabel (cameo)
- Troublesome Trucks (cameos)
- Sir Topham Hatt (cameo)
- Stephen Hatt (cameo)
- Märklin Engine (deleted scene cameo)
Locations
- Island of Sodor:
- United Kingdom (mentioned in Japanese dub only)
Trivia
- According to the 1982 production packet, this episode was originally supposed to be the fifth episode of the first series.
- The dialogue script for this episode was completed on 18 May 1984.
- Stock footage from the unaired pilot is used.
- This episode marks the only appearance of Thomas' yawning face until the eighth series episode, Chickens to School.
- Apart from this episode, Down the Mine is the only first series episode to feature Thomas' confused face.
- A workman resembling Ringo Starr is visible.
- The model that would later be used for Elizabeth II in the fourth series can be seen in this episode.
- Although this is James' first appearance, he is not officially acknowledged by name until Thomas and the Breakdown Train. This may be because James was added into the episode to make the set appear more active.
- The events of this episode were retold and recreated for the 2015 special The Adventure Begins.
- On 9 October 1984, before the Children's ITV debut at 4.00pm, the first two episodes aired at 12.00 midday before the ITN News at 1.00pm.
- A clip from this episode was used in the 1995 CITV special Simply the Best.
- 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 dubs of Starr's narration have him say, "and off Thomas ran laughing." This line appears in the book Thomas Gets Tricked and Other Stories.
- The George Carlin dub was previously very hard to find on home video as the only release available was on the 1995 Thomas Gets Tricked re-release from Video Treasures featuring George Carlin's dub with four extra episodes, until it was released on Thomas' Halloween Adventures in 2006.
- The whistle pattern Thomas makes when he wakes Gordon up for the second time is used in Mister Moose's Fun Time whenever Thomas' segment in that show is coming up next.
- Music cues from this episode were used in some German audiobooks of Thomas & Friends.
- The German audiobook story of this episode 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.
- 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 or that Sodor gained the same status as the Isle of Man, being a dependence of the British crown, while having a political autonomy.
- The JEI TV version of the Korean dub added subtitles to inform viewers what a turntable is.
- This episode has the most home video releases of any episode in the television series.
Goofs
- During Thomas' introduction:
- Studio equipment is reflected off of his smokebox.
- His eyes are misaligned.
- One of his eyes is scratched.
- His dome is crooked.
- Part of his boiler is raised due to the middle section not being reassembled properly before shooting.
- His face moves when rolling his eyes.
- A black dot is visible in his nose.
- The paint on the wheels are chipped.
- There are white marks on his wheel arch.
- There is a red mark on his smokebox.
- His cab doorway is not painted properly near the bottom.
- The yellow stripe around his cab is peeling off.
- His side tank has several chips and scratches.
- His cab roof has paint chips on the front.
- 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 part of 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.
- When the train crosses the viaduct, the edge of the set is visible.
- In the closeup of Gordon smiling:
- There is studio equipment in the background.
- Thomas and the express disappear.
- His tender bounces a little.
- The tracks behind him end.
- When Thomas backs onto the turntable, a camera stand is visible. This was fixed on later releases. Because of this, on the 2016 US digital release of the first series, the narration changes from George Carlin to Ringo Starr during the shot when the camera stand was visible, then back to George Carlin again. Specifically, the lines "At last, they stopped at a station. Thomas was uncoupled and he felt very silly and exhausted" were taken from Ringo's narration instead of George's.
- Just before Thomas starts puffing to the water tower, the track ends behind him.
- 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 the station.
- When Thomas stops inside Knapford station for the first time:
- Henry is in his new shape.
- Henry has no coaches but, in the next scene, he gains the coaches, a van and a brake van.
- Gordon's eyes are a bit misaligned.
- When Henry and James puff out of Knapford:
- Two of Henry's wheel arches are missing.
- Henry's passenger train has no brake coach.
- In the first shot of Gordon, there are paint chips near the bottom right of his smokebox and on his buffer beam.
- When Gordon is sleeping in the siding, his buffers are crooked.
- When Gordon is first seen pulling the express, the reflection of some studio equipment can be seen in the lake and the ground also slightly sinks.
- 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 also vanishes due to a jump cut.
- In the close-up 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 but when Thomas puffs in, they suddenly appear.
- Gordon is waiting outside platform 2 for his coaches but when Thomas puffs in, Gordon and his coaches are outside platforms 3 and 4.
- When Thomas says "Hurry yourself!":
- The coaches are not in front of him.
- His lamp handle is missing.
- His lamp is also not attached.
- 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.
- 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.
- During the shot of Gordon's wheels when he reverses his right buffer (viewer's left) is very crooked.
- In the closeup of Thomas and Gordon's whistles, Knapford station is missing.
- When Gordon and Thomas exit Henry's tunnel, the tracks bounce in the air.
- In the closeup of Thomas being tired out, the train in front of him is missing.
- When Thomas backs onto the turntable at Wellsworth, he looks more confused than tired.
- 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 and there is also a gap between his eyes.
- Just before Thomas reaches the water tower, the background shows trees and bushes instead of Wellsworth.
- In the Shining Time Station episode A Place Unlike Any Other and on the Thomas' Halloween Adventures DVD, the last few seconds of the episode are cut.
- In the French dub, while Thomas was shunting Gordon's coaches to the platform, the narrator refers to Gordon as "Antoine".
In Other Languages
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Merchandise
Thomas and Gordon (1985 Octopus book)- Thomas (2003 My Thomas Story Library book)
- Thomas (2007 My Thomas Story Library book with audio CD)
- Thomas the Tank Engine (2014 My Thomas Story Library book with Wooden Railway Thomas)
- Thomas and Gordon (2016 Random House book)
Magazine Story
- Thomas and Gordon (1987 magazine story)
Home Video Releases
Episode
Thomas and Gordon - UK
UK narration
Thomas Gets Tricked - US (George Carlin)
US narration (George Carlin)
References
| #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 | |