- "Hmm. Look and listen. If he's a tuba player, he might be playing the tuba."
- ― Harvey
Thomas and the Tuba is the first episode of the eighth series.
Plot
It is Lady Hatt's birthday, and a big party is being held. A brass band is going to be playing and the Fat Controller tells Thomas to collect them, much to the jealousy both of Gordon and James. When Thomas arrives at Knapford with Annie and Clarabel, he is very excited. Unfortunately, he is so excited that he accidentally leaves the tuba player behind, and it is only when he arrives at Maithwaite that the band leader realizes this. The band players know they can not play at the party without him. Embarrassed about what happened, Thomas goes to find him, unaware that the tuba player is already at the bus stop under the railway bridge. Bertie takes the tuba player as far as he can.
Thomas makes it back to Knapford, only to discover that the tuba player is no longer there. So, he looks for him somewhere else. Bertie drops him off at another bus stop, and then Elizabeth gives him a lift. Thomas is in such a rush looking for the tuba player that when he flies through the crossing, he does not see Elizabeth with the tuba player, or hears the tuba player playing his tuba. Elizabeth takes the tuba player to the windmill, where Trevor gives him a ride. Once again, Thomas is rushing about looking between trucks and coaches, and does not see or hear the tuba player aboard Trevor when he passes them.
Thomas is looking around Knapford Yards when he sees Percy shunting trucks of bunting. He applies his brakes, but it is too late. He crashes into him and sends bunting in the air. After Harvey arrives and Thomas tells him what happened, Harvey advises him to look and listen. So, taking Harvey's advice, Thomas searches more carefully until he hears the tuba player aboard Trevor and then takes him to Lady Hatt's birthday party.
Characters
- Thomas
- Percy
- Harvey
- Bertie
- Elizabeth
- Sir Topham Hatt
- Sodor Brass Band
- Gordon (does not speak)
- James (does not speak)
- Annie and Clarabel (do not speak)
- Trevor (does not speak)
- Lady Hatt (does not speak)
- George (cameo)
- Butch (cameo)
- Stephen Hatt (cameo)
- Bridget Hatt (cameo)
- Jem Cole (cameo)
- Refreshment Lady (cameo)
- The Storyteller (cameo)
Locations
- Island of Sodor
- Maithwaite
- Knapford
- Bulgy's Bridge
- Road and Rail Runby and Road Bridge
- Tower Windmill
- Ffarquhar
- Tidmouth Sheds (mistakenly mentioned)
- The Flour Mill (mentioned)
- The Mainland (mentioned)
Trivia
- Going by production order, this is the twentieth episode of the eighth series.
- This episode marks the beginning of the HiT Entertainment model era, an era of the show that lasted from the eighth series in 2004 up until the twelfth series in 2008.
- While the seventh series, Jack and the Sodor Construction Company and, to a lesser extent, the sixth series featured many elements from this era for different releases, like this era's music style, it was not until this episode that the episodes were originally made with these elements.
- This was the first episode of several things:
- The first episode since the fifth series episode, Cranky Bugs, where Percy speaks in the series premiere.
- The first episode directed by Steve Asquith since the sixth series and Jack and the Sodor Construction Company (in production order).
- The first episode produced by Simon Spencer.
- The first episode to have Sam Barlow as a script executive.
- The first episode to have Paul Larson and Abi Grant as script editors.
- The first episode to only have music composed by Robert Hartshorne in the UK, as the seventh series episodes were scored by Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell before being re-scored by him.
- The first episode of the main show without Britt Allcroft, David Mitton, Robert Gauld-Galliers, Mike O'Donnell, Junior Campbell, Phil Fehrle, Peter Urie, Jan Page, Mike Erander, The Maidstone Studios and Gullane Entertainment involved in production after they stopped working on the main series.
- The first episode filmed with BetaCam video, either in 50FPS or 60FPS.
- The first episode narrated by Sky du Mont in Germany, Daniel Vulcu in Romania, Ian MacAmhlaigh in Scotland, Salomé Larrucea in Spain, Tomislav Stojković in Croatia, Ron Druyan in Israel, Claes Ljungmark in Sweden, Kim Seung-jun in South Korea, Muhammad Nur in Indonesia, Dário de Castro in Brazil since the second series episode, Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree and Kalle Øby in Norway. This is also the first episode narrated by Povl Dissing in Denmark since the fourth series episode, Mind that Bike.
- The first episode since the fifth series episode, Snow to be dubbed in German, not counting Jack and the Sodor Construction Company.
- The first episode dubbed in European Spanish and Indonesian.
- The first episode in which the time length is increased to about seven minutes.
- The first episode with the new intro sequence and Welcome to the Island of Sodor opening.
- The first episode with the Engine Roll Call at the end of the episode before the credits.
- The first episode written by Dave Ingham.
- The first appearance of Thomas’ shocked face in the New series.
- The first appearance of Thomas' astonished face.
- The first appearance of Thomas' upset face since the fourth series episode, Paint Pots and Queens.
- The first appearance of Ffarquhar since the fifth series episode, Make Someone Happy, its last appearance until the special, The Adventure Begins, its last appearance in an episode until nineteenth series episode, Thomas the Babysitter, and thus, its last appearance in the model era, not counting deleted footage from Calling All Engines!.
- In the All Aboard with the Steam Team DVD release, Bertie's eye movements are animated differently, the background of the photograph of the Brass Band is different and the band member close to Thomas at Maithwaite has different hair colour as in later versions it was edited to brown.
- Percy gains the same Liverpudlian accent as James in the UK dub.
- This episode has similarities to Lady Hatt's Birthday Party and Thomas, Percy and the Squeak.
- This episode marks the last appearance of Bulgy's Bridge.
- Trevor's large scale model made for Jack and the Sodor Construction Company is used in a close up shot.
- The tuba player's instrument is a euphonium. In addition, there is no actual tuba music in the mix; to be specific when the tuba player is heard playing, the sound is that of a bass trombone.
- The sign at the level crossing is the same one from the sixth series episode, Gordon Takes a Tumble.
- This is the second episode in which Thomas leaves somebody behind, with the first being Thomas and the Guard. It is also the third episode where Thomas leaves passengers behind, the first being Thomas' Train.
- In the US, the seventh series episode, Peace and Quiet aired between this and Percy's New Whistle due to that series being paired with this series in that country.
- This episode aired before the sixth series episodes, Harvey to the Rescue and Elizabeth the Vintage Lorry in Finland, so the audience would not know who Harvey and Elizabeth are.
Goofs
- The narrator says that the Fat Controller arrived at Tidmouth Sheds, but Thomas, Gordon and James are at the Works.
- The narrator calls Elizabeth's tipper her "wagon", then later her "flatbed".
- The narrator says that Thomas and the trucks of bunting came off the track, but Thomas is not derailed.
- Elizabeth does not make the sounds of a steam-powered vehicle, instead sounding like a conventional petrol-driven engine.
- In some close-ups of Elizabeth, her eye mechanism is visible in her cab.
- Trevor's eyes are misaligned when Thomas leaves for Maithwaite.
- Thomas travels through the same factory complex twice; once when he looks inside the red express coaches, and once when he passes George.
- In the US dub, Michael Brandon incorrectly mispronounces the word tuba as "tuber" when the Tuba player is in Elizabeth's tipper.
- In the Russian dub, the tuba player is misreferred to as a "trumpeter".
Merchandise
In Other Languages
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Home Media Releases
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| #01 Thomas and the Tuba | #10 Emily's New Route | #19 Fish |
| #02 Percy's New Whistle | #11 Thomas and the Firework Display | #20 Emily's Adventure |
| #03 Thomas to the Rescue | #12 Gordon Takes Charge | #21 Halloween |
| #04 Henry and the Wishing Tree | #13 Spic and Span | #22 You Can Do It, Toby! |
| #05 James Gets a New Coat | #14 Edward the Great | #23 James Goes Too Far |
| #06 Thomas Saves the Day | #15 Squeak, Rattle and Roll | #24 Chickens to School |
| #07 Percy's Big Mistake | #16 Thomas and the Circus | #25 Too Hot for Thomas |
| #08 Thomas, Emily and the Snowplough | #17 Thomas Gets It Right | #26 Percy and the Magic Carpet |
| #09 Don't Tell Thomas | #18 As Good as Gordon | |