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For other uses, see Thomas and the Special Letter (disambiguation).
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“Dear Thomas and all the engines, please, can I meet you? My friends say they would like to meet you, too. You could come to my house for tea but my mummy says there aren't any railway tracks to my house. Can you come to the station instead? Thank you very much!”
― The little girl's letter

Thomas and the Special Letter is the twenty-second episode of the fourth series and the 100th broadcasted episode of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. It is based on the story The Fat Controller's Engines from the Railway Series book The Eight Famous Engines.

Plot

After finishing his last train of the day, Thomas meets up with Percy and Toby at Elsbridge and finds out that all three engines have been asked to report to the Big Station after the day's work is done. Thomas thinks something is happening and is surprised to see BoCo, Mavis, Oliver, the Scottish twin engines and Bill and Ben all travel past, also heading for the Big Station. Thomas, Percy and Toby are now very curious and follow the others.

At Tidmouth Sheds, the Fat Controller silences his engines' excited whistling and tells them he recently received a letter from a five-year-old girl who lives in a Big City on the Mainland. She writes that she and her friends would like to meet Thomas and his friends and invites them to their local station. The Fat Controller tells the engines that a lot of children would like to meet them, so he will be taking his eight main engines to the Big City and putting them on display. The engines give another cheer, prompting the Fat Controller to command silence again and he states that while the eight engines are gone, the rest will all be running the line and asks to show them what to do.

Oliver is due to take charge of Thomas' Branch Line and he and Thomas practice using some other coaches, as Annie and Clarabel will be going with Thomas on the trip. Thomas gets overexcited and boasts about his race with Bertie to Oliver. But, when he tries to demonstrate how he stopped just short of the buffers, he goes too far and accidentally smashes through the buffers and the fence beyond, rolling down a slope and crashing through a brick wall, much to Oliver's surprise. While no people are hurt, Thomas' front end is badly damaged from the impact. The Fat Controller is notified and he sends some workmen over but warns that, unless Thomas is repaired in time, they will go to the Big City without him.

The next morning, at 8:00 a.m., the other engines are all ready to leave (with Percy and Toby traveling on flatbeds) but there is still no sign of Thomas yet. The Fat Controller agrees to wait one more minute for Thomas before they must leave. Finally repaired, Thomas puffs in just in time with Annie and Clarabel and the cavalcade of engines leave for their trip to the Big City. After having arrived at the city safely, the engines and coaches are lined up in a special shed, where many children come to meet them. Thomas tells Percy how glad he is that the little girl wrote to the Fat Controller, citing that pure happiness can come from nothing more than a letter.

Characters

Locations

Trivia

  • Going by production order, this is the twenty-first episode of the fourth series.
  • At the Sheds, the audio of the engines (notably Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Duck and the Scottish Twins) whistling is reused from the second series episode The Deputation.
  • In this episode, Mavis has Class 40's horn sound.
  • Behind the scenes footage for this episode was filmed for the 1995 Bookmark documentary The Thomas the Tank Engine Man.
    • The documentary crew filmed at Shepperton Studios on 31 October 1994.
    • The Mainland is referred to as the "Big City" in the episode but it was revealed by David Mitton on the set that the engines were heading to London.
    • Some of the footage reveals that Donald was filmed passing by Thomas, Percy and Toby but, for unknown reasons, he was replaced by Douglas. The narrator also even refers to Douglas as Donald in the actual episode.
    • Despite not being in the episode, Stepney can be seen on the Big Airy Shed set during Britt Allcroft's interview. Stepney's inclusion on the set was likely intended to be set dressing for the interview rather than the implication of him having a role in the episode.
  • A reference to the first series episode Thomas and Bertie is made in this episode.
  • The picture of Duke from the fourth series episode Bulldog can be seen in the Fat Controller's office.
  • According to a post on Britt Allcroft's Facebook page[2], this episode partially inspired the film Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
  • The ending scene is used in the 1998-2005 ABC For Kids Video Promo on various Australian children's home video releases.
  • This is the 100th episode of the series by UK broadcast order.
  • This episode marks the first of a few things:
    • The first episode where the North Western Railway engines numbered 1-11 have appeared and/or spoken all together in an episode. This was the only time until the special Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure to do so.
    • The first onscreen appearance of Oliver's speechless face that was unused from the third series.
    • The first fourth series episode released in Canada.
  • Despite their appearances in the episode, Edward and Duck do not appear in the nameboard sequence at the end of the episode in the Japanese dub.
  • This episode marks the last appearances of two things:
  • This episode marks the only appearances of a few things:
    • The only episode in the US dub that George Carlin refers to a flatbed as a truck. However, this is the first time in the US dub that said term is mentioned.
    • The only time where Thomas has an accident in the fourth series.
    • The only appearance of Bill and Ben in the fourth series.
    • The only appearance of Thomas' Ramp in the television series.
  • Thomas' accident is similar to a crash when an LB&SCR E4 0-6-2T tank engine No. 32493 also crashed into a wall but the tank engine ran off from the turntable and crashed into the wall at Southern Region sheds.
  • BoCo regains his horn sound from the second series after when Daisy reused it in the previous episode.
  • The three-berth garage from TUGS appears at Tidmouth Sheds.
  • The events of this episode were later mentioned by Thomas in the special The Great Race and Gordon in the special Big World! Big Adventures! during the song Where in the World is Thomas?
  • Nearly all the engines on the North Western Railway introduced so far are together in this episode, except for Diesel and Daisy. The latter is due to Daisy and BoCo sharing the same chassis in the model era.

Goofs

  • When Toby asks "How can something be up when it's down?" his face is slightly loose and he also appears to be a bit more closer to the buffers.
  • Douglas is mistakenly referred as Donald when whistling, "Good evening, you three! Aren't we all a fine sight?"
  • When Douglas passes through Elsbridge, he is missing his brake pipe.
  • When the engines parade past Thomas, Percy and Toby, there are a couple of incorrect whistle sounds:
    • Mavis has Class 40's horn sound.
    • Donald has Duck's whistle sound.
    • Oliver has Ben's whistle sound.
    • Douglas has Thomas' whistle ten steps lower pitched.
  • In the close-up of Thomas' driver, Thomas appears to be pulling a red coach instead of Annie and his cab is also very dirty when it was previously clean.
  • In the Dutch dub, the audio is out of sync.
  • When Thomas and Percy first leave Elsbridge, Toby is not in his siding but Henrietta is still there and his bell can be heard. In addition, they also went the opposite way when they went to the station, rather than follow the other engines.
  • In the UK dub and the Ukrainian voice-over, when the Fat Controller calls, "Silence!" he sounds muffled both times.
  • In the close-ups of the Fat Controller giving the announcement, Duck's funnel is a different shape and his face is also missing.
  • Some of the engines' eyes are misaligned in the horizontal scan of Tidmouth Sheds.
  • In the close-up of Thomas at Tidmouth Sheds, Percy's right lamp iron is bent.
  • In the Danish and Swedish dubs, when Thomas and Oliver are shunting coaches, the narrator mistakes Oliver for Percy.
  • When Thomas starts talking to Oliver, some of the steam from his funnel disappears, indicating a film cut.
  • The buffers Thomas destroys are placed quite a distance ahead of where the track actually ends; this was most likely done so that Thomas could fall off to the slope easier.
  • Due to portions of the script being taken directly from the book, Thomas states that he stopped inches from the buffers at Ffarquhar, when in reality, none of the Ffarquhar sets had a buffer stop beside its station.
  • When Thomas goes through the buffers they go underneath his wheels but in the next shot, they are on top of his running board. Both pieces of the buffers also fall off when Thomas rolls down the embankment but when he crashes through the wall, the piece on the left side of his running board (viewer's right) has reappeared.
  • Henry's lamp is not on the lamp iron.
  • As Henry leaves Elsbridge, one of his bogie wheels is loose.
  • When James leaves Elsbridge, his eyes are misaligned.
  • The overhead shot of the engines in the Big City shed appears to be mirrored, as indicated by the fact that Thomas, Henry and Duck's lamps are on the wrong sides of their fronts and that Toby's bell is also on the wrong side of his roof.
  • At Elsbridge and the Big City shed, Percy's cab roof is lifted slightly.
  • The red branchline coaches have crooked roofs.
  • When the engines look down at Thomas, their eyes are misaligned.

Quotes

Percy: Are you on your way to the Big Station, Thomas?
Thomas: Yes I am. Why?
Percy: Because I'm going there too.
Thomas: I think something's up.
Toby: [looks up at the sky] Where?
Thomas: [laughs] Not up there, down here!
Toby: How can something be up when it's down?
Thomas: Bust my buffers! Look over there! [sees Mavis, BoCo, Bill, Ben, Donald, Oliver and Douglas parading past]
"Donald" (Douglas): Evening, ye three! Aren't we all a fine sight?
Toby: Very splendid indeed.
Douglas: Ah, sorry we can't stop. The Fat Controller wants us all together at the station.
Thomas: What is this about?
Driver: The Fat Controller has a plan. Come on.
[the three engines follow the cavalcade to the big station at the end of the line]

The Fat Controller: SILENCE! I have an important letter to read from a little girl who is five years old.
Girl's Letter: Dear Thomas and all the engines, please can I meet you? My friends say they would like to meet you, too. You can come to my house for tea but my mummy says there aren't any railway tracks to my house. Can you come to the station instead? Thank you very much!
The Fat Controller: It seems that there are many girls and boys who would like to meet you. Therefore, we are all going to the big city far away!
Engines: Hurray, hurray!
The Fat Controller: Silence! Other engines will be working here while you're away, so please show them what to do.

Narrator: Thomas grew more and more excited... too excited for his own good!
Thomas: I'm glad I'm a splendid engine. The Fat Controller thinks I'm really useful! I had a race with Bertie once. I whooshed through the tunnel and stopped an inch from the buffers.
Narrator: Then Thomas made his mistake.
Thomas: Just like this!
[Thomas smashes right through the buffers and a fence, rolls down a slope and crashes into a wall, damaging his front from the impact]
Narrator: No one was hurt but Thomas' front was badly bent.
[The yard manager telephones the Fat Controller in his office]
The Fat Controller: I'll send up the workmen but if they can't mend Thomas in time, we'll have to go to the big city without him.
Narrator: Poor Thomas!

The Fat Controller: I'll wait one more minute for Thomas and then we have to go.
[Thomas immediately shows up]
Thomas: Oh, thank goodness you're still here!
Annie and Clarabel: I hope we're not late, as it's just after 8:00.
Narrator: The guard blew the whistle and waved his green flag.
Engines: Look out big city, here we come!

Thomas: [to Percy] I'm glad the little girl wrote to us. Isn't it wonderful what happiness a letter can bring?

In Other Languages

View content
Language Title
Albanian Tomas dhe letra speciale
Chinese Mandarin 托马斯和特别来信
Czech Tomáš a zvláštní dopis
Danish Thomas og brevet
Dutch Thomas en de speciale brief
Finnish Tuomas ja tärkeä kirje
German Ein ganz spezieller Brief
Greek Ένα ξεχωριστό γράμμα
Hungarian Thomas és a különleges levél
Italian Una lettera speciale
Japanese トーマスととくべつなてがみ
Korean 편지 한 통이 가져온 기쁨
Latin American Spanish Thomas y una carta muy especial
Norwegian Thomas og det spesielle brevet
Polish Tomek i ważny list (TVP3)
Tomek i specjalny list (JimJam)
Romanian Thomas şi scrisoarea specială
Russian Томас и специальное письмо
Slovenian Tomaž in prav posebno pismo
Swedish Thomas och brevet
Ukrainian Томас i особливий лист
Welsh Tomos a'r Llythyr Arbennig

Merchandise

Home Video Releases

UK

UK DVD Boxsets

WAL

US

CAN

  • Thomas and the Special Letter and Other Stories (Direct-to-VHS)

US/CAN DVD Packs

AUS

AUS DVD Packs

NZ

  • Thomas and the Special Letter and Other Stories
  • Story and Song Collection

ZA

MYS

PHL

ITA

NL

GER

GER DVD Boxset

NOR

DK

SWE

GRC

GRC DVD Boxset

SVN

THA

JPN

JPN VHS/DVD Boxsets

KOR

CHN

HK

TWN

Episode

References



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