Air date: March 12th, 1995
Adapted from: Troublesome Engines, "Henry and the Elephant"
One morning, Thomas arrives at the junction. The Fat Controller is there and tells Thomas he is right on time and really reliable, making Thomas and his coaches happy. However, Gordon, Henry and James are in a bad mood - Percy is nowhere to be found and so they are forced to collect their own coaches. James decides to take out his anger on Henry and mocks him about his fear of the rain. Henry retorts that James looks silly enough to be a clown and that he belongs in a circus, which leads Percy - who has just arrived - to believe the engines have heard about how the circus has come to town. He explains that he had been helping to shunt the special trucks and coaches on the Fat Controller's request and that the bigger engines are needed too. The big engines soon forget to be cross and eagerly help out. When it is time for the circus to leave, James is given the task of pulling the train away, making Gordon and Henry cross once again.
Later that day, the Fat Controller informs Henry that a tunnel is blocked and asks him to take some workmen to investigate. Henry arrives at the tunnel - grumbling all the way - and the workmen enter to examine the blockage. A few moments later, they quickly run out in horror. One explains to the foreman that the blockage is alive and they refuse to go back inside. The foreman does not believe them and decides to ride in the trucks and have Henry push it out. Henry (horrified of the idea of being stuck in a tunnel with something big and alive) protests this decision, his driver agrees but the line has to be cleared.
Henry reluctantly and fearfully enters the tunnel with the trucks he brought the workmen in, only for the blockage to push him back out again. Both Henry and the foreman are surprised to discover the "blockage" is a large, cross elephant that had escaped from the circus. The workmen offer the elephant some cake and water to calm him down. However, Henry accidentally startles the elephant by letting off steam, causing him to spray Henry with water. The elephant is soon reunited with his keeper, but Henry is upset and humiliated by what happened.
That evening, Henry tells the other engines what happened. Although Gordon and James feel sorry for Henry, they continue to tease him. Thomas, however, praises Henry for his bravery and how well he handled the situation.
Tropes featured in the episode:
- Bad Mood as an Excuse: James is angry about extra work and takes his frustrations out on Henry by mocking him about his fear of the rain.
- Butt-Monkey: Henry, from dealing with the insults related to his tunnel incident to getting sprayed over by an elephant.
- Continuity Nod: Two to "The Sad Story of Henry":
- James rudely insults Henry about him being afraid of the rain.
- Henry remembers being bricked inside of the tunnel.
- Circus Episode: When the circus comes to Sodor, the engines are assigned to pull the special train. After the circus leaves, an escaped elephant hides in Henry's tunnel, and Henry is sent to get him out.
- Compressed Adaptation: Zig-zagged. Henry's incident with the elephant in the original story was one of the reasons the big engines went on strike, thus leading to Percy’s arrival, while in the television series, due to the story being skipped initially, Percy appears in the adaptation. The beginning of the episode shows Thomas being congratulated by the Fat Controller for being on time and the ending shows Thomas comforting Henry for dealing with the elephant.
- Cruel Elephant: Henry certainly sees the escaped circus elephant as this for pushing him out of his tunnel, then squirting him with water when he lets off steam.
- Disneyfication: This episode has an positive ending where Thomas comforts Henry, telling him that he handled the situation with the Elephant well, which cheers up Henry.
- Jerkass: James takes his frustration out on Henry and reminded him of his fear of the rain, although Henry got back at him by calling him a clown who should join a circus.
- No Sympathy: Downplayed. Gordon and James felt sorry for Henry after his incident with the elephant, but they still teased him about it. Thomas, however, comforts him. This is in contrast to the book version where the tender engines are specifically mentioned as taking his side (building up to their strike in "Trouble in the Shed").
- Perfectly Cromulent Word: Henry says that the elephant "hooshed" him.
