U.S. Title: Goodbye Sir Topham Hatt
Air date: March 9th, 2017 (UK), April 25th, 2017 (US)
One morning, Percy pulls into Knapford with the mail train. He notices a group of people talking to the Fat Controller outside his office. As he leaves for a moment to answer the telephone, one of the men tells the other two that he will soon find out when the Fat Controller is leaving. Percy is very surprised to hear this. The men catch him listening, so he hastily leaves the station. When he meets Thomas later that day, Percy tells him what the men had said. They conclude that the Fat Controller must be leaving the Island of Sodor.
By that evening, all of the engines are talking about it. Edward and Gordon both agree that they will miss the Fat Controller once he is gone, even though he sometimes gets very cross with his engines. Emily reminds them that they are always causing confusion and delay and Percy comes to the conclusion that maybe that is why he is leaving: because of them. Thomas decides that they must convince him to stay.
The next morning, the Fat Controller is very surprised to see the engines arriving at Knapford bright and early. Thomas tells him that they are doing their best to make Sodor a very good railway. All day long, the engines work hard to show the Fat Controller how reliable they can be, much to his confusion. In the evening, Emily nearly collides with Diesel's goods train. Diesel begins to snap at her before stopping himself so as to not upset the Fat Controller. As Diesel leaves, the controller asks Henry why the engines are behaving so strangely. Henry tells him how happy they are that he is running the railway and the Fat Controller replies that he loves the railway very much.
At Tidmouth Sheds, Henry tells the engines what the Fat Controller said. They all begin to think that maybe he is not leaving Sodor at all, but Percy is still not sure what to think as he leaves to take the mail train.
The following morning, Percy arrives at Knapford and sees the same group of men. This time, they are taking the Fat Controller's belongings out of his office, including his beloved telephone. Percy quickly hurries back to the sheds to tell the other engines. They are all very sad when they realise that he must be leaving after all. Thomas decides to put his wheel down and tells the engines that they must go on strike, to persuade the Fat Controller to stay on Sodor.
At Knapford, the passengers are all complaining about their trains running late and telling each other what a bad railway it is. The stationmaster tells the Fat Controller about the engines refusing to leave the sheds, so he hurries to see what is going on. When he arrives, Thomas tells him all about their strike to persuade him to stay. But it turns out the Fat Controller is not leaving at all. He explains to them that his office is being redecorated and his belongings had to be moved to a temporary one. All of the engines feel very silly as they leave to start work.
Thanks to their strike, the engines have caused confusion and delay, but they have to work very hard to make up for lost time. Meanwhile, the Fat Controller struggles to work in his temporary office: a small shed next to Knapford in the yard.
This episode contains examples of:
- Continuity Nod: When telling the Fat Controller about the strike, the stationmaster tells him "There's trouble in the sheds, sir".
- Out-of-Context Eavesdropping: The episode kicks off with Percy overhearing the workmen mention the Fat Controller leaving and went to tell the engines about it.
- Stern Controller: The engines discuss about how the Fat Controller can get cross at them for causing confusion and delay and believe this is a reason why he's leaving, which prompts them to do their best to work extra hard to he won't leave.
- Strike Episode: The engines decide to go on strike when they believe that Sir Topham Hatt is leaving Sodor. The strike ends when they find out the truth.
