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Thomas and the Billboard

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This article is about the episode. You may be looking for the Thai DVD.

"No one told me there was another photograph!"
"But I asked Thomas to tell everyone!"
― Diesel and the Photographer

Thomas and the Billboard is the first episode of the twelfth series and the first episode to be made with both models and CGI.

Plot

It is Knapford Station's birthday and all of the engines are preparing for the festivities. A photographer comes to take a photo of the engines to put up a billboard at Knapford. Thomas is proudest of all; he has never been shown on a billboard before. To fit all of the engines into the photo, the photographer asks James to move back, Percy to move forward and also for Diesel to move forward, but Diesel accidentally obscures Thomas. However, no-one is aware of this.

Later, Thomas puffs into Maron to collect the billboard to bring to Knapford and is very upset to find that he is out of the photograph. While Thomas thinks Diesel obscured him on purpose, he is so distracted that he barely notices a cow up ahead. He swerves into a siding at the last minute and knocks the billboard into a nearby lake. Thomas goes back to Maron to explain what had happened. The photo's results were incorrect anyway, so the photographer does not mind and tells Thomas to collect the engines again. Thomas is about to go when he sees Diesel approaching. Thomas refuses to tell Diesel about the new photo, as he does not want Diesel to ruin this photo too.

Soon, all of the engines are back at the sheds, except Diesel. Gordon, Emily and James are worried, as they have jobs to do, but Thomas is sure that he will be quick to fetch the photographer. On the way to Maron, Thomas sees Diesel, who is heading straight for the sheds. Thomas is worried, as Diesel will find out about the photo, so he takes a branch line back to Tidmouth. The engines get very cross when Thomas tells them to come back later, not knowing that it is just an excuse so Diesel will not see them. They have soon left, just as Diesel rolls past.

Later, the engines are back at the sheds, and Thomas puffs back to Maron to fetch the photographer. As the photographer climbs into Thomas' cab, Thomas sees Diesel coming. Worried that Diesel will see the photographer, he wheeshes a lot of steam to cover up the station and Diesel rolls past, but the camera is now wet. The photographer has to let the camera dry, so Thomas tells the engines to come back later.

Soon, the engines all come back but they still have not done their jobs. As the photographer is getting ready, nobody (except Thomas) notices that Diesel is not there. Just then, Diesel (who is doing the others' jobs) runs around the bend, to find all of the engines, ready to take the photograph for the new billboard. He stops so suddenly that the bunting falls off one of his trucks. Diesel is confused, as nobody had told him about it. The photographer is confused too as he had told Thomas to tell everybody, including Diesel. All of the engines glare at Thomas, knowing that he is the culprit, making him feel terrible. Just then, the Fat Controller arrives and lividly starts telling off Gordon, Emily and James for not doing their work and explains that Diesel had to do their jobs and because of that, he is now late with his own work.

This makes Thomas feel worse than ever and he owns up that he did not tell Diesel about the photograph because Diesel had obscured him earlier, which he believes was on deliberate. Diesel objects that the photographer had told him to move. The photographer realises what he did and explains that Diesel might have rolled too far. Now knowing that he had made a mistake, Thomas apologises to Diesel for accusing him and the Fat Controller for all the trouble. Everything is soon rectified and the engines line up to take the photo, this time with Diesel not covering up Thomas. After the photo is taken, Thomas agrees to do Diesel's work, while Diesel takes the new billboard to Knapford.

That evening, Diesel picks up the new billboard and takes it to the festivities at Knapford. The party is a great success as Thomas and Diesel agree that the new billboard at Knapford is the best billboard they have ever seen.

Characters

Locations

Trivia

  • At the end of the episode, the brass band plays Thomas' theme, in time with the incidental music.
  • This was originally supposed to be the first episode narrated by Pierce Brosnan in both English dubs, but for unknown reasons he left after The Great Discovery. Meanwhile, Michael Angelis and Michael Brandon returned to the role of narrator in the UK and US dubs, respectively. Had Brosnan stayed as narrator, this would have been the first time since the second series episode, Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree to feature the same narrator for both English dubs.
  • A gauge 1 figure of the photographer can be seen in one shot of Tidmouth Sheds when the engines return for the second photograph.
  • This episode marks the first of several things:
  • This episode marks last of two things:
    • Cyril the Fogman's last appearance until the twenty-second series episode, Samson and the Fireworks.
    • The last episode where Henry, Gordon, James, Toby and Emily's angry faces along with Edward and Percy's cross faces are used. This is also the case with Thomas' scared and current wincing faces, Edward's neutral face, Henry's annoyed face, Toby's sad and happy faces (excluding stock footage in Tram Trouble for his sad face), Emily's sad face (excluding stock footage in Saved You!) and Diesel's happy and innocent faces.

Goofs

  • Henry has Gordon's laughing face twice in this episode. This happens for the first time when he and Edward puff into Knapford at the beginning and then again at the celebration at the end. This is also the second time Henry has one of Gordon's faces. The first time was in the fourth series episode Peter Sam and the Refreshment Lady.
  • When the photographer is trying to get every engine into the photo, Gordon's lamp iron is missing.
  • Percy's whistle can barely be heard in the opening for the UK dub.
  • The narrator says that:
    • Diesel was puffing to Tidmouth but he is a diesel engine and he's not a steam engine.
    • Thomas took a branch line back to Tidmouth Sheds but the line finishes at a dead end and it is not a through route.
    • When no one had noticed Diesel's absence Gordon and Henry change places.
  • When the engines came back to Tidmouth Sheds, Henry is next to Toby but when Thomas tells the engines to come back later Henry and Percy change places. Henry also appears to move to the far right berth Edward was in as Diesel trundles by.
  • When the CGI eyelids blink, they are sometimes partially transparent.
  • When Gordon puffs by in the first scene, studio equipment is reflected in the coach windows.
  • When Thomas apologises to Diesel, Diesel's face is smaller and his mouth is not in sync.
  • When the engines are about to have their photo taken, Emily jerks back.
  • As the billboard flies:
    • The ground jerks up a bit.
    • Its left side is weighing it down but when it lands in the pond it lands on its right side.
  • Most of the engines' eyes are misaligned throughout the episode.
  • In the shot of the engines being very cross:
    • Percy and Toby's faces are slightly crooked.
    • James' face is slightly lifted.
    • Henry's back driving wheels appear to be raised.
    • All the engines have wonky eyes.
  • James' lamp irons are crooked in some scenes and the top of his right lamp iron (viewers left) appears to have broken off.
  • At the end of the episode, Percy's lamp is tilted.
  • Thomas' lamp is slightly facing to the right (viewers' left) in a couple of close-up shots.
  • When Diesel moves in, his face slightly moves.

In Other Languages

Language Title
Croatian Tomica i plakat
Czech Tomáš a veliká fotografie
Finnish Tärkeä Valokuva
French La Séance Photo
German Thomas und die Plakatwand
Hebrew תומס וצילום הכרזה
Indonesian Thomas dan Papan Reklame
Italian Thomas e il Manifesto
Kannada ಥಾಮಸ್ ಮತ್ತು ಬಿಲ್ಬೋರ್ಡ್
Korean 내 얼굴도 나와야지! (Kids 1)
세상에서 가장 멋진 간판 (EBS)
Mandarin (China) 托马斯和布告牌
Persian توماس و تابلوی اعلانات
Polish Tomek i Billboard
Portuguese (Brazil) Thomas e o Outdoor
Spanish (Latin America) Thomas y el Letrero
Vietnamese Thomas và Tấm Bảng Quảng Cáo

Home Media Releases

<< Series 11

Series 12

Series 13 >>

#01 Thomas and the Billboard #08 Excellent Emily #15 Gordon Takes a Shortcut
#02 Steady Eddie #09 The Party Surprise #16 The Man in the Hills
#03 Rosie's Funfair Special #10 Saved You! #17 Thomas Puts the Brakes On
#04 Mountain Marvel #11 Duncan and the Hot Air Balloon #18 Percy and the Bandstand
#05 Henry Gets It Wrong #12 James Works It Out #19 Push Me, Pull You
#06 Heave Ho Thomas! #13 Tram Trouble #20 Best Friends
#07 Toby's Special Surprise #14 Don't Go Back
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