History Recap / ThomasTheTankEngineS5E23BusyGoingBackwards

'''Air date''': October 26, 1998 (UK), February 10th, 1999 (US)

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/busygoingbackwards93.png]]

One day, Toad is feeling bored and sad. He can see engines and coaches moving forwards, unlike himself, who can only see things from behind. He decides to talk to Oliver about his problem. He tells him that although he is always going backwards, he has forward-thinking views and feels he could be a leader. Gordon tells him that he can't be a leader if he doesn't have a train to follow him, which makes Toad even sadder. Oliver tries to reassure Toad by telling him he is a really useful brake van, that he helps him brake and keeps trucks in order when descending hills. Toad says it would still be nice to go forwards for a change. The trucks, overhearing everything Toad said, are cross that he does not appreciate looking after them and promise to pay him out for his words.

When Oliver takes Toad with a goods train up Gordon's Hill, the trucks break away at the peak and go careening back down the line. Toad is initially left in a helpless state of shock since the conductor had jumped clear. After getting over the shock, Toad starts to enjoy his journey traveling backwards, but his enjoyment soon ends as he reaches a crossing that has not properly closed off its road, smashing through the gates and narrowly missing Bertie at Suddery Junction. Then, he finds out he's on a collision course with a stopped Gordon, getting switched onto the adjacent track only with the help of a nearby signalman. Unfortunately, after racing through Edward’s Station, this only puts him in the path of James, who is coming down the line with a slow goods train. A shunter switches Toad off James' line just in time. The signalman calls ahead to the stationmaster at the Crosby station, who plans to divert Toad and the trucks into a siding. His plan initially works, but unfortunately, they miss a second set of points which divert Toad back onto the main line. He speeds past Henry, and reaches a bridge under repairs. Luckily, the workmen already know about the runaway and Toad is diverted safely and smoothly into an old siding, finally stopping after a plunge into a muddy pool.

That night, Toad speaks to Oliver, saying he is sorry if he caused him embarrassment. Oliver asks him what he thought of going forwards; Toad tells him it was a fun experience, but he will look forward to remaining backwards from now on. Toad now appreciates seeing everything from behind.

!!Tropes featured in the episode:
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Toad wishes that he could go forward instead of backward. The Troublesome Trucks grant his wish by breaking away from Oliver as he climbs to the top of Gordon's Hill, and at first, Toad finds going forwards fun, but his fun soon comes to an end when he realises that he can't stop due to the conductor/guard having jumped clear.
* ADayInTheLimelight: This is Toad's first lead episode.
* DisproportionateRetribution: The trucks make Toad a runaway just to pay him out for (seemingly) not being appreciative of looking out for them.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: Toad doesn't realize his words have pissed off the Troublesome Trucks, [[MadeOutToBeAJerkass who think Toad doesn't appreciate looking after them.]]
* JerkassHasAPoint: While Gordon wasn't being nice to Toad, he did have a point that Toad can't be a leader if he doesn't have anyone to follow him.
* HighSpeedTrainReroute: Toad wishes he could go forwards instead of backwards. The Troublesome Trucks grant his wish by breaking away from Oliver as he makes it to the top of Gordon's Hill. With no guard to stop him due to having jumped clear, the signalmen take action by switching the points to avoid having the runaway Toad crash into other engines. Toad eventually comes to a stop when he is directed into a muddy pond.
* OhCrap: When Toad sees James approaching him on the same line, he cries "EEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIIIKKKKKKKKKEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!" ("Oh my goodness!" in the US dub). This gets reused twice in "[[Recap/ThomasTheTankEngineS5E25RustyAndTheBoulder Rusty and the Boulder]]" for Skarloey and Rheneas when the boulder is going after them.
* PropRecycling: In a FreezeFrameBonus, if you look very closely when Toad is being diverted from a siding at Crosby, you can see the train is being pushed by the chassis that's normally under Toby.
* PublicDomainSoundtrack: This is the first episode to use a mix of the Runaway theme and the finale of Music/GioachinoRossini's "William Tell Overture", it would later be reused for "[[Recap/ThomasTheTankEngineS6E22ThomasTheJetEngine Thomas And The Jet Engine]]" from Season Six, "Rheneas and the Rollercoaster" from Season Seven and "[[Recap/ThomasTheTankEngineS7E16TheRunawayElephant The Runaway Elephant]]" from the same season, though only for the original UK releases in the latter two cases.
* RailCarSeparation: When Toad wishes he could go forwards instead of backwards, the Troublesome Trucks grant his wish by breaking away from Oliver when he reaches the top of Gordon's Hill. With no conductor to slow Toad down (due to having jumped clear), the signalmen take action by switching the points to avoid having Toad crash into other engines. Toad eventually comes to a stop in a muddy pond.
* RunawayTrain: This is how Toad experiences going forwards thanks to the troublesome trucks.
* SoundtrackDissonance: The episode opens on Toad feeling down in the dumps over not being able to go forwards... While cheerful music plays in the background.
** During the runaway itself, the usual tense runaway theme is mixed with the fast-paced and upbeat "William Tell Overture", resulting in several moments where the serious situation instead seems absolutely hilarious.
* TitleDrop: Occurs at the very end, as Toad says he looks forward to going backwards in the future.
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* InncocentlyInsensitive: Toad doesn't realize his words have pissed off the Troublesome Trucks, [[MadeOutToBeAJerkass who think Toad doesn't appreciate looking after them.]]

* DisproportionateRetribution: The trucks make Toad a runaway just to pay him out for not being appreciative of looking out for them.

* OhCrap: When Toad sees James approaching him on the same line, he cries "EEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIIIKKKKKKKKKEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!" ("Oh my goodness!" in the US dub). This gets reused twice in "[[Recap/ThomasTheTankEngineS5E26RustyAndTheBoulder Rusty and the Boulder]]" for Skarloey and Rheneas when the boulder is going after them.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Toad wishes that he could go forward instead of backward. The Troublesome Trucks grant his wish by breaking away from Oliver as he climbs to the top of Gordon's Hill, and at first, Toad finds going forwards fun, but his fun soon comes to an end when he realizes that he can't stop due to the conductor/guard having jumped clear.

* HighSpeedTrainReroute: Toad the Brake Van wishes he could go forwards instead of backwards. The Troublesome Trucks grant his wish by breaking away from Oliver as he makes it to the top of Gordon's Hill. With no conductor to stop him due to having jumped clear, the signalmen take action by switching the points to avoid having the runaway Toad crash into other engines. Toad eventually comes to a stop when he is directed into a muddy pond.

'''Air date''': October 14th, 1998 (UK), February 10th, 1999 (US)

One day, Toad is feeling sad. He can see engines and coaches moving forwards, unlike himself, who can only see things from behind. He decides to talk to Oliver about his problem. He tells him that although he is always going backwards, he has forward-thinking views and feels he could be a leader. Gordon tells him that he can't be a leader if he doesn't have a train to follow him, which makes Toad even sadder. Oliver tries to reassure Toad by telling him he is a really useful brake van, that he helps him brake and keeps trucks in order when descending hills. Toad says it would still be nice to go forwards for a change. The trucks, overhearing everything Toad said, are cross that he does not appreciate looking after them and promise to pay him out for his words.

When Oliver takes Toad with a goods train up Gordon's Hill, the trucks break away at the peak and go careening back down the line. Toad is initially left in a helpless state of shock since the conductor had jumped clear. After getting over the shock, Toad starts to enjoy his journey traveling backwards, but his enjoyment soon ends as he reaches a crossing that has not properly closed off its road, smashing through the gates and narrowly missing Bertie. Then, he finds out he's on a collision course with a stopped Gordon, getting switched onto the adjacent track only with the help of a nearby signalman. Unfortunately, this only puts him in the path of James, who is coming down the line with a slow goods train. A shunter switches Toad off James' line just in time. The signalman calls ahead to the stationmaster at the next station, who plans to divert Toad and the trucks into a siding. His plan initially works, but unfortunately, they miss a second set of points which divert Toad back onto the main line. He speeds past Henry, and reaches a bridge under repairs. Luckily, the workmen already know about the runaway and Toad is diverted safely and smoothly into an old siding, finally stopping after a plunge into a muddy pool.

One day, Toad was feeling sad. He could see engines and coaches moving forwards, unlike he who could only see things from behind. He decides to talk to Oliver about his problem. He tells him that he is always going backwards, he has forward thinking views and could be a leader. Gordon tells him that he can't be a leader if he doesn't have a train to follow him, which makes Toad even more sad. Oliver tells him he is a really useful brakevan, that he helps him brake and keeps trucks in order when he goes down hills. Toad says it would still be nice to go forwards for a change. The trucks overhear everything Toad says and are cross that he does not appreciate looking after them and promise to pay him back for his words.

So when Oliver takes a goods train up Gordon's Hill, the trucks break away and go careering down the line. The trucks knock the guard off his post and leave a helpless Toad in a state of shock. At first, Toad enjoys his journey traveling backwards, but his enjoyment soon ends, as he crashes through a crossing that was closed. Then, he finds out he's on the wrong track, and narrowly misses Gordon with the help of a nearby signalman. Then, he sees James coming down the line with a slow good train. A shunter switches Toad off James' line just in time. The signalman calls ahead to the stationmaster at the next station. The stationmaster tells the signalman he'll divert Toad and the trucks into a siding. His plan works, but unfortunately, Toad is diverted back onto the main line after a points failure.

Meanwhile, Oliver was racing to Toad's aid. Toad speeds past Henry, and reaches a bridge under repairs. Luckily, the workmen had been warned about the runaway and divert Toad into a siding into a muddy pool.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Toad wishes that he could go forward instead of backward. The Troublesome Trucks grant his wish by breaking away from Oliver as he climbs to the top of Gordon's hill, and at first, Toad finds going forwards fun, but his fun soon comes to an end when he realizes that he can't stop due to the conductor/guard having jumped clear.

* PublicDomainSoundtrack: This is the first episode to use a rendition of ''William Tell Overture (Finale)'', it would later be reused for "[[Recap/ThomasTheTankEngineS6E22ThomasTheJetEngine Thomas And The Jet Engine]]" from Season Six, "Rheneas and the Rollercoaster" from Season Seven and "[[Recap/ThomasTheTankEngineS7E16TheRunawayElephant The Runaway Elephant]]" from the same season, though only for the original UK releases in the latter two cases.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Toad wishes that he could go forward instead of backward. The Troublesome Trucks grant his wish by breaking away from Oliver as he climbs to the top of Gordon's hill, and at first, Toad finds going forwards fun, but his fun soon comes to an end when he realizes that he can't stop due to the conductor having jumped clear.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Toad wishes that he could go forwards instead of backwards. The Troublesome Trucks grant his wish by breaking away from Oliver as he climbs to the top of Gordon's hill, and at first, Toad finds going forwards fun, but his fun soon comes to an end when he realizes that he can't stop due to the conductor having jumped clear.