Air date: October 29th, 1986
Adapted from: The Eight Famous Engines, "Percy Takes the Plunge"
One day at the harbour, a tired Henry is looking to rest in the sheds after a hard day's work, but instead of peace he finds Percy telling two engines about the time he braved bad weather to help Thomas. However, Percy embellishes the tale, using the phrase "Water's nothing to an engine with determination". The two engines shower Percy with praise and Henry angrily tells them to leave, as the sheds are only for engines belonging to the Fat Controller.
The engines leave and Percy is angry. He had been enjoying himself. However, Henry just tells Percy how silly his line about water and determination is. Percy leaves, but not without quickly reminding Henry of when he refused to leave a tunnel because of rain.
Later, Percy and Thomas come across a board reading "DANGER Engines must not pass this board". Thomas tells Percy that they mustn't go past it and tells him about the time he passed a board and fell down a mine. Percy can't see a mine, not realizing that the foundations of the quay have sunk and the rail now leads into the ocean. As a result, Percy, who is now feeling very cocky, decides that the board is stupid and makes a plan to pass it.
One day, as he brings some trucks to the harbour, Percy asks them to bump him when they arrive at the quay. The trucks happily agree, having never been asked to bump an engine before. Percy's plan is to pretend to stop at the station and then have the trucks bump him past the board after which he can make them stop. However, Percy, in his foolishness, has forgotten that trucks are never to be trusted.
At the quay, the trucks bump Percy hard enough that both his driver and fireman fall off the footplate and push him past the board. Percy quickly realizes his mistake and tells the trucks to stop, but there's no chance of that and they happily push a frightened Percy into the sea.
Later, as Percy sits in the water, the Fat Controller scolds the tank engine for his deliberate disobedience. Percy begs to taken out, but the Fat Controller explains that they must wait until high tide and hopes that this will teach Percy a lesson. By the time the cranes can be brought to rescue Percy, it's night. Working hard, the cranes pull a cold, weak, filthy and humiliated Percy from the sea.
The next morning, Percy is taken to the works on Henry's goods train. Henry finds the incident very amusing after Percy's earlier boasts. When Percy states he didn't like the water, Henry replies he needs more determination and that perhaps he'll like it better next time. Percy, however, hopes there is no "next time".
Tropes featured in the episode:
- Acquired Situational Narcissism: Percy has become conceited after his efforts against the flood (which due to a Series Continuity Error is adapted after this episode), which, as the book version notes, led to his error with the trucks.
- Adaptation Induced Plothole: Percy tells Bill and Ben the events of "Percy's Promise", which wouldn't occur until the following series. The Eight Famous Engines didn't have this issue, as it was written directly after Percy the Small Engine.
- Bottle Episode: Takes place almost entirely at the harbor.
- Bowdlerise: During the Fat Controller's lecture to Percy, he tells him in the UK version that they can't get him out of the water until high tide and hopes that this will teach him to obey orders. In the US version, he instead says he hopes that will teach him to take care of himself.
- Bratty Half-Pint: Percy much to Henry's annoyance.
- Call-Back: Thomas warns Percy about the danger board by telling him about time he fell down a mine.
- Can't Get Away with Nuthin': Percy soon learns this after falling in the water.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Percy asks the Troublesome Trucks to push him past the danger sign when he tells them, but as the narration points out, "every wise engine knows that you cannot trust trucks/freight cars", so they decide to push him far past the board and into the water anyway.
- Composite Character: Bill and Ben take the place of the unnamed tank engines from the Other Railway from The Eight Famous Engines, likely due to the impracticality and high cost of constructing several single-use engines. They aren't referred to by names, and Henry tells them that "this shed is for the Fat Controller's engines".
- Continuity Nod: After being teased by Percy, Henry moans that no one will ever forget the time he stayed in the tunnel because he was afraid of the rain.
- Dark Reprise: When Percy's theme fades into the S2 Danger theme.
- Digital Destruction: From the shed scene in the restored version:
- The shot of Bill and Ben leaving the shed starts too late, meaning that the twins start moving much sooner than the puffing sound effects play.
- A different, much slower take is used when Percy also leaves the shed, which looks wrong as despite Percy's drop in speed, the same fast puffing sound effects are used.
- Downer Ending: Percy is fetched out of the water, cold, miserable, and in disgrace, and pulled away by a very amused Henry.
- Early-Bird Cameo:
- Bill and Ben both cameo here before they are introduced in "The Diseasel".
- As Percy is fetched out of the water, Diesel can be spotted lurking in the background before he is due to be introduced next episode.
- Foreshadowing: In the opening, you may notice a diesel trundling across the harbour to the big station.
- The Freelance Shame Squad: Henry takes delight in sneering at Percy's incident in the ending:Henry: Well, well, well, did you like the water?
- Get Out!: Henry tells Bill and Ben to leave the sheds which are reserved for the Fat Controller's engines.
- Gone Horribly Right: The trucks push Percy past the board like he wanted... but they push him too far and he ends up buffer-first in the water.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Percy entrusts the Troublesome Trucks with pushing him past the danger board. Of course, the Trucks keep their word... by pushing Percy too far past the danger board into the sea.
- Insane Troll Logic: After Thomas tells Percy not to go past the danger board and recounts his own experience, Percy concludes that the board is wrong because "I can't see a mine".
- Ironic Echo: Percy boasts that "water's nothing to an engine with determination". In the end, after the trucks push Percy down the water, Henry says the exact phrase to him.
- Jerkass Ball: Due to portions of the script being taken verbatim from the original book, Henry is quite rude in this episode. He rudely tells Bill and Ben (foreign tank engines in the book) to leave the sheds and refers to them as "silly things". Second, after Percy defends the twins, Henry also calls him silly, and lastly, in the ending, he laughs at Percy for his incident with the water.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Henry sends away Percy's friends blocking him from resting in the shed, as it was meant for the Fat Controller's engines, and not them. Still, he could've been less of a Jerkass about it.
- No Sympathy. Subverted. Percy begs to be rescued from the sea, but the Fat Controller explains they can't until high-tide when floating cranes can brought into the docks.
- Poor Communication Kills: As in "Down the Mine", the danger board does not explain what said danger actually is—in this case, the railway sinking into the sea—and gives the equivalent of "Don't pass me Because I Say So", causing Percy to assume it's an unimportant hindrance and disobey it.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: Henry, after being teased by Percy for being afraid of the rain, lampshades this, grumbling that no one will ever let him forget the time he wouldn't leave the tunnel because he thought the rain will spoil his paint.
- Series Continuity Error: For the books, the story takes place right after "Percy's Promise", which, despite the rest of Percy the Small Engine being adapted beforehand, wasn't shown until Season 3. Given that, it may be a different and unseen time Percy braved bad weather to help Thomas. "Down the Mine" is also referenced.
- During an analysis of what happened to the cut adaption of "The Missing Coach", it was stated that this episode was likely made to replace it, contrary to the popular belief that "Thomas, Percy, and the Coal" was the replacement due to the fact that this episode is a Bottle Episode, taking place mostly on a single set, thus explaining why this episode has such an error.
- Tempting Fate: To Henry's credit, he tried to warn Percy not to take large bodies of water lightly, as determination alone, cannot overcome nature. But the cheeky little saddle tank engine is in no mood to listen.
- What the Hell, Hero?: The Fat Controller reprimands Percy for passing through the board and tells him the workmen can't get him out of the water until high tide, which he hopes would teach him to obey orders (or to take care of himself, if you're watching the US version).
