For other uses, see Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree (disambiguation). |
- "It's no fun getting stuck in the snow but it was worth it for this party. Happy Christmas, Percy! Happy Christmas, everyone!"
- ― Thomas
Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree is the twenty-sixth and final episode of the second series. It is based on The Railway Series story of the same name.
Plot
It is 23 December and the final preparations are being made for a carol party to be held at Tidmouth. All the engines are working hard to set up the decorations. This year, the Fat Controller wants the carol party to be extra special.
The Fat Controller is waiting impatiently when Thomas arrives. The Fat Controller tells Thomas that their Christmas tree has come and Thomas has to fetch it while Duck watches over Annie and Clarabel. Thomas asks the Fat Controller if he and the other engines can sing carols too and the Fat Controller promises to think about it. Thomas is very excited and rushes off, collecting the tree safely. However, on the way home, he ends up stuck in a snowdrift, much to his annoyance. Thomas knows that he must arrive back in time and bravely whistles for help but cannot back out of the heavy snow. Suddenly, an avalanche buries Thomas and the tree under thick snow.
Back at the yards, the engines are waiting crossly for Thomas. They are silenced by the Fat Controller, who tells them that snow has brought down the telephone lines and they must assume that Thomas is stranded. Everyone now feels sorry for Thomas and Donald and Douglas go out to search for him. They soon reach a snow drift much deeper than the rest. A cry for help is heard and Donald thinks he hears something but Douglas thinks it may be the wind. Upon hearing the cry again, they realise that Thomas is buried under the snow drift.
Time passes as the workmen dig through the snow to free him. Thomas' driver and fireman, who had taken shelter in a nearby cottage, join the rescue and Thomas is soon freed from the snow. Thomas follows the twins home and they arrive by nightfall. The Fat Controller rewards the engines by granting them permission to sing carols. The engines happily chuff away to the station. Lights come on and the Fat Controller declares three cheers for Thomas and his friends.

"Happy Christmas, Percy! Happy Christmas, everyone!"
Harold soon joins the party bringing Father Christmas and everyone cheers. As the carols begin, Thomas tells Percy that, although getting stuck in the snow was no fun, it was all worth it for the celebration and wishes everyone a Happy Christmas.
Characters
- Thomas
- Donald and Douglas
- Sir Topham Hatt
- Percy (does not speak)
- Toby (does not speak)
- Duck (does not speak)
- Annie and Clarabel (do not speak)
- Harold (does not speak)
- Father Christmas (does not speak)
- Edward (cameo)
- Henry (cameo)
- Gordon (cameo)
- James (cameo)
- Bill and Ben (cameos)
- Diesel (cameo)
- BoCo (cameo)
- Troublesome Trucks (cameos)
- Terence (cameo)
- Bertie (cameo)
- Trevor (cameo)
- Jeremiah Joblin (cameo)
- Farmer Finney (cameo)
- Jem Cole (cameo)
- The Vicar of Wellsworth (cameo)
- The Little Boys (cameos)
- The New Ffarquhar Constable (cameo)
- The Floppy Green Hat Lady (cameo)
- Harold's Pilots (cameos)
Locations
- Tidmouth
- The Branch Line Cutting
- Suddery Castle
- The Watermill
- The Works (mentioned)
- Wellsworth (deleted scene)
Trivia
- Diesel appearing at the Christmas party at the end of this episode is unexplained, considering that he was sent packing.
- Father Christmas' large scale figure is a dressed-up Fat Controller. His small scale figure is the Fat Controller's overalls figure from Coal repainted.
- Stock footage from Thomas and the Guard and Thomas, Terence and the Snow is used.
- This is the first episode in where BoCo and Harold appear but do not speak.
- This episode marks the last occurrences of many things:
- The last episode narrated by Ringo Starr in the UK and US and Louise Raeder in Sweden. Starr, however, would continue to narrate audio cassettes for Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends Ladybird Books in 1987 and voice Thomas again in The Official BBC Children in Need Medley.
- The last episode translated by Beate Mulholland in the TV dub in Norway.
- The last episode produced by Robert D. Cardona.
- The last episode made by Clearwater Features before its closure on 31 December 1990.
- Britt Allcroft's last episode as executive producer until the sixth series.
- The last episode until the seventeenth series episode Kevin's Cranky Friend and the special The Great Discovery to have the same narrator for both the UK and US, excluding the episodes on New Friends for Thomas and Other Adventures and the episodes from the original cut of the twelfth series.
- The last episode where Donald and Douglas' nameplates are on their smokeboxes until the 2015 special Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure and in a episode until the twentieth series episode Toby's New Friend, respectively.
- The last appearances of The Lady with the Floppy Green Hat and the Branch Line Cutting.
- The last episode where Harold's blades are achieved using a transparent disk. Starting with the third series episode Percy's Promise onwards (which is two episodes after this episode), his blades are now shown when he is flying.
- The last episode to feature Thomas' original smiling face.
- The last appearance of Suddery Castle until the seventh series episode Emily's New Coaches.
- The last episode to feature Edward's angry face without teeth until the seventh series episode Edward's Brass Band.
- The last episode video edited by Kang Hyun-gi for JEI TV until the fourth series episode Granpuff in South Korea.
- The last episode to feature Thomas' laughing face without teeth and his bigger footsteps as well as for the laughing faces of the other engines, though Gordon's face would later be resculpted into a grinning face in the sixth series.
- The last episode to feature Annie's low front buffer-beam.
- The last episode to feature Terence's happy face without teeth.
- The last episode to create the score with the Jupiter-8 and Jupiter-6 synthesizers and the Linn LM-1 drum machine from original material.
- The last episode to feature Thomas' annoyed face in its original form. From the next episode through The Great Discovery, the face would have more stern-looking eyebrows to represent an angrier look.
- This episode first aired on 17 December 1986 and was repeated on 13 July 1988 for the 1988 repeat double-bills. This episode was not shown on further repeats after 1988.
- This is one of three times in the television series to feature Thomas without his headlamp, albeit in promotional images only, the others being the second series episode Thomas Comes to Breakfast, due to damage from the crash and the fifth series episode Horrid Lorry.
- This is the only Ringo Starr-narrated episode released in the US without him properly re-recording certain lines. In this version, due to Starr's departure before he had a chance to re-narrate certain lines, all lines mentioning the Fat Controller were omitted but were not re-narrated with "Sir Topham Hatt" in their place, leaving some long pauses with music and sound effects present. The one line that was not omitted was the traditional British name for Santa Claus, Father Christmas. This version can only be found on the VHS release of the Shining Time Station Christmas special 'Tis a Gift, which was originally released on 27 October 1992.
- A promotional image shows Thomas laughing when he is pulled out of the snow drift.
- George Carlin's dub of this episode was not featured on an episode of Shining Time Station. It first appeared on the Thomas' Christmas Party and Other Favorite Stories VHS on 14 September 1994.
- Daisy and Henrietta are the only characters introduced in the first two series not to appear in this episode, excluding the Spiteful Brake Van, who was broken into pieces in Break Van. The reason for Daisy's absence was due to the fact she and BoCo shared the same chassis.
- Some of the passengers are represented by 1:32 scale Scalextric and Märklin figures.
- The Ladybird book is differs from the episode and is actually closer to the original book instead, featuring scenes of Donald and Douglas passing Percy, Toby and Duck as well as mentioning how they wanted to rest at a station.
- CEL Home Video did not release this episode, Edward's Exploit, Ghost Train nor Woolly Bear on any of their 1989 VHS releases in New Zealand. Instead, these four episodes later premiered on home video in New Zealand on Endeavour Entertainment's VHS release of The Deputation and Other Stories in 1992.
- This episode's Korean title was just a transcription to Hangul of the "Christmas Party".
Goofs
- Thomas' eyes are misaligned throughout the episode.
- Donald and Douglas' nameplates are missing in several scenes.
- BoCo's left eye is scratched and his face also moves a bit.
- In the restored version:
- Camera tripods are seen in the shot of the telephone lines and when Donald and Douglas set off to find Thomas.
- In the shot of Thomas and Percy towards the end, a blue light behind them was covered up. This is likely to be a crew member standing in the background.
- At Tidmouth Station and the Water Mill, Thomas' train has an SR 25 Ton Brake Van but, at the valley, it is replaced with a BR 20.
- The narrator says the engines were grumbling about Thomas being late but Henry and Gordon are clearly smiling and Donald also has Edward's angry face on.
- When Donald and Douglas set off to rescue Thomas, the Fat Controller is standing by the track opposite them but, in the next shot, the Fat Controller has already got back to his car on the other side of the turntable long before the twins run round it.
- When the narrator says, "Then they set off once more to finish their long journey," the space between the leaves and the tree is also green instead of white on the left side of the screen.
- When the Fat Controller tells the engines they can go enjoy the carols:
- Donald's left eyebrow (viewers' right) is missing.
- Thomas' face is crooked and his head lamp is also not on.
- The other engines are not wearing head lamps at all.
- When Thomas leaves to see the carols, his smoke generator is still going off.
- In the aerial shot of the station:
- Terence's eyes are noticeably misaligned, as they are horizontally pointed away from each other.
- Bertie is at the back of the shot but later is seen with Trevor, Terence, Annie and Clarabel.
- Bertie, Annie and Clarabel do not have hats on but later gain them.
- None of the trucks next to Annie and Clarabel have faces but later gains it in the shot of Trevor, Terence, Bertie, Annie and Clarabel.
- In the shot of Bill and Ben with Diesel, Ben's nameplate is loose.
- In the close-up of the people near the tree, some of them have some missing paint marks.
- A wire can be seen to hold Harold when he lands.
- When the narrator says, "Everyone cheered and the party began":
- Thomas is next to Harold instead of in front of the station.
- Edward is seen in the station instead of in front of the station.
- Henry, Gordon and BoCo have disappeared.
- When Thomas says, "Happy Christmas, Percy", his face moves.
Quotes
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In Other Languages
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Merchandise
Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree (1987 Ladybird book)
Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree (1999 Jellybean book)
Thomas and the Christmas Tree (2009 Random House lift-the-flap book)
Magazine Story
The Missing Christmas Tree (1988 magazine story)
Home Video Releases
Episode
English
Other Languages
References
#01 Thomas, Percy and the Coal | #10 The Runaway | #19 Daisy |
#02 Cows | #11 Percy Takes the Plunge | #20 Percy's Predicament |
#03 Bertie's Chase | #12 Pop Goes the Diesel | #21 The Diseasel |
#04 Saved from Scrap | #13 Dirty Work | #22 Wrong Road |
#05 Old Iron | #14 A Close Shave | #23 Edward's Exploit |
#06 Thomas and Trevor | #15 Better Late than Never | #24 Ghost Train |
#07 Percy and the Signal | #16 Break Van | #25 Woolly Bear |
#08 Duck Takes Charge | #17 The Deputation | #26 Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree |
#09 Percy and Harold | #18 Thomas Comes to Breakfast | Cancelled: The Missing Coach |
Cancelled: Gordon Goes Foreign | ||