Thomas & Friends (series 2)
| Thomas & Friends (series 2) | |
|---|---|
|
DVD cover art | |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Original release |
2 September – 23 December 1986 |
Thomas & Friends (previously known as Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends) is a children's television series about the engines and other characters working on the railways of the Island of Sodor, and is based on The Railway Series books written by the Rev. W. Awdry.
This article lists and details episodes from the second series of the show, which was first broadcast in 1986.[1] This series was initially narrated by Ringo Starr for the U.K. audiences, who re-dubbed 16 episodes for the U.S. audiences on Shining Time Station. The entire series was later re-dubbed by George Carlin for the U.S. audiences.
Most episodes in this series have two titles: the original titles from the U.K. broadcasts are shown on top, while the American-adapted titles are shown underneath. However, all episodes in Series 2 had the same name in both the United Kingdom and the United States.
This was the last series to be narrated by Ringo Starr, as well as the last series to be produced by Robert D. Cardona.
It was produced by Clearwater Features Ltd. for Britt Allcroft (Thomas) Ltd.
Production
Stories
Christopher Awdry was commissioned to write a new Railway Series book as source material for the second series. Three stories from More About Thomas the Tank Engine provided additional roles for Bertie the Bus, Terence the Tractor, and Harold the Helicopter. The episodes "Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree" and "Thomas and Trevor" were both one-off stories written by Christopher. The following series would begin to use original stories by the production staff, with some of the remaining Railway Series stories deemed "repetitive and too 'story-book' orientated".[2]
Filming
Early in production, a third episode based on The Twin Engines was due to be filmed, based largely on the story "The Missing Coach." The model crew had gone as far as filming scenes on the Tidmouth Station set with Thomas arriving at the station, before Britt Allcroft decided the episode had too little action and its storyline would be too difficult to understand by younger viewers.[3] Several promotional stills from the filming of that episode have surfaced in various Thomas publications.
Episodes
| # | Total | UK title (top) US title (bottom) |
Directed by | Source | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 | "Thomas, Percy and the Coal" "Double Trouble" | David Mitton | More About Thomas the Tank Engine by Christopher Awdry | 2 September 1986 |
| Thomas brags to Percy and Toby about "how blue is the only proper colour for a really useful engine". He ends up getting trapped under a coal hopper, and promptly blames an amused Percy. | |||||
| 2 | 28 | "Cows" "A Cow on the Line" | David Mitton | Edward the Blue Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 5 September 1986 |
| Gordon and Henry tease Edward after some cows break part of his train away. Several days later, Gordon and Henry end up with a cow blocking their lines. | |||||
| 3 | 29 | "Bertie's Chase" | David Mitton | Edward the Blue Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 7 September 1986 |
| Thomas' fireman is not able to come in to work one day and Bertie agrees to take his passengers. Edward, unaware of the change of plan, leaves before Bertie arrives. | |||||
| 4 | 30 | "Saved from Scrap" | David Mitton | Edward the Blue Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 9 September 1986 |
| At the scrapyard, Edward meets a traction engine called Trevor, who is due to be broken up, despite being in good condition. Edward is determined to save him, and finds a person to do so. | |||||
| 5 | 31 | "Old Iron" | David Mitton | Edward the Blue Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 11 September 1986 |
| Edward proves he is not so slow when James runs away. | |||||
| 6 | 32 | "Thomas and Trevor" "A New Friend for Thomas" | David Mitton | 1988 Thomas Annual story by Christopher Awdry | 14 September 1986 |
| Trevor is bored of working in the vicarage orchard, so Edward takes him to meet and help Thomas at the harbour. Slowly but surely, a skeptical Thomas gains a respect for the traction engine. | |||||
| 7 | 33 | "Percy and the Signal" | David Mitton | Percy the Small Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 17 September 1986 |
| Percy is playing tricks on the bigger engines; first annoying Gordon and then tricking James to stay in his shed all day. For revenge, James and Gordon trick Percy into misreading a signal, referring to it as a "backing signal". | |||||
| 8 | 34 | "Duck Takes Charge" | David Mitton | Percy the Small Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 18 September 1986 |
| The Fat Controller buys an engine named Montague (nicknamed Duck) to help out an overworked Percy. The big engines start ordering him about. Duck and Percy decide to take matters into their own hands. | |||||
| 9 | 35 | "Percy and Harold" "Percy Proves a Point" | David Mitton | Percy the Small Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 20 September 1986 |
| Percy challenges a helicopter called Harold to a race to the harbor. | |||||
| 10 | 36 | "The Runaway" | David Mitton | More About Thomas the Tank Engine by Christopher Awdry | 22 September 1986 |
| Thomas isn't feeling well and has to go to the works. He soon comes back, but with a problem in his brakes. This proves disastrous when a temporary fireman forgets to tighten them properly, and Thomas puffs away. | |||||
| 11 | 37 | "Percy Takes the Plunge" | David Mitton | The Eight Famous Engines by Rev. W. Awdry | 24 September 1986 |
| Percy wants to see why he is forbidden to pass the "Danger" board on the quay and asks the trucks for help, but soon wishes he hadn't. | |||||
| 12 | 38 | "Pop Goes the Diesel" | David Mitton | Duck and the Diesel Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 26 September 1986 |
| A diesel engine named "Diesel" arrives on the island and Duck is given the task of showing him what to do. Diesel boasts that his kind knows everything, so Duck leaves him to shunt some trucks alone, with disastrous results. | |||||
| 13 | 39 | "Dirty Work" "Diesel's Devious Deed" | David Mitton | Duck and the Diesel Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 28 September 1986 |
| Diesel is still cross with Duck, blaming him for the aftermath of the other day. As revenge, Diesel lies to the trucks about Duck, which the bigger engines end up believing. | |||||
| 14 | 40 | "A Close Shave" "A Close Shave for Duck" | David Mitton | Duck and the Diesel Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 1 October 1986 |
| During his stay with Edward, Duck finds himself on the receiving end of runaway trucks, but manages to control them, despite crashing into a barber's shop. | |||||
| 15 | 41 | "Better Late Than Never" | David Mitton | More About Thomas the Tank Engine by Christopher Awdry | 4 October 1986 |
| Thomas is held up by repairs on the viaduct and Bertie gives him a hard time, until he breaks down. | |||||
| 16 | 42 | "Break Van" "Donald and Douglas" | David Mitton | The Twin Engines by Rev. W. Awdry | 7 October 1986 |
| Donald and Douglas are twins whom The Fat Controller had bought from Scotland to help out, although only one engine had been expected. He intends to send one of them back, and a spiteful brake van makes things worse. | |||||
| 17 | 43 | "The Deputation" | David Mitton | The Twin Engines by Rev. W. Awdry | 9 October 1986 |
| Heavy snow has fallen on Sodor, but Donald and Douglas are used to it, using their snowploughs to clear the line. After they help Henry from a snowdrift, the other engines are determined to help them out to stay on Sodor. | |||||
| 18 | 44 | "Thomas Comes to Breakfast" | David Mitton | Branch Line Engines by Rev. W. Awdry | 11 October 1986 |
| Thomas' driver jokingly tells him that he could almost manage running the branch line without him. Thomas thinks his driver really means this, and pays the price dearly after trying to move by himself and crashing straight into the stationmaster's house. | |||||
| 19 | 45 | "Daisy" | David Mitton | Branch Line Engines by Rev. W. Awdry | 14 October 1986 |
| Daisy, a diesel railcar, has been bought to help Percy and Toby while Thomas is sent to the works to be mended. However, she proves to be very stubborn and starts making excuses to avoid work. | |||||
| 20 | 46 | "Percy's Predicament" | David Mitton | Branch Line Engines by Rev. W. Awdry | 19 October 1986 |
| Toby offers to swap jobs with Percy so he can have a rest from taking the milk Daisy keeps leaving behind. Unfortunately, Percy has never worked at the quarry before, and the trucks are quick to take advantage of this, with a disastrous result. | |||||
| 21 | 47 | "The Diseasel" | David Mitton | Main Line Engines by Rev. W. Awdry | 24 October 1986 |
| Bill and Ben are twins who work at the China Clay Pits. One day, they are aghast when they discover that their trucks have gone missing. They mistakenly believe that their trucks were "magicked away" by a "diseasel" and go on a search to find them. | |||||
| 22 | 48 | "Wrong Road" | David Mitton | Main Line Engines by Rev. W. Awdry | 1 November 1986 |
| Gordon remarks that branch lines are vulgar, and that The Fat Controller would never approve of him running on it. However, he ends up there due to a case of mistaken identity involving a lady's hat, where Bill and Ben are waiting. | |||||
| 23 | 49 | "Edward's Exploit" | David Mitton | Main Line Engines by Rev. W. Awdry | 8 November 1986 |
| Some tourists are visiting the Island of Sodor, and Edward is due to take them to meet Bill and Ben. On the journey back, one of his crank pins, which hold his side rods on, breaks off. Despite this, Edward presses on, and gets the tourists back safely. | |||||
| 24 | 50 | "Ghost Train" "Percy's Ghostly Trick" | David Mitton | Tramway Engines by Rev. W. Awdry | 10 November 1986 |
| Thomas doesn't believe Percy when he tells him about a ghost his driver saw the previous night (which turns out to be pretend). He ends up crashing into a cart of lime, and decides to trick Thomas. | |||||
| 25 | 51 | "Woolly Bear" | David Mitton | Tramway Engines by Rev. W. Awdry | 16 November 1986 |
| Percy is still teasing Thomas about the ghost incident. Thomas retorts back by calling him a "green caterpillar with red stripes". Things go wrong for Percy soon afterwards after getting hit by a crate of treacle, then getting stuck on a hill, windswept with hay. | |||||
| 26 | 52 | "Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree" | David Mitton | Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree by Christopher Awdry | 23 December 1986 |
| It's Christmas and all the engines are at work getting ready for the Christmas Party. Thomas is sent to collect the Christmas tree, but gets buried in a huge snowdrift on the way back. Donald and Douglas help him out to finish the job for the party to begin. | |||||
Characters
Introduced
- Bluebell the Cow (Cows)
- Trevor the Traction Engine (Saved from Scrap)
- The Vicar (Saved from Scrap)
- Jem Cole (Saved from Scrap)
- Duck (Duck Takes Charge)
- Harold (Percy and Harold)
- Diesel (Pop Goes the Diesel)
- Donald and Douglas (Break Van)
- The Spiteful Brakevan (Break Van)
- Daisy (Daisy)
- Bill and Ben (The Diseasel)
- BoCo (The Diseasel)
Recurring character cast
References
- ↑ "TVARK ITV London Thames Television". TVARK. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
- ↑ http://www.sodor-island.net/steveasquithinterview.html
- ↑ http://www.sodor-island.net/interviews.html
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