Thomas and the Rainbow

Thomas and the Rainbow is the second episode of the ninth series.

Plot

After an overnight storm knocks the telephone poles down, the Fat Controller tasks Thomas to take engineers to fix them. Thomas goes to Brendam Docks with Annie and Clarabel and whilst the engineers climb aboard his train, he sees a rainbow in the sky. Edward, who is shunting trucks nearby, tells Thomas that according to legend "you will find something magical at the end of a rainbow." This prompts Thomas to find the end of the rainbow.

During his journey, Thomas meets Percy at a junction, but does not have time to talk to him as he wants to find the end of the rainbow. Climbing up Gordon's Hill, the end of the rainbow seems to be at the summit; but when Thomas gets there, the rainbow has moved. After dropping off some engineers by a bridge, Thomas ignores some childrens' calls of "hello" as he carries on finding the rainbow. Unfortunately, Thomas gets so carried away trying to find the end of the rainbow that he ignores Henry's call for assistance with his trucks and Toby's warning that something is blocking the track ahead. It turns out to be a broken telephone pole, which Thomas runs into and derails.

Now Thomas cannot finish his job and as all the telephone poles are not fixed, his driver cannot call for help. However, Thomas sees Percy passing by on another line and whistles for help to him, but Percy does not respond; Thomas thinks Percy was giving him a taste of his own medicine because he did not have time to talk to Percy. But Percy does hear Thomas' call for help and sends the message down the line. The message eventually reaches Harvey, who sets off to the rescue.

Finally Harvey arrives and gets Thomas, Annie and Clarabel back on the rails; he also tells Thomas that all of his friends worked together to rescue him. Thomas carries on with his work, but now ignores the rainbow. Once all the telephone poles are fixed, Thomas goes home to Tidmouth Sheds to find the end of the rainbow. The something magical are his friends.

Characters

• Thomas
• Edward
• Percy
• Toby
• Harvey
• Sir Topham Hatt
• Henry (does not speak)
• James (does not speak)
• Annie and Clarabel (do not speak)
• Bertie (does not speak)
• Harold (does not speak)
• Gordon (cameo)
• Emily (cameo)
• Salty (cameo)
• Trevor (cameo)
• Cranky (cameo)
• Tiger Moth (cameo)
• Stephen Hatt (cameo)
• Big Mickey (faceless, cameo)

Locations

• Tidmouth Sheds
• Brendam Docks
• Sodor Shipping Company
• Kirk Ronan Junction
• Gordon's Hill
• Neville's Bridge
• Stepney's Branch Line
• Shen Valley
• The Ruined Castle
• Dryaw
• McColl Farm
• The Hay Farm
• Knapford Yards

Trivia

• Going by production order, this is the first episode of the ninth series.
• This episode aired before the special Calling All Engines! was released, meaning that the audience would not know about the newly rebuilt Tidmouth Sheds with the seventh berth for Emily.
• This episode was nominated for a British Academy of Film and Television Arts award.
• Stock footage from the Series 8 Learning Segment, Helping One Another is used.

Goofs

• At the beginning of the episode, Henry has Gordon's whistle sound.
• In the shot of the workman getting into Annie, a wire can be seen through her window.
• When Thomas passes Henry, all three signals are up, but Thomas passes the signal at danger.

Merchandise

• Tomica (discontinued)

In Other Languages

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