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Thomas & Friends series 1

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Thomas the Tank Engine and 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 of books written by Rev. W. Awdry.

This article lists and details episodes from the first season of this series, which was first broadcast in 1984. Most episodes in this season have two titles: the episodes are listed by their original titles, while American-adapted titles are italicised below (and further indicated by " - US title", where applicable). Both titles are considered valid, although the original titles are perhaps more correct than the American-adapted titles.

Season 1 was originally narrated by Ringo Starr, however he and George Carlin have since re-narrated the episodes for American audiences.

Episodes

# Title Original Airdate
1"Thomas and Gordon" "(Thomas Gets Tricked - US)"September 4, 1984
Thomas is a blue tank engine who works at the big station on the Island of Sodor, shunting coaches to their proper places. He enjoys teasing the other engines, especially Gordon. When his teasing goes too far, Gordon decides to pay him out.
2"Edward and Gordon" "(Edward Helps Out -US)"September 9, 1984
Edward is a little old engine, and has not been out working for a while. His crew feel sorry for him, and decide to use him one day. Not only that, but he helps out Gordon the next day when he gets stuck on a hill.
3"The Sad Story of Henry" "(Come Out, Henry! - US)"September 12, 1984
A green engine, named Henry, is afraid of the rain, thinking it will spoil his paint. One day, he runs into a tunnel and refuses to come out. After numerous attempts to move him, the Fat Controller decides to shut him in the tunnel forever.
4"Edward, Gordon and Henry" "(Henry to the Rescue - US)"September 14, 1984
Henry has been stuck in the tunnel for a long time now, and wishes he hadn't been so silly. But one day, Gordon goes too fast and bursts a safety valve. Edward is the only engine available, but he can't push the heavy train.
5"Thomas' Train" "(A Big Day for Thomas - US)"September 17, 1984
Thomas is getting bored with shunting, and wishes he could pull a train instead of meerly collecting coaches. When Henry is ill, his chance comes...with disastrous results!
6"Thomas and the Trucks" "(Trouble for Thomas - US)"September 20, 1984
Thomas is fed up with shunting coaches in the yard, so Edward agrees to swap jobs the next day. However, Edward's train consists of trucks, which love to play tricks, especially on an engine not used to them, like Thomas.
7"Thomas and the Breakdown Train" "(Thomas Saves the Day - US)"September 22, 1984
Shunting in the yards, Thomas comes across a strange train called "The Breakdown Train". When James has an accident, Thomas quickly comes to the rescue. The Fat Controller is so pleased with Thomas, he gives him his own branchline as a reward.
8"James and the Coaches" "(James Learns a Lesson - US)"September 25, 1984
James, after having an accident in a paddock on his first day, is now trying to be really useful. He does however cause trouble, when he wets the Fat Controller's new top hat with steam, and then bumps coaches so hard that one of their brakes fail.
9"Troublesome Trucks" "(Foolish Freight Cars - US)"October 2, 1984
James is in trouble with the Fat Controller. He has been confined to the shed for a long time, but is released to pull trucks. He works hard, and then takes a goods train up Gordon's Hill. The trucks misbehave, but James doesn't give up.
10"James and the Express" "(A Proud Day for James - US)"October 7, 1984
James, after proving himself useful, is to shunt coaches in the yard. Gordon puffs by, boasting about himself as usual, saying he could take the Express by instinct. James ignores him, and continues working. Later, James sees Gordon puff into the station quietly and sadly. He finds out Gordon was switched the wrong way and got lost.
11"Thomas and the Guard" "(Thomas and the Conductor - US)"October 9, 1984
Thomas is very busy working on his branch line with Annie and Clarabel. But one morning Henry is late, and this makes Thomas cross. When Henry finally arrives, Thomas teases him, and hurries away. Because he is in such a rush, he leaves the guard behind.
12"Thomas Goes Fishing"October 12, 1984
Thomas loves his branch line. He wants to fish after seeing the fishermen, but the other engines say he can't. The next day Thomas needs a drink, but the water tower is out of order, so Thomas' crew decide to get water from the river. However there's a consequence.
13"Thomas, Terence and the Snow" "(Terence the Tractor - US)"October 15, 1984
Thomas meets Terence the Tractor. Thomas says Terence's wheels are ugly. Terence explains that they are caterpillar tracks, and he can go "anywhere", which comes in handy during the winter that Thomas doesn't use his snowplough...
14"Thomas and Bertie" "(Thomas and Bertie's Great Race - US)"October 20, 1984
Thomas stops at a signal near the bus depot, and meets a bus named Bertie. Bertie reminds Thomas of the time he took his passengers after he got stuck in the snow and Terence came to pull him out, and Thomas gets jealous. He challenges Bertie to a race.
15"Tenders and Turntables"October 21, 1984
Gordon, James, and Henry are upset that they have more work to do. Now that Thomas is gone, they have to shunt their own coaches. Soon, Gordon and James have trouble on the turntable because of this, always having to turn around to shunt.
16"Trouble in the Shed"October 24, 1984
Gordon, James and Henry are causing trouble for the Fat Controller. They are going on strike for being treated unfairly, and refuse to work. The Fat Controller tells them off, and goes to get Edward so he can work in the yard again. But Edward can't manage alone, so he finds another engine Called Percy and Shuts the Big Engines up.
17"Percy Runs Away"October 26, 1984
Percy, the new engine, is working hard, and Gordon, James and Henry have been let out of the shed for learning the errors of their ways. Percy, Edward and Thomas go and Play on Thomas' Branch Line. Edward then goes to the Quarry, leaving Percy alone, He doesn't mind that a bit. However, he ignores Edward's warning about going on the main line, and is almost in a collision with Gordon and the Express.
18"Coal" "(Henry's Special Coal - US)"October 28, 1984
Henry is not feeling well. His firebox is too small, and he can't make enough steam. Sometimes he doesn't even have enough power to pull a train. The Fat Controller addresses the problem, and comes to a conclusion that Henry needs Welsh coal.
19"The Flying Kipper"October 31, 1984
Henry, now having new Welsh Coal and feeling better, is chosen to pull the 'Flying Kipper', a train of fish vans to deliver around Sodor. He is happy, and soon sets off for the snowy countryside in the early morning. He is having a good time, but he misreads a signal that is supposed to say danger, but was forced down by snow.
20"Whistles and Sneezes"November 3, 1984
Henry, now having his new shape, tends to whistle loudly and happily. Gordon despises this, and tells him not to whistle so much. Henry is sad, but cheers up one day when Gordon's whistle jams 'on', and won't stop whistling! Later on, Henry experiences troubles of his own, when boys throw stones at him from a bridge, breaking his coaches' windows, and annoying his crew and the passengers.
21"Toby and the Stout Gentleman" "(Toby the Tram Engine - US)"November 6, 1984
Toby is a tram engine who works on his own little line. He is happy there with his coach Henrietta, but is quickly running out of work, being replaced by lorries and buses. Soon, he is only carrying a few passengers and shunting few trucks.
22"Thomas in Trouble" "(Thomas Breaks the Rules - US)"November 9, 1984
Every day Thomas travels down a part of his line, which runs beside a road. Usually the friendly policeman at the crossing lets him pass, but a new policeman has taken over, and does not take kindly to Thomas whistling to him in a friendly way. Things take a turn for the worse when the policeman books Thomas as a lawbraker for not having cowcatchers. When The Fat Controller hears about it he buys Toby who brings Henrietta with him.
23"Dirty Objects" "(James in a Mess - US)"November 12, 1984
Toby is still new to the railway, and often gets bullied by James about his and Henrietta's appearance. But one day James gets pushed out of control by trucks, and pushed into the yard.
24"Off the Rails" "(Gordon Takes a Dip - US)"November 19, 1984
Gordon is feeling cross one morning, especially having to pull a goods train. He decides to jam the turntable to prove a point, but only proves to be silly when his atempt makes him slide into a ditch.
25"Down the Mine"November 23, 1984
Thomas teases Gordon about the time he fell in a ditch, much to the horror of Annie and Clarabel. Thomas doesn't care a bit, and is then sent to work at the Mines. He notices a danger board that says "Danger, Engines Must Not Pass This Board" near the tracks, and wants to go past it to prove there's no danger.
26"Thomas' Christmas Party"December 25, 1984
It's Christmas on the Island of Sodor. All the engines are busy with passengers and parcels, especially Thomas. He likes it when he passes Mrs. Kyndley's house while working, and she always waves to him. Thomas says it wouldn't be Christmas without Mrs. Kyndley, and then goes to the shed to discuss to the other engines about throwing a Christmas party for her.

Notes

  • This season introduces many of the major locations around Sodor including the Big Station (Knapford), Edwards Station (Wellsworth), Gordon's Hill, Henry's Tunnel and The Shed (Tidmouth)
  • The characters introduced in this season would become the central characters in seasons to come. In Season 8, the railway engines introduced in this season (Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy and Toby) are seven of the eight engines who form the "Steam Team".
  • All of the stories featured in this season were written by the Rev. W. Awdry. The only one of these stories which did not originally feature in The Railway Series was "Thomas' Christmas Party", although this story does reference Railway Series events In Mrs Kindley's Christmas.
  • This season is the only one to feature a story that does not take place on the Fat Controllers Railway. (Toby and the Stout Gentleman)

Characters introduced

Note that since this is the first season of the series, all characters featured in the season were "introduced" in some way. This section lists which episode each character had a "formal" introduction in.

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