U.S. Title: Edward Helps Out
Air date: October 9th, 1984
Adapted from: The Three Railway Engines, "Edward's Day Out" and "Edward and Gordon"
Edward is an old, blue engine and is feeling sad, as he hasn't been out in a long time. The other engines that lived in Tidmouth Sheds with Edward told him the driver won't choose him, making Edward even more depressed. One morning, the driver and fireman saw that he was upset, and chose him over the other engines. Edward had a wonderful day pulling coaches. The coaches were very impressed with Edward, as was his crew. He went back to the sheds that evening, and fell fast asleep.
Next morning, Gordon was bragging to Edward. He told the old engine to watch him rush by with the express that afternoon. Edward ignored him and went to shunt trucks in the yard. Edward loved shunting; he would biff the trucks, and they would scream in horror.
Edward worked very hard all day. That afternoon, he went for a rest on a siding. Presently, he heard Gordon's whistle. But instead of coaches, the express engine was pulling a line of dirty trucks. Gordon moaned as he slowly pulled his goods train. He soon began to climb a hill, and stopped halfway up. Edward was soon called to be Gordon's banker. The big blue engine didn't think that little old Edward could do it, but he pushed all the same. Up the hill went the train all the while Gordon kept saying, "I can't do it, I can't do it." But to Gordon's surprise, they did make it to the top. Gordon thundered away, cheering for himself, leaving Edward in the dust without even saying thank you to him. Edward slowly ran into a siding at Maron station, where his driver and fireman promises to give him a new coat of paint.
Tropes featured in the episode:
- Adaptation Induced Plothole: The line from the original story from The Railway Series story that all of the other engines are bigger than Edward is kept, yet Thomas (who isn't in the original story) is smaller.
- Adapted Out: In the novel version of "Edward's Day Out", which forms the first half of this episode, two big blue engines numbered 87546 and 98462 shared the sheds with Edward and Gordon (and presumably Henry and James as well). In this adaptation, they are neither seen nor mentioned, and Thomas takes their place, leading to the Adaptation Induced Plothole above.
- All of the Other Reindeer: Edward was teased by the other engines for being old and no longer useful to the railway. He soon proves them wrong, however.
- Berserk Button: Gordon was very angry when he was ordered to pull trucks.Gordon: A goods train! A goods train! A goods train! A goods train! The shame of it! The shame of it! Oh, the shame of it!
- Bowdlerize: When Gordon leaves Edward behind, the US narration adds that, "[Edward] was happy because he had been so helpful."
- Break the Cutie: It's toned down from the book version, but at the start of the episode, Edward is still very sad when Gordon tells him that "the driver won't choose [him] again." Thankfully, this doesn't last long, as the driver and fireman do take Edward out for a run.
- Break the Haughty: Happens to Gordon as he is pulling trucks.
- Digital Destruction: In the restored version:
- As Gordon complains of the shame of pulling a goods train, his goods train is nowhere to be seen, there is a visible gap between his eyes and his face, and both the end of the track and studio equipment are visible.
- The edge of the set is visible when Gordon is stuck on the hill.
- Comedic Sociopathy: Edward delights in scaring the trucks by bumping them hard into each other.
- Compressed Adaptation: The episode retells the events of both the book's story of the same name and "Edward's Day Out" (the very first story from The Railway Series). The dilemma of the latter story (the guard being late at the station) is omitted.
- Cool Old Guy: Edward.
- Help, I'm Stuck!: Gordon ends up getting stuck halfway up the hill due to him saying he can't do it because the trucks were holding him back.
- If You Won't, I Will: Edward and Gordon have this exchange while struggling up the hill:Gordon: I can't do it! I can't do it! I can't do it!
Edward: I will do it! I will do it! I will do it! - Jerkass: Gordon.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Gordon having to pull dirty trucks was as a result of being the main one who insulted Edward in the beginning of the episode.
- Luminescent Blush: Gordon's angry face is painted with a blush throughout the second half of the episode after being forced to pull trucks.
- Name and Name: Only in the UK title.
- Nice Guy: Edward.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: Gordon gets stuck pulling trucks on a steep hill. Edward comes to help him up. Ever since then, the hill has been known by most characters as "Gordon's Hill". Other engines would later have trouble on the same hill but since Gordon was the first, it's officially named after him.
- Out-of-Character Moment: Thomas, who even in his earlier ruder form was depicting having a lot of respect for Edward, is shown teasing him and showing resentment towards him being let out. It should be noted, however, that this only happened in the TV version, and in Rev. W. Awdry's original story, Thomas was absent.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Gordon had forgotten to thank Edward for helping him up the hill.
