Air date: December 25th (Christmas Day), 1984 (UK); November 25th, 1990 (US)
Adapted from: Thomas' Christmas Party and "Mrs Kyndley's Christmas" (Toby the Tram Engine)
It's Christmas time and Thomas and Toby are very busy carrying people and parcels along the branch line. Despite Annie and Clarabel complaining that they are overloaded, Thomas retains his festive spirit.
Near his branch line is a little cottage. This is the home of an older woman named Mrs. Kyndley. Thomas always whistles "Happy Christmas!" to her and agrees that Christmas wouldn't be the same without her.
At the sheds, all the engines have been polished but Thomas doesn't mind and tells them he wants to throw Mrs. Kyndley a party to thank her for saving him from a landslide the year before. When she was ill in bed, she waved her red dressing gown out the window to warn Thomas and The Fat Controller sent her to Bournemouth to get better as a reward.
All the engines agree that a party is a great idea and hope that The Fat Controller agrees as well. He does, but on the day of the party, there is a heavy snowfall, trapping Mrs. Kyndley in her house. Thomas bravely puts on his snow plough and sets off with Toby to rescue her, and soon, they arrive at the cottage which is covered in snow. Thomas whistles to Mrs. Kyndley to tell her they have arrived when suddenly, Terence arrives with his snowplow to help clear a path from the cottage to the railway. Once everything is cleared away, Percy takes the workmen home and Terence stays behind to look after Mrs. Kyndley's cottage.
Thomas and Toby take her to the shed, where the party is supposed to be, but as they arrive home, they find the sheds in darkness. Suddenly, a switch is thrown and the sheds are covered in lights. The Fat Controller congratulates the two engines, everybody sings carols, and Mrs. Kyndley says it's the best Christmas party ever.
Tropes featured in the episode:
- Adapted Out: Mr. Kyndley does not appear in the episode unlike the original book.
- Back for the Finale: Characters such as Bertie and Terence appear in the episode.
- Christmas Episode: The very first one. This began something of a tradition of Thomas series finales being Christmas-orientated (which makes sense given the original broadcasting schedules).
- Cool Old Lady: Mrs. Kyndley. She had once saved Thomas from a landslide by waving her red dressing gown out the window.
- Flashback Cut: Mrs. Kyndley waving her gown out the window to save Thomas from a landslide, which actually happened in "Mrs. Kyndley's Christmas" from Toby the Tram Engine.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: Look closely at the platform Sir Topham Hatt is standing on: they're LEGO bricks.
- Off-the-Shelf FX: The podium the Fat Controller stands on at the Christmas party is made entirely of brown LEGO bricks.
- Season Finale: Of Series 1.
- Snowed-In: Mrs. Kyndley was snowed in in her house, but thankfully Thomas, Toby, and Terence rescue her.
- Stock Footage: Scenes from "Thomas' Train" and "Thomas, Terence and the Snow" are used.
