Thomas & Friends (series 3)
| Thomas & Friends (series 3) | |
|---|---|
|
DVD cover art | |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Original release |
25 February – 14 July 1992 |
Thomas & Friends (previously known as Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends) is a children's television series about the engines and other characters working on the railways of the Island of Sodor, and is based on The Railway Series books written by the Rev. W. Awdry.
This article lists and details episodes from the third series of the show, which was first broadcast for the U.S. in 1991 as part of Shining Time Station, and followed a year later for the U.K. This series was narrated by Michael Angelis for the U.K. audiences, while George Carlin narrated the episodes for the U.S. audiences.
Some episodes in this series have two titles: the original titles from the U.K. broadcasts are shown on top, while the American-adapted titles are shown underneath.
Production
Filming
Series 3 was produced in 1991 and 1992 by The Britt Allcroft Company in association with Japanese television station Fuji Television. It was divided into two parts, one part having 16 episodes and the other having 10. Sixteen episodes aired in the United States in 1991 as part of Shining Time Station, and the last ten episodes aired on the same program in 1993. The entire series aired in 1992 in the United Kingdom. It was made at a cost of £1.3 million (approximately $9.3 million in U.S. dollars).[1] Before production of series 3, Clearwater Features closed down, with The Britt Allcroft Company becoming the sole producer. Producer Robert D. Cardona left before series 3, and Britt Allcroft took his place as co-producer alongside David Mitton. According to Robert Gauld-Galliers, "Gordon Goes Foreign" was originally planned to be filmed into an episode, but it wasn't because of high budgets.[2]
Stories
The series was a combination of episodes derived from The Railway Series, stories in the Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends magazine (written by the series' current head writer, Andrew Brenner), and a couple of original stories by Allcroft and Mitton. One of the primary reasons for diverging from the original books was that many of the stories not yet used featured large numbers of new characters, which would be expensive to produce. Another was that the producers wanted more stories about Thomas, the nominal main character. Awdry worried that the new stories would be unrealistic (see Henry the Green Engine for more details).[1]
Episodes
| Total | # | UK title (top) US title (bottom) |
Directed by | Source | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 53 | 1 | "A Scarf for Percy" | David Mitton | Henry the Green Engine by Rev. W. Awdry (based on "Percy and the Trousers") | 25 February 1992 |
| Percy doesn't like the cold, so he wants a scarf for his funnel to keep warm. But as he goes to play a trick on the coaches, it ends up in an accident. | |||||
| 54 | 2 | "Percy's Promise" | David Mitton | Percy the Small Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 3 March 1992 |
| Percy promises to take the Sunday School Class home, but a thunderstorm makes it very difficult to get there. Before long, Percy runs into a severe flood that the water leaks in and douses his fire. | |||||
| 55 | 3 | "Time for Trouble" | David Mitton | The Eight Famous Engines by Rev. W. Awdry (based on "Double Header") | 17 March 1992 |
| James boasts about being as reliable as clockwork while Toby goes to be repaired. However, he runs out of water on James' line, which means they must move together. | |||||
| 56 | 4 | "Gordon and the Famous Visitor" | David Mitton | Duck and the Diesel Engine by Rev. W. Awdry (based on "Domeless Engines") | 24 March 1992 |
| Gordon is jealous of a visiting engine who has gone a hundred miles an hour, and wants to prove he's just as special. But Gordon's dome can't stand handling such dangerous speeds in the wind. | |||||
| 57 | 5 | "Donald's Duck" | David Mitton | Oliver the Western Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 31 March 1992 |
| Duck is conceited about his new branch, so Donald says he might lay an egg as he "quacks" so much. So Duck and his crew play a trick on Donald by hiding a duck in his water tank. | |||||
| 58 | 6 | "Thomas Gets Bumped" | David Mitton | Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends magazine story by Andrew Brenner | 7 April 1992 |
| Thomas is proud of his branch line, but is very disappointed when he is forced to shunt trucks because of track repair, while Bertie takes his passengers. | |||||
| 59 | 7 | "Thomas, Percy and the Dragon" | David Mitton | Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends magazine story by Andrew Brenner | 7 April 1992 |
| Percy teases Thomas for being scared of his ghost once. But the next night, Thomas has to take a paper Chinese Dragon. And as Percy sees it, he realises it's no fun being scared. | |||||
| 60 | 8 | "Diesel Does It Again" | David Mitton | Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends magazine story by Andrew Brenner | 14 April 1992 |
| Duck and Percy are very displeased when Diesel comes to work at the Harbor, even though Sir Topham Hatt promised that he'd be gone for good for his last visit. | |||||
| 61 | 9 | "Henry's Forest" | David Mitton | Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends magazine story by Andrew Brenner | 14 April 1992 |
| Henry loves going to the forest to admire the scenery. But one night, a windstorm damages the trees there, making him ever sadder. In order to make Henry feel happy again, new trees must be planted to replace the damaged ones. | |||||
| 62 | 10 | "The Trouble with Mud" | David Mitton | Gordon the Big Engine by Rev. W. Awdry (based on "Leaves") | 21 April 1992 |
| Gordon is too muddy to pull the Express, making James very boastful about getting the job. But he pays no attention to Gordon's warning about the muddy leaves on the hill. | |||||
| 63 | 11 | "No Joke for James" | David Mitton | Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends magazine story by Andrew Brenner | 21 April 1992 |
| When Gordon tells James he's not as good as he is, he lies to Thomas that he'll be pulling coaches while Gordon has to take trucks. But soon James knows he must regain his dignity. | |||||
| 64 | 12 | "Thomas, Percy and the Post Train" "Thomas, Percy and the Mail Train" | David Mitton | Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends magazine story by Andrew Brenner | 28 April 1992 |
| Thomas and Percy like taking the mail, but a Boat delays them, so Harold is given the new job for being more efficient. But the engines soon find another useful job. | |||||
| 65 | 13 | "Trust Thomas" | David Mitton | Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends magazine story by Andrew Brenner | 28 April 1992 |
| Thomas agrees to help Bertie, but James doesn't want to do Percy's work and, with advice from Gordon, James fakes sickness to get out of work and gets Thomas to take the trucks. However, the trucks thinking one engine is as good as another put Thomas in a sticky situation. | |||||
| 66 | 14 | "Mavis" | David Mitton | Tramway Engines by Rev. W. Awdry | 5 May 1992 |
| The Quarry has hired a young diesel engine named Mavis who wishes she had better things to do instead of listening to Toby. She completely pays no attention to him, and soon she gets stuck at a crossing with her trucks. | |||||
| 67 | 15 | "Toby's Tightrope" | David Mitton | Tramway Engines by Rev. W. Awdry | 5 May 1992 |
| Mavis wants to run on Toby's line again, but the trouble she caused does not allow her to do so. So she makes a plan that gets her on the line, but things go wrong when she accidentally knocks Toby off hence entering a collapsing bridge. | |||||
| 68 | 16 | "Edward, Trevor and the Really Useful Party" | David Mitton | Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends magazine story by Andrew Brenner | 12 May 1992 |
| The Vicar is planning a party, and Trevor tells Edward about it. Edward wants to help. Despite the fact that Bertie is teasing Trevor for being slow, the party becomes successful for both Edward and Trevor. | |||||
| 69 | 17 | "Buzz, Buzz" "James Goes Buzz, Buzz" | David Mitton | Main Line Engines by Rev. W. Awdry | 12 May 1992 |
| James boasts to Duck and BoCo about not being afraid of bees. But later James gets a surprise when a bee hive breaks and the bees cause havoc, forcing him to find a solution to get rid of the bees to keep them from bothering him. | |||||
| 70 | 18 | "All at Sea" | David Mitton | Original by Britt Allcroft and David Mitton | 19 May 1992 |
| While watching the local regatta, Duck tells Percy he wishes about going overseas to different places. But soon Duck must help an injured sailor to the hospital in order to show that engines are really useful. | |||||
| 71 | 19 | "One Good Turn" | David Mitton | Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends magazine story by Andrew Brenner | 26 May 1992 |
| Bill and Ben work hard all day, and finally get to go on the turntable in the yard. But Bill and Ben end up being face to face. They argue with each other, and are forced to split up. | |||||
| 72 | 20 | "Tender Engines" | David Mitton | Enterprising Engines by Rev. W. Awdry (based on "Tenders for Henry") | 2 June 1992 |
| A double-tendered engine unknowingly causes trouble. Although Gordon overcomes his problem about doubting steam engines' usefulness, Henry wants more than one tender, which makes his dream come true. | |||||
| 73 | 21 | "Escape" | David Mitton | Enterprising Engines by Rev. W. Awdry | 9 June 1992 |
| Edward tells Douglas about the time he saved Trevor from scrap. That night, as Douglas goes to another railway, he does the same by rescuing a Great Western Engine named Oliver and his brake-van Toad. | |||||
| 74 | 22 | "Oliver Owns Up" | David Mitton | Oliver the Western Engine by Rev. W. Awdry (based on "Resource and Sagacity") | 16 June 1992 |
| Oliver is new to the Island, and all the engines complimenting his courage is making him conceited. He pays no attention to Duck's warning about trucks and gets in a nasty accident. | |||||
| 75 | 23 | "Bulgy" | David Mitton | Oliver the Western Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 23 June 1992 |
| Duck meets Bulgy, a double-decker bus who doesn't like the rails. He tries to take Duck's passengers away by pretending to be a "railway bus" and taking them on an attempted shortcut. But what he doesn't realize is that a collapsing bridge has inadequate clearance. | |||||
| 76 | 24 | "Heroes" | David Mitton | Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends magazine story by Andrew Brenner | 30 June 1992 |
| Trucks at the harbor cause trouble for Bill and Ben, but while working at the Quarry the next day, they are the workers' only hope during a landslide. | |||||
| 77 | 25 | "Percy, James and the Fruitful Day" | David Mitton | Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends magazine story by Andrew Brenner | 7 July 1992 |
| James is collecting some fruit from the Harbour to the main line. He breaks down, so Percy is forced to take it himself, but he goes so fast that he winds up squashing it all. | |||||
| 78 | 26 | "Thomas and Percy's Christmas Adventure" "Thomas and Percy's Mountain Adventure" | David Mitton | Original by Britt Allcroft and David Mitton | 14 July 1992 [3] |
| Thomas looks forward to delivering his mail to the people of the Mountain Village. But a blizzard delays the journeys, which means that Thomas and Percy (along with Terence and Harold) must work together. | |||||
Characters
Introduced
- City of Truro (Gordon and the Famous Visitor)
- Dilly the Duck (Donald's Duck)
- The Chinese Dragon (Thomas, Percy and the Dragon)
- Mavis (Mavis)
- Flying Scotsman (Tender Engines)
- Oliver (Escape)
- Toad (Escape)
- Bulgy (Bulgy)
Recurring character cast
References
- Notes
- 1 2 Sibley, Brian (1995). The Thomas the Tank Engine Man. Heinemann. p. 318. ISBN 0-434-96909-5.
- ↑ http://www.sodor-island.net/episodeguide/rgg.html
- ↑ "Thomas the Tank Engine - CITV Trust Thomas Video Promo, 14th July 1992". Youtube. Retrieved 10 November 2014.