Thomas & Friends series 2

Thomas & Friends
Season 2
DVD cover art
No. of episodes	26
Release
Original network	ITV
Original release	2 September (1986-09-02) – 23 December 1986 (1986-12-23)
Series chronology

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 2nd series of the show, which was first broadcast in 1986. This series was initially narrated by Ringo Starr for the U.K. audiences, who re-dubbed 16 episodes for the U.S. audiences on Shining Time Station. The entire series was later re-dubbed by George Carlin for the U.S. audiences.

Most episodes in this series have 2 titles: the original titles from the U.K. broadcasts are shown on top, while the American-adapted titles are shown underneath. However, all episodes in Series 2 had the same name in both the United Kingdom and the United States.

This was the last series to be narrated by Ringo Starr, as well as the last series to be produced by Robert D. Cardona.

It was produced by Clearwater Features Ltd. for Britt Allcroft (Thomas) Ltd.

Production

Stories

Christopher Awdry was commissioned to write a new Railway Series book as source material for the second series. Three stories from More About Thomas the Tank Engine provided additional roles for Bertie the Bus, Terence the Tractor, and Harold the Helicopter. The episodes "Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree" and "Thomas and Trevor" were both one-off stories written by Christopher. The following series would begin to use original stories by the production staff, with some of the remaining Railway Series stories deemed "repetitive and too 'story-book' orientated".

Filming

Early in production, a 3rd episode based on The Twin Engines was due to be filmed, based largely on the story "The Missing Coach." The model crew had gone as far as filming scenes on the Tidmouth Station set with Thomas arriving at the station, before Britt Allcroft decided the episode had too little action and its storyline would be too difficult to understand by younger viewers. Several promotional stills from the filming of that episode have surfaced in various Thomas publications, while David Mitton was believed to be in possession of the original film footage.

Episodes

Total	#	UK title (top) US title (bottom)	Directed by	Source	Original air date
27	1	"Thomas, Percy and the Coal" "Double Trouble"	David Mitton	More About Thomas the Tank Engine by Christopher Awdry	2 September 1986 (1986-09-02)
28	2	"Cows" "A Cow on the Line"	David Mitton	Edward the Blue Engine by Rev. W. Awdry	5 September 1986 (1986-09-05)
29	3	"Bertie's Chase"	David Mitton	Edward the Blue Engine by Rev. W. Awdry	7 September 1986 (1986-09-07)
30	4	"Saved from Scrap"	David Mitton	Edward the Blue Engine by Rev. W. Awdry	9 September 1986 (1986-09-09)
31	5	"Old Iron"	David Mitton	Edward the Blue Engine by Rev. W. Awdry	11 September 1986 (1986-09-11)
32	6	"Thomas and Trevor" "A New Friend for Thomas"	David Mitton	1988 Thomas Annual story by Christopher Awdry	14 September 1986 (1986-09-14)
33	7	"Percy and the Signal"	David Mitton	Percy the Small Engine by Rev. W. Awdry	17 September 1986 (1986-09-17)
34	8	"Duck Takes Charge"	David Mitton	Percy the Small Engine by Rev. W. Awdry	18 September 1986 (1986-09-18)
35	9	"Percy and Harold" "Percy Proves a Point"	David Mitton	Percy the Small Engine by Rev. W. Awdry	20 September 1986 (1986-09-20)
36	10	"The Runaway"	David Mitton	More About Thomas the Tank Engine by Christopher Awdry	22 September 1986 (1986-09-22)
37	11	"Percy Takes the Plunge"	David Mitton	The Eight Famous Engines by Rev. W. Awdry	24 September 1986 (1986-09-24)
38	12	"Pop Goes the Diesel"	David Mitton	Duck and the Diesel Engine by Rev. W. Awdry	26 September 1986 (1986-09-26)
39	13	"Dirty Work" "Diesel's Devious Deed"	David Mitton	Duck and the Diesel Engine by Rev. W. Awdry	28 September 1986 (1986-09-28)
40	14	"A Close Shave" "A Close Shave for Duck"	David Mitton	Duck and the Diesel Engine by Rev. W. Awdry	1 October 1986 (1986-10-01)
41	15	"Better Late Than Never"	David Mitton	More About Thomas the Tank Engine by Christopher Awdry	4 October 1986 (1986-10-04)
42	16	"Break Van" "Donald and Douglas"	David Mitton	The Twin Engines by Rev. W. Awdry	7 October 1986 (1986-10-07)
43	17	"The Deputation"	David Mitton	The Twin Engines by Rev. W. Awdry	9 October 1986 (1986-10-09)
44	18	"Thomas Comes to Breakfast"	David Mitton	Branch Line Engines by Rev. W. Awdry	11 October 1986 (1986-10-11)
45	19	"Daisy"	David Mitton	Branch Line Engines by Rev. W. Awdry	14 October 1986 (1986-10-14)
46	20	"Percy's Predicament"	David Mitton	Branch Line Engines by Rev. W. Awdry	19 October 1986 (1986-10-19)
47	21	"The Diseasel"	David Mitton	Main Line Engines by Rev. W. Awdry	24 October 1986 (1986-10-24)
48	22	"Wrong Road"	David Mitton	Main Line Engines by Rev. W. Awdry	1 November 1986 (1986-11-01)
49	23	"Edward's Exploit"	David Mitton	Main Line Engines by Rev. W. Awdry	8 November 1986 (1986-11-08)
50	24	"Ghost Train" "Percy's Ghostly Trick"	David Mitton	Tramway Engines by Rev. W. Awdry	10 November 1986 (1986-11-10)
51	25	"Woolly Bear"	David Mitton	Tramway Engines by Rev. W. Awdry	16 November 1986 (1986-11-16)
52	26	"Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree"	David Mitton	Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree by Christopher Awdry	23 December 1986 (1986-12-23)

Characters

Introduced

• Bluebell the Cow (Cows)
• Trevor the Traction Engine (Saved from Scrap)
• The Vicar (Saved from Scrap)
• Jem Cole (Saved from Scrap)
• Duck (Duck Takes Charge)
• Harold (Percy and Harold)
• Diesel (Pop Goes the Diesel)
• Donald and Douglas (Break Van)
• The Spiteful Brakevan (Break Van)
• Daisy (Daisy)
• Bill and Ben (The Diseasel)
• BoCo (The Diseasel)

Recurring character cast

• Thomas
• Edward
• Henry
• Gordon
• James
• Percy
• Toby
• Bertie
• Terence
• Henrietta
• Annie and Clarabel
• Troublesome Trucks
• The Fat Controller