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"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.

ThomasandtheMissingChristmasTree44

"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

Locations

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:
  • 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

View content
The Fat Controller: Quickly, now. Our Christmas tree has arrived just in time! I want you to fetch it, Thomas. Duck can look after Annie and Clarabel until you get back.
Thomas: Will we be able to sing carols, too?
The Fat Controller: We'll see.
Thomas: It would be nice to sing carols again.

The Fat Controller: [to the engines whistling impatiently] Silence! Thomas left the Works safely but snow has brought the telephone lines down. We must assume he is stranded!

Thomas: [in snow] Help!
Donald: Hush! I can hear something.
Douglas: Probably the wind.
Thomas: Help!
Donald: No! Listen!
Thomas: Over here!
Donald: Och! It's Thomas! Come on! The poor wee engine must be frozen to the frames in there!

The Fat Controller: [to the engines] As a reward for all your hard work, you may go and enjoy the carols. Be quick now!

The Fat Controller: 1, 2, 3!
[the station then lights up as if it were magic, with decorations and Christmas lights]
The Fat Controller: Ladies, gentlemen and children! I give you three cheers for Thomas the Tank Engine and all his friends who have made this occasion possible!

In Other Languages

View content
Language Title
Brazilian Portuguese Thomas e a árvore de Natal perdida
Chinese Mandarin 托马斯和失踪的圣诞树
Czech Tomáš a zmizelý vánoční strom
Danish Thomas og det forsvundne juletræ
Dutch Thomas en de verdwenen kerstboom
Finnish Tuomas ja kadonnut joulukuusi
French Thomas et le sapin de Noël manquant
German Der fehlende Weihnachtsbaum
Greek Το χριστουγεννιάτικο δέντρο
Hungarian Thomas és az eltűnt karácsonyfa
Italian La notte di Natale
Japanese きかんしゃたちのクリスマス・キャロル
Korean 크리스마스 파티
Latin American Spanish Thomas y el árbol de navidad perdido
Norwegian Thomas og det bortkomne juletreet
Polish Tomek i zaginiona choinka
Romanian Thomas şi bradul dispărut
Russian Томас и пропавшая ёлка
Serbian Tomas i božićno drvo
Slovenian Tomaž in pogrešana novoletna jelka
Swedish Thomas och den glömda julgrannen
Thai ต้นคริสมาสหายไป
Turkish Thomas ve Kayıp Yılbaşı Ağacı
Ukrainian Томас і зникла ялинка
Welsh Tomos a'r Goeden Nadolig

Merchandise

Books

Ladybirdbook7 Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree (1987 Ladybird book)
ThomasandtheMissingChristmasTree Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree (1999 Jellybean book)
ThomasandtheChristmasTree Thomas and the Christmas Tree (2009 Random House lift-the-flap book)

Magazine Story

TheMissingChristmasTree(MagazineStory)10 The Missing Christmas Tree (1988 magazine story)

Home Video Releases

United Kingdom UK

TheDeputationVHS The Deputation and Other Stories
TheBestofThomastheTankEngineandFriends The Best of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends
Thomas'ChristmasPartyandotherstories Thomas' Christmas Party and 17 Other Stories
ThomastheTankEngine2on1VHSCover Ghost Train and Other Stories/Time for Trouble and Other Stories
ThomasComestoBreakfastandotherstories Thomas Comes to Breakfast and Other Stories
YourFavouriteStoryCollection Your Favourite Story Collection
TheBiggestEverChristmasCollection The Biggest Ever Christmas Collection
TheCompleteSecondSeriesVHS The Complete Second Series
SeasonalScrapesVHS Seasonal Scrapes
ChristmasCollection Christmas Collection
Children'sChristmasFavourites Children's Christmas Favourites

United Kingdom UK DVD Boxset

ClassicCollectionSeasons1-5boxset Classic Collection

Wales WAL

TomosYTancVolume4Cover Major Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends Video
TheBigChristmasVideo The Big Christmas Video

Australia AUS

TheDeputationandOtherStories1988australiancover The Deputation and Other Stories
TheBiggestEverChristmasCollectionAustraliancover The Biggest Ever Christmas Collection
SeriesTwoAustralianDVD Series Two

Australia AUS DVD Packs

AustralianS1-5Collection Classic Collection: Series 1 - 5
SeriesOneandTwoAustralianDoublePack Series One and Series Two 2-Disc Collection
CompleteSeries1-10 The Complete Series 1-10

New Zealand NZ

TheDeputationandotherStoriesNewZealandcover The Deputation and Other Stories (1992 Endeavour Entertainment VHS only)
BumperVideoCollectionVol3VHSCover Bumper Video Collection Volume 3
TheBestEverChristmasCollectionNewZealand The Best Ever Christmas Collection

USA US

'TisaGift1992VHScover Shining Time Station: 'Tis a Gift (Ringo Starr's US dub)
Thomas'ChristmasPartyandotherFavoritestories2 Thomas' Christmas Party and Other Favorite Stories
Percy'sGhostlyTrickandOtherThomasStories1995VHScover Percy's Ghostly Trick and Other Thomas Stories (2000 blue "early master" tapes only)
Thomas'ChristmasWonderlandandotherThomasAdventuresVHScover Thomas' Christmas Wonderland and Other Thomas Adventures
Thomas'snowysurpriseandotheradventuresVHS Thomas' Snowy Surprise and Other Adventures
UltimateChristmas Ultimate Christmas
ThomasandFriendsClassicVolume2 Thomas & Friends Classic Volume 2

Canada CAN

Thomas'ChristmasPartyandotherFavoritestories2 Thomas' Christmas Party and Other Favorite Stories
Thomas'ChristmasWonderlandandotherThomasAdventuresVHScover Thomas' Christmas Wonderland and Other Thomas Adventures
Thomas'snowysurpriseandotheradventuresVHS Thomas' Snowy Surprise and Other Adventures
UltimateChristmas Ultimate Christmas

USA Canada US/CAN VHS/DVD Packs

Thomas' Christmas Party 2-pack 'Tis a Gift and Thomas' Christmas Party and Other Favorite Stories 2 Pack VHS
ThomasSnowySurprisePercySavestheDaywithWoodenRailwayJackFrostPercy Thomas' Snowy Surprise and Percy Saves the Day 2 Pack DVD
SodorFriendsHolidayCollection Sodor Friends Holiday Collection
FunontheTracks6DVDSet Fun on the Tracks (version 1)
HolidayFavorites Holiday Favorites (US)/HolidayFavoritesCanadianDVDcover Holiday Favourites (CAN)
CelebratewithThomas Celebrate with Thomas
Thomas'HolidayCollectionFrontCover Thomas' Holiday Collection

South Africa ZA

BreakvanSouthAfricanVHScover Breakvan (Volume Four)

India IND

GhostTrainandOtherStories Ghost Train and Other Stories

Malaysia MYS

ThomasandtheMissingChristmasTreeandotherThomasAdventures Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree and Other Thomas Adventures (Volume 21) (VCD)
TheDeputationandotherAdventures The Deputation and Other Adventures (DVD)

Philippines PHL

TheDeputationDVDcover The Deputation

Mexico Argentina Chile LATAM

Thomas'ChristmasWonderlandLatinAmericanSpanishDVD(MexicanEdition) Thomas' Christmas Party

Brazil BRA

ChristmasintheBeautifulLandofThomas Thomas' Christmas Wonderland

Italy ITA

OnChristmasEve On Christmas Eve

France FRA

TheTalkativeTrainsVHScover The Talkative Trains (VHS)

Romania ROM

ThomasComestoBreakfastRomanianDVDcover Thomas Comes to Breakfast

Romania ROM DVD Boxset

TriplePack2 Triple Pack 2

Netherlands NL

MerryChristmas!frontcover Merry Christmas!
Dubbeldik4frontcover Double Feature 4
ItIsWinter!DutchDVDcover Kids Favourites: It Is Winter!
TheGreatestStoriesTheAdventuresofThomascover The Greatest Stories: The Adventures of Thomas

Germany GER

TheWoollyBearand4OtherAdventures The Woolly Bear and 4 Other Adventures (direct-to-VHS)
The9BestChristmasStories The 9 Best Christmas Stories
ThomasandHisFriendsVol.6VHSCover Thomas & Friends Volume 6
LotsOfLittleHelpersVHScover Lots of Little Helpers

Germany GER DVD Boxsets

ThomasandhisFriendsGermanDVDBoxSet2 Thomas & Friends Boxset 2
ThomasandhisFriendsBoxSet2 Thomas & Friends Track 2 Box
TheThomasChristmasBoxFrontCover The Thomas Christmas Box

Norway NOR

ThomasCelebratesChristmasNorwegianVHS Thomas Celebrates Christmas
GhostTrainNorwegianVHS Ghost Train
Thomas-FestivalNorwegianVHS Thomas-Festival

Denmark DK

BetterLatethanNeverandOtherStoriesDanishDVDcover Better Late than Never and Other Stories

Sweden SWE

GhostTrainSwedishVHS Ghost Train (VHS)
GhostTrainSwedishDVD Ghost Train and Henry and the Elephant (DVD)

Slovenia SVN

ThomasandtheChristmasTree(SlovenianDVD) Thomas and the Christmas Tree

Serbia SRP

ThomastheTankEngine5SerbianDVD Thomas & Friends 5

Croatia HRV

BetterLateThanNever(CroatianDVD) Better Late than Never

Greece GRC

AmazingJourneysGreekVHScover Amazing Journeys (VHS)
ALivelyCompanionshipDVD A Lively Companionship (DVD)

Greece GRC DVD Boxset

3DVDBoxset1 3 DVD Boxset 1

Turkey TUR

GhostTrainTurkishVCDcover Ghost Train (VCD)
GhostTrainandThomasComestoBreakfastTurkishDVDcover Ghost Train and Coming to Breakfast (DVD)

Thailand THA

ThomasandFriendsVolume8ThaiDVDCover Thomas & Friends Volume 8
SuperStarVol3 Superstar Children's Favourites Volume 3

Japan JPN

GhostTrain(JapaneseVHS)cover Ghost Train (rental-exclusive)
Thomas The Tank Engine Volume 11 1991 VHS Thomas the Tank Engine Volume 11
The Complete Works of Thomas the Tank Engine 1 Vol.6 2000 DVD The Complete Works of Thomas the Tank Engine 1 Volume 6
Thomas'sChristmasDVDcover Thomas & Friends Christmas

Japan JPN DVD Boxset

ThomastheTankEngine(8DVDBoxSet)cover The Complete DVD Box 1

South Korea KOR

Thomas,PercyandtheDragonandOtherStoriesKoreanVHScover Thomas, Percy and the Dragon and Other Stories (English)
FortheStoryofDeterminationVHSCover Stories that Inspire Courage

China CHN

ThomasSeason1-4DVD Thomas & Friends Season 1-4

Hong Kong HK

ThomasandFriendsVolume4ThaiDVD Thomas & Friends Volume 4 (DVD)

Taiwan TWN

HolidayExpress(TaiwaneseDVD) Holiday Express

Episode

English

Other Languages

References



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