Thomas & Friends (series 1)
| Thomas & Friends (series 1) | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover art | |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Original release |
9 October 1984 – 8 January 1985 |
| Series chronology | |
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 first series, which was originally broadcast in 1984. This series was initially narrated by Ringo Starr for the U.K. audiences, who re-narrated 25 episodes for U.S. audiences on the American television show Shining Time Station. The entire series was later re-narrated by George Carlin for the U.S. audiences.
All episodes from this series can be found on the DVD release Thomas: The Early Years, released by Anchor Bay Entertainment and HIT Entertainment in 2004.
It was produced by Clearwater Features Ltd. for Britt Allcroft (Thomas) Ltd.
Production
All of the stories in Series 1 were originally written by the Rev. W. Awdry, including a one-off story commissioned by the staff, Thomas' Christmas Party. The seven engines introduced in this series became the core of the cast in later episodes, with crew member (and from Series 8-12, director) Steve Asquith terming them the "Magnificent Seven".[1] Many settings from the first series would stay with the show for years, even through its 2009 transition to CGI, such as Knapford Station, Wellsworth, Gordon's Hill, Henry's Tunnel, and Tidmouth Sheds.
The pilot for the series, which was never aired on television, was an adaptation of "Down the Mine",[2] which was remade entirely when the rest of the episodes were shot.[1]
Episodes
| No. | UK title (top) US title (bottom) | Directed by | Source | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Thomas and Gordon" "Thomas Gets Tricked" | David Mitton | Thomas the Tank Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 9 October 1984 |
| A blue tank engine named Thomas lives and works at a big station on the Island of Sodor, shunting coaches to their proper places. He enjoys teasing the other engines, especially Gordon, the biggest and proudest engine of all. When Thomas' teasing goes too far, Gordon decides to teach him a lesson in retaliation. | ||||
| 2 | "Edward and Gordon" "Edward Helps Out" | David Mitton | The Three Railway Engines by Rev. W. Awdry Based on "Edward's Day Out" and the story of the same name | 9 October 1984 |
| Edward is an old engine, who has not been out working for quite a while. The other engines, particularly Gordon, tease Edward. Charlie and Sidney, Edward's crew, feels sorry for and decides to use him one day, but soon, Edward helps Gordon the next day when the big bossy boiler gets himself stuck on a hill. | ||||
| 3 | "The Sad Story of Henry" "Come Out, Henry!" | David Mitton | The Three Railway Engines by Rev. W. Awdry | 16 October 1984 |
| A green engine named Henry is afraid of the rain, thinking it will spoil his lovely green paint and red stripes. One day, he hides in a tunnel and refuses to come out. After numerous failed attempts to convince him, Sir Topham Hatt, who is known as The Fat Controller, the man in charge of all the engines, gives up and decides to wall Henry up in the tunnel. | ||||
| 4 | "Edward, Gordon and Henry" "Henry to the Rescue" | David Mitton | The Three Railway Engines by Rev. W. Awdry | 16 October 1984 |
| Henry has been stuck in the tunnel for a really long time and wishes he wasn't so silly. One day, Gordon goes so fast with the express that he bursts his safety valve. Edward is the only engine available, but he is unable to push the heavy train without Henry's help. | ||||
| 5 | "Thomas' Train" "A Big Day for Thomas" | David Mitton | Thomas the Tank Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 23 October 1984 |
| Thomas is getting bored with shunting and wishes he would rather pull coaches instead of merely collecting them. One day, when Henry is ill, his chance comes, but he accidentally starts off before being coupled up to the train. | ||||
| 6 | "Thomas and the Trucks" "Trouble for Thomas" | David Mitton | Thomas the Tank Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 23 October 1984 |
| Thomas is tired of pushing coaches and wants to see the world. One night, Edward tells him that if he can take his goods train, he will push coaches in the yard. Thomas gets his chance, but does not pay attention to Edward's advice. At the top of Gordon's hill, Thomas puts on his brakes. But the trucks proceed to push him to the bottom, where he stops at a siding. The Fat Controller, who sees Thomas, tells him that he still has a lot to learn. | ||||
| 7 | "Thomas and the Breakdown Train" "Thomas Saves the Day" | David Mitton | Thomas the Tank Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 30 October 1984 |
| One day, a red engine named James whistles for help as a heavy load of trucks pushes him out of control and his wooden brakes catch on fire. Thomas reacts fast and gets the breakdown train. He later arrives at the accident site and helps out. As a result, The Fat Controller rewards Thomas with his own branch line and two new coaches named Annie and Clarabel. | ||||
| 8 | "James and the Coaches" "James Learns a Lesson" | David Mitton | James the Red Engine by Rev. W. Awdry Based on "James and the Top Hat" & "James and the Bootlace" | 30 October 1984 |
| James is enjoying his new life on the island of Sodor, but still has a lot to learn. Even when he accidentally ruins The Fat Controller's new top hat and makes a hole in one of his coaches. | ||||
| 9 | "Troublesome Trucks" "Foolish Freight Cars" | David Mitton | James the Red Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 6 November 1984 |
| James is stuck in the sheds after the incident with the coaches, but one day, he gets let out to pull trucks. James is more than happy, even though he does get teased by the other engines about his incident. The trucks think James cannot control them, but James proves to them that he can. | ||||
| 10 | "James and the Express" "A Proud Day for James" | David Mitton | James the Red Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 6 November 1984 |
| Gordon ends up going down a different track with the express, ironically after boasting to James that he knows the right line. James serves as Gordon's replacement for the day and the Fat Controller allows him to take the Express sometimes. | ||||
| 11 | "Thomas and the Guard" "Thomas and the Conductor" | David Mitton | Tank Engine Thomas Again by Rev. W. Awdry | 13 November 1984 |
| Thomas does a great job running his branch line with Annie and Clarabel, but one day, he becomes too impatient with being late, that he accidentally leaves his guard behind on a platform. | ||||
| 12 | "Thomas Goes Fishing" | David Mitton | Tank Engine Thomas Again by Rev. W. Awdry | 13 November 1984 |
| Thomas wants to fish after seeing people fishing, but the other engines say that engines do not go fishing. The next day, Thomas needs a drink of water. but when the water tower is out of order, Thomas' crew decides to get water from the river, but faces a consequence. | ||||
| 13 | "Thomas, Terence and the Snow" "Terence the Tractor" | David Mitton | Tank Engine Thomas Again by Rev. W. Awdry | 20 November 1984 |
| Thomas meets Terence the tractor and makes fun of him by saying his wheels are ugly. Terence explains that his wheels are caterpillars and he can go "anywhere", which comes in handy during the winter, when Thomas refuses to wear his snowplough and gets stuck in a snowdrift. | ||||
| 14 | "Thomas and Bertie" "Thomas and Bertie's Great Race" | David Mitton | Tank Engine Thomas Again by Rev. W. Awdry | 20 November 1984 |
| Thomas meets a bus named Bertie, who reminds Thomas of the time he took his passengers after he got stuck in the snowdrift, and Terence came to pull him out; Bertie also challenges Thomas to a race to the next station. | ||||
| 15 | "Tenders and Turntables" | David Mitton | Troublesome Engines by Rev. W. Awdry | 27 November 1984 |
| Henry, Gordon and James have had to shunt their own coaches since Thomas works on his branch line, Much to their anger, saying that tender engines don't shunt. To make matters worse, Gordon and James both encounter turntable trouble And later on, the tender trio decides to go on strike. | ||||
| 16 | "Trouble in the Shed" | David Mitton | Troublesome Engines by Rev. W. Awdry | 27 November 1984 |
| When Gordon, James and Henry go on strike, The Fat Controller shuts them up in the sheds and buys a new tank engine named Percy to help. Percy soon gets to work shunting coaches, while Edward and Thomas run the main line. | ||||
| 17 | "Percy Runs Away" | David Mitton | Troublesome Engines by Rev. W. Awdry | 4 December 1984 |
| The Fat Controller allows the 3 engines to go back to their jobs and then lets Percy, Edward and Thomas take a break for a while. Percy is still cheeky and doesn't remember Edward's advice about the junction. Percy is then startled by Gordon and reverses away quickly, until he gets stuck in a bank of earth. Later, Gordon pulls Percy out of the bank while congratulating him for preventing a nasty accident from happening. | ||||
| 18 | "Coal" "Henry's Special Coal" | David Mitton | Henry the Green Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 4 December 1984 |
| Henry has been sick for some time and the Fat Controller is concerned about him. It turns out Henry's small firebox can't take the heat from the Island's coal and requires an expensive but special Welsh load. By using the Welsh coal, Henry manages to move properly. | ||||
| 19 | "The Flying Kipper" | David Mitton | Henry the Green Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 11 December 1984 |
| Henry is chosen to pull an early morning fish train, dubbed "the Flying Kipper". Everything goes well, but ice freezes the points from the main line into a siding and snow forces down a signal set at "danger", leading Henry to collide with another goods train on the siding. The Fat Controller sends Henry to Crewe to get a new shape and a larger firebox, making Henry the engine he always deserved to be, no longer needing Welsh coal. | ||||
| 20 | "Whistles and Sneezes" | David Mitton | Henry the Green Engine by Rev. W. Awdry Based on "Gordon's Whistle" and "Henry's Sneeze" | 11 December 1984 |
| Gordon is jealous about Henry's rebuild and complains about Henry whistling too much. Ironically, Gordon's whistle jams later on and he cannot stop whistling. The next day, some boys throw stones at Henry and break the coaches' windows. Henry's crew decides to pay the boys out by making Henry sneeze at them. | ||||
| 21 | "Toby and the Stout Gentleman" "Toby the Tram Engine" | David Mitton | Toby the Tram Engine (Railway Series book) by Rev. W. Awdry | 18 December 1984 |
| Toby is a tram engine who works on his own little line. He is happy there with his coach Henrietta, but is quickly running out of work, being replaced by cars, lorries and buses. Soon, he is only carrying a few passengers and shunting few trucks. | ||||
| 22 | "Thomas in Trouble" "Thomas Breaks the Rules" | David Mitton | Toby the Tram Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 18 December 1984 |
| Thomas gets in trouble with a policeman for lacking a cowcatcher or sideplates. When The Fat Controller hears about it, he buys Toby, who brings Henrietta with him. | ||||
| 23 | "Dirty Objects" "James in a Mess" | David Mitton | Toby the Tram Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 25 December 1984 |
| Toby and Henrietta are enjoying their new life on the Island of Sodor, but James calls them "dirty objects" as they look old fashioned and need new paint. Later, James takes a goods train, but the trucks push him down the hill so fast, he crashes into some tar wagons. Although James isn't hurt, Toby tells Percy that James looks more like the so-called "dirty object" now. | ||||
| 24 | "Off the Rails" "Gordon Takes a Dip" | David Mitton | Gordon the Big Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 8 January 1985 |
| One morning, Gordon is very difficult. He becomes the butt of Henry and Percy's jokes and later he refuses to pull a goods train. His plan to jam the turntable results in him slithering into a ditch. When the Fat Controller hears about this, he leaves Gordon there until later. At night, Gordon is finally pulled out of the ditch by James and Henry, but is now miserable because of his actions. | ||||
| 25 | "Down the Mine" | David Mitton | Gordon the Big Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 8 January 1985 |
| Since his ditch incident, Gordon is forced to pull trucks as punishment. Thomas enjoys teasing him about it, but while working at the Lead Mines, he falls down one after ignoring a "Danger" sign and only a disgraced Gordon can pull him out. | ||||
| 26 | "Thomas' Christmas Party" | David Mitton | Thomas' Christmas Party by Rev. W. Awdry | 25 December 1984 |
| Christmas arrives on the Island of Sodor. All the engines are busy with passengers and parcels, especially Thomas and Toby. Thomas likes it when he passes Mrs. Kyndley's house while working and she always waves to him. Thomas says it would not be Christmas without Mrs. Kyndley and then goes to the shed to talk with the other engines about throwing a Christmas party for her. | ||||
Characters Introduced
- Thomas (Thomas and Gordon)
- Edward (Edward and Gordon)
- Henry (The Sad Story of Henry)
- Gordon (Thomas and Gordon)
- James (Thomas and the Breakdown Train)
- Percy (Trouble in the Shed)
- Toby (Toby and the Stout Gentleman)
- Annie and Clarabel (Thomas and the Breakdown Train)
- Henrietta (Toby and the Stout Gentleman)
- Troublesome Trucks (Edward and Gordon)
- Terence (Thomas, Terence and the Snow)
- Bertie (Thomas and Bertie)
- Sir Topham Hatt/The Fat Controller (The Sad Story of Henry)
- Lady Hatt (Toby and the Stout Gentleman)
- Stephen Hatt (Toby and the Stout Gentleman)
- Bridget Hatt (Toby and the Stout Gentleman)
- Mrs. Kyndley (Thomas' Christmas Party)
References
- 1 2 http://www.sodor-island.net/steveasquithinterview.html
- ↑ Allcroft, Britt. "A Tribute to David Mitton".
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