U.S. Title: Thomas and the Conductor
Air date: November 13th, 1984
Adapted from: Tank Engine Thomas Again, "Thomas and the Guard"
Thomas is very proud of his branch line, and he considers it the most important part of the Fat Controller's railway. His two coaches, Annie and Clarabel, agree with him. Annie can only take passengers, while Clarabel can take passengers, luggage and the guard. Although both coaches are old and in need of new paint, Thomas loves them very much. As they travel across Thomas' branch line, they often sing songs together. When Thomas starts from a station, he sings "Oh, come along, we're rather late, Oh, come along, we're rather late!", and the coaches sing "We're coming along, we're coming along!" They don't mind what Thomas says to them, because they know that Thomas has every intention of pleasing the Fat Controller, and they also know that if Thomas is cross, he isn't cross with them.
One day, Thomas Annie and Clarabel are at Elsbridge Station, waiting for Henry's passenger train. Thomas becomes impatient waiting for Henry and very cross, as Henry has been late before. He asks his coaches how he is expected to run his branch line properly if Henry is always late, and accuses him of not realizing how much the Fat Controller depends on him. He whistles impatiently, wanting to leave, but realizing that he can't until Henry's passengers board Annie and Clarabel.
At last, Henry comes in, feeling very upset. Thomas angrily asks him where he's been, and Henry tells him that his system is out of order, and no one seems to understand his case, not knowing what he suffers from. Thomas doesn't believe Henry, telling him that he's lazy ("too fat" in the UK version) and needs exercise. As soon as the Guard blows the whistle, Thomas sets off. He sets off too quickly, not realizing he left the Guard behind. The Guard waves his red flag to stop Thomas, but to no avail, as Thomas is well on his way as he steams out of Elsbridge Station.
Thomas tells Annie and Clarabel to come along, but Clarabel doesn't want to come along, and complains that she lost her nice Guard. Annie tries to tell Thomas that they don't have a guard, but Thomas is hurrying and doesn't listen. Annie and Clarabel want to put their brakes on, but they can't by themselves, as the Guard does it for them. They can only ask where the Guard is as Thomas continues down the line.
Thomas doesn't stop until he comes to a signal. He is angrier than before, wondering what could possibly be the matter now. Thomas' Driver tells him he doesn't know, but their Guard will tell them in a minute. Thomas, his Driver, and his passengers wait for the Guard, but he doesn't come. Thomas whistles impatiently as he asks where the Guard is, and Annie and Clarabel tell him they've left him behind. Everyone sees the Guard running as fast as he can along the line with his flags in one hand and his whistle in the other. The Guard is very hot and pauses from his run to take a drink. When he catches up to Thomas, he tells him and the passengers about what happened. Thomas apologizes to the Guard for leaving him behind. The Guard assures Thomas that it wasn't his fault, then sees that the signal is down, meaning that they can go again and make up for lost time. Thomas sets off and continues his journey.
Annie and Clarabel are so pleased to have their Guard back on board that they encourage Thomas to go as fast as he likes all the way. They reach Ffarqhuar Station quicker than ever before.
Tropes featured in the episode:
- Acquired Situational Narcissism: Thomas became noticeably arrogant as he was given his branch line.
- Adaptation Distillation: The episode cuts out the part from the book where the guard trips over an old lady's umbrella to catch the train, which explains why he was left behind when Thomas took off.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: In the novel version of this episode, Henry was painted blue when he came to Elsbridge Station, following his repaint in "Edward, Gordon, and Henry". In this episode, Henry retains his green livery featured in episodes before and since.
- Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole: In the book, the guard is left behind because he trips on an umbrella while Thomas is leaving. Here, the umbrella is left out, but Thomas' driver still assures him it wasn't his fault.
- Always Late: This episode's conflict is set off when Henry keeps showing up late at Elsbridge Station. Thomas becomes in such a hurry to make up for lost time that he leaves Elsbridge Station before his guard can board Clarabel.
- An Aesop: This is (once again) mainly focusing on being patient. Haste makes waste. In your hurry to accomplish something, you may end up doing something wrong or forgetting something important.
- Bowdlerise: In the UK narration, Thomas calls Henry "fat", but the US narration replaces the word with "slow" mainly to avoid offending overweight people.
- Easily Forgiven: The guard nonchalantly accepts Thomas' apology (in the original book, it was explained this was because it wasn't his fault, the guard didn't make it into Clarabel due to tripping over an old woman's discarded umbrella).
- Foreshadowing: It's implied that this is the second time in the series that Henry is having trouble running properly, which makes a crucial part in "Coal" several episodes later.
- Hypochondriac: Henry spends his entire screentime complaining about being ill.
- Jerkass Has a Point: While Thomas was unnecessarily harsh towards Henry for the latter's lateness, it's hard to completely disagree with him, since other engines being late results in him also being late. In his rant about Henry making him late, he not only correctly states that he can't do his work properly if it keeps happening, but also heavily implies that it's not the first time it's happened. Given that, it's understandable that he wouldn't be in a good mood about it.
- No Sympathy: Henry arrives late with his coaches and explains to Thomas that he was feeling ill, but Thomas bluntly told him that he's too fat (too slow in the U.S. version) and he needs exercise. The lack of sympathy may explain Thomas' growing arrogance after being given his own branch line.
- Serious Business: For Thomas, it's running his branch line.
- Stock Footage: Pre-filmed footage from "Thomas and Bertie" and "Thomas Goes Fishing", stock footage from "Thomas and the Breakdown Train" and mirrored stock footage from "Thomas' Train" is used.
- A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: Thomas quickly leaving the station resulting in leaving the guard behind.
