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Toby's Discovery is the fourteenth episode of the fifth series. In the United States, it aired with Toby and the Flood in an episode of Storytime with Thomas.
Plot
The Fat Controller and his family are on holiday and ask Toby to take them around Sodor. While stopping at the beach near Norramby Church Station, Stephen and Bridget make a sandcastle modelled on a castle in the heart of Sodor. Intrigued, the Fat Controller asks Toby to take them to find it.
They approach a signalman, who instructs them to switch the points when they reach a junction. They do just that, and Toby puffs and pushes past branches and bushes. He finds another split junction, with one track leading to the castle and the other to a mine. They visit the castle first and then the run-down mine. Everything on the mine has been left rusty and overgrown since it was closed. The Fat Controller decides to re-open the mines and the castle for visitors, but Toby is not sure about that.
When the plans to reopen the castle and mine start with construction, Toby is convinced that the mines are haunted and is spooked by Thomas' cheeky tale of the "Old Warrior" who haunts the mines during the night. Once night falls, Toby is horrified to be put on guard duty at the mines. Then he hears a strange chuffing and wheezing sound and gets scared, believing The Old Warrior has come to hunt him down. After his driver and fireman return from investigating, they tell Toby that The Old Warrior wants to meet him. Toby is, at first, reluctant to, but he bravely chuffs forward to discovers that the ghost is really a narrow gauge engine named Bertram, who was given the nickname "Old Warrior" because of his bravery and left abandoned in the mine for several years. The two become friends, Bertram is restored and when the castle and the mine reopen, with both engines bringing visitors to the areas.
Characters
- Thomas
- Toby
- Sir Topham Hatt
- Stephen Hatt (not named)
- Bridget Hatt (not named)
- Bertram (does not speak)
- Henrietta (does not speak)
- Skarloey (cameo)
- Rheneas (cameo)
- Bertie (cameo)
- Trevor (cameo)
- Caroline (cameo)
- Jem Cole (cameo)
- Mrs. Kyndley (cameo)
- Nancy (cameo)
- The Tidmouth Stationmaster's Wife (cameo)
- Farmer Trotter (cameo)
- Märklin Engine (scrapped model cameo)
- Percy (dropped)
- Duck (dropped)
- Duke (dropped mention)
Locations
- Toby's Shed
- The Church Station
- The Fishing Village
- Hawin Lake Viaduct
- The Old Castle
- The Standing Stones (dropped)
Trivia
- According to the film state:
- The Fishing Village was filmed on 21 of January 1998.
- The Church Station and Beach set was filmed on 23 of January 1998.
- The Castle set was filmed on 3 February 1998.
- The scene where Toby was chuffing on the countryside was filmed on 10 February 1998.
- Any close-up shots of human characters at the above locations were filmed on 11 February 1998.
- The scenes of Toby exploring and him at his shed were filmed from 13 to 16 February 1998.
- Any remaining close-up shots at the above locations were filmed on 17 February 1998.
- The Old Mine set was filmed on 1 and 2 April 1998. Close-up shots of human characters at this location were filmed on 3 April 1998.
- This episode was originally meant to be the twenty-second episode of the fifth series during filming.
- The working title for this episode was Discovery.
- Toad's scrap model from the third series episode Escape, scrap piece of the Märklin Engine and rusty models of Thomas and Donald/Douglas can be seen at the mine. A scrapped Lynton and Barnstaple van can be seen when the mine's restoration starts.
- The set of Bertram's old mine is the same set of Boulder Quarry.
- Duke's old shed can be seen next to Bertram when he is discovered.
- According to Britt Allcroft, Bertram was supposed to be a tank engine, but budget constraints forced the model crew to repaint Duke's model and use Smudger's happy face.
- This episode marks the a few things:
- The only appearance of Bertram.
- The only episode of the fifth series in which a landmark from the Mid Sodor Railway is seen, and the last episode that railway is mentioned.
- The only episode of the series to not have any music in the first 40 seconds.
- The first time Henrietta is mentioned by name since the third series episode, Thomas and Percy's Christmas Adventure.
- The first appearance of Toby's Shed since the first series and its only appearance in the fifth series.
- Caroline's last appearance until the eighth series episode, Thomas and the Circus.
- The map of Sodor appears to actually be a map of North Wales. Perhaps coincidentally, the real-world Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways split at the town of Porthmadog. The FR goes to "the mine" at Blaenau Ffestiniog, while the WHR goes to "the castle" in Caernarfon.
- The Munitions Factory, a station and the outer frame of the steel rig from TUGS appear as some of the old mine buildings.
- The Workmen's Hut, the Anopha Quarry sheds, part of the Skarloey Engine Sheds, a building from Rheneas station and a barn appear as some of the mine buildings.
- This episode is titled Toby Meets an Old Warrior on The Roku Channel.
- During the adventure to the castle and the mine, a combination of Toby and Oliver's themes can be heard.
- In the Korean dub of this episode, when it was aired on television, there were some scenes cut, but it retained the original cut on VHS and DVD.
- Curiously, an early draft lists this episode as the twenty-seventh episode of the fifth series. It is unknown whether or not this is an error.
- This episode aired exactly twelve years after Bertie's Chase and Saved from Scrap first aired.
Goofs
- When Toby is at the fishing village, Henrietta's roof is lifted up.
- At the end of Toby's first-person view travelling along, the rails stop at a dead end.
- The signalman's appearance changes between the time Toby first meets him and the time Toby finds Bertram.
- The old map shows that the way to get to the castle and the mine beyond the signal box is to take the right track at the junction, but Toby takes the left track at that junction.
- When Toby stops at the junction, some of his steam disappears, indicating a film cut.
- In the scenes where the mine is reopened, the track Rheneas is on has no buffers.
- When Toby comes to the junction, the lever to the points only appears when the fireman switches them.
- When the Fat Controller says "We'll go check the castle first," his close-up outside the signal box is used again.
Quotes
- Toby: It's the ghost!
- Driver: What ghost?
- Toby: The Old Warrior. He's come to hunt me down.
- Fireman: The Old Warrior wants to meet you.
- Toby: Can't it wait until morning?
- Driver: Ghosts don't work day shifts.
- Toby: Well, bless my bell!
- Signalman: This is your ghost, Toby. His name's really Bertram, but we call him "The Old Warrior," because he's so brave.
In Other Languages
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Home Video Releases
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Episode
Reference
| #01 Cranky Bugs | #10 Toby and the Flood | #19 Happy Ever After |
| #02 Horrid Lorry | #11 Haunted Henry | #20 Sir Topham Hatt's Holiday |
| #03 A Better View for Gordon | #12 Double Teething Troubles | #21 A Surprise for Percy |
| #04 Lady Hatt's Birthday Party | #13 Stepney Gets Lost | #22 Make Someone Happy |
| #05 James and the Trouble with Trees | #14 Toby's Discovery | #23 Busy Going Backwards |
| #06 Gordon and the Gremlin | #15 Something in the Air | #24 Duncan Gets Spooked |
| #07 Bye George! | #16 Thomas, Percy and Old Slow Coach | #25 Rusty and the Boulder |
| #08 Baa! | #17 Thomas and the Rumours | #26 Snow |
| #09 Put Upon Percy | #18 Oliver's Find | Cancelled: James and 'Super' E.D. |