Thomas and Friends (series 1)

Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends Series 1
DVD cover art
Country of origin	UK
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV
Original run	4 September 1984 (1984-09-04) – 25 December 1984 (1984-12-25)
Season chronology
← Previous — Next → Series 2 (1986)

Thomas and Friends (previously known as 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 books written by the Rev. W. Awdry.

This article lists and details episodes from the first series, which was originally broadcast in 1984. Most of these episodes were given alternate titles for release in America, as reflected in the table below. All episodes from this season can be found on the DVD release "Thomas, the Early Years", released by Anchor Bay/HiT in 2004.

Series 1 was narrated by Ringo Starr. He and George Carlin later recorded additional narration to the stories for American audiences.

Production

All of the stories in Series 1 were originally written by the Rev. W. Awdry, including a one-off story commissioned by the staff, Thomas' Christmas Party. The seven engines introduced in this series became the core of the cast in later episodes, with crewmember (and from Series 8-12, director) Steve Asquith terming them the "Magnificent Seven".^[1] Many settings from the first series would stay with the show for years, even through its 2009 transition to CGI, such as Knapford, Wellsworth, Gordon's Hill, Henry's Tunnel, and Tidmouth Sheds.

The pilot for the series was an adaptation of "Down the Mine," which was remade entirely when the rest of the episodes were shot.^[1][2]

It was produced by A Clearwater Features Production for Britt Allcroft (Thomas) Limited. 1984.

Episodes

#	Total	Title (Top) US Title (Bottom)	Source	Original air date
1	1	"Thomas and Gordon" "Thomas Gets Tricked"	Thomas the Tank Engine By Rev. W. Awdry	4 September, 1984
Thomas is a blue tank engine who works at a big station on the Island of Sodor, shunting coaches to their proper places. He enjoys teasing the other engines, especially Gordon, the biggest and proudest engine. When his teasing goes too far, Gordon decides to teach him a lesson.
2	2	"Edward and Gordon" "Edward Helps Out"	The Three Railway Engines By Rev. W. Awdry	9 September, 1984
Edward is a old engine, and has not been out working for a while. His crew feels sorry for him, and decide to use him one day. Not only that, but he helps Gordon the next day when he gets himself stuck on a hill.
3	3	"The Sad Story of Henry" "Come Out, Henry!"	The Three Railway Engines By Rev. W. Awdry	12 September, 1984
A green engine, named Henry, is afraid of the rain, thinking it will spoil his lovely green 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.
4	4	"Edward, Gordon and Henry" "Henry to the Rescue"	The Three Railway Engines By Rev. W. Awdry	14 September, 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 without Henry's help.
5	5	"Thomas' Train" "A Big Day for Thomas"	Thomas the Tank Engine By Rev. W. Awdry	17 September, 1984
Thomas is getting bored with shunting, and wishes he could pull a train instead of merely collecting coaches. When Henry is ill, his chance comes—with disastrous results.
6	6	"Thomas and the Trucks" "Trouble for Thomas"	Thomas the Tank Engine By Rev. W. Awdry	20 September, 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	7	"Thomas and the Breakdown Train" "Thomas Saves the Day"	Thomas the Tank Engine By Rev. W. Awdry	22 September, 1984
Shunting in the yards, Thomas comes across a strange train called "The Breakdown Train". When James, the red engine comes off the rails, Thomas quickly comes to the rescue with the Breakdown Train. The Fat Controller is so pleased with Thomas, he gives him his own branchline and two coaches as a reward.
8	8	"James and the Coaches" "James Learns a Lesson"	James the Red Engine By Rev. W. Awdry	25 September, 1984
James, after having an accident 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	9	"Troublesome Trucks" "Foolish Freight Cars"	James the Red Engine By Rev. W. Awdry	2 October, 1984
James is in big 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	10	"James and the Express" "A Proud Day for James"	James the Red Engine By Rev. W. Awdry	7 October, 1984
James, after proving himself useful, is to shunt coaches in the yard. Gordon, boasting about himself as usual, says he knows the right Express line by instinct. James ignores him, and continues working. Later, James sees Gordon puff into the station quietly and sadly. He finds out that Gordon was switched the wrong way and got lost.
11	11	"Thomas and the Guard" "Thomas and the Conductor"	Tank Engine Thomas Again By Rev. W. Awdry	9 October, 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 insults him, and hurries away. Because he is in such a rush, however, he leaves the guard behind.
12	12	"Thomas Goes Fishing"	Tank Engine Thomas Again By Rev. W. Awdry	12 October, 1984
Thomas loves his branch line. He wants to fish after seeing people fishing, but the other engines say engines don't fish. The next day Thomas needs a drink, but the water tower is out of order, so Thomas' crew decides to get water from the river. However, there's a consequence...
13	13	"Thomas, Terence and the Snow" "Terence the Tractor"	Tank Engine Thomas Again By Rev. W. Awdry	15 October, 1984
Thomas meets Terence the Tractor, and soon says his wheels are ugly. Terence explains that they're caterpillar tracks, and he can go "anywhere", which comes in handy during the winter when Thomas doesn't use his snowplough...
14	14	"Thomas and Bertie" "Thomas and Bertie's Great Race"	Tank Engine Thomas Again By Rev. W. Awdry	20 October, 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	15	"Tenders and Turntables"	Troublesome Engines By Rev. W. Awdry	21 October, 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. Because of always having to turn around to shunt, Gordon and James soon have trouble on the turntable.
16	16	"Trouble in the Shed"	Troublesome Engines By Rev. W. Awdry	24 October, 1984
Gordon, James and Henry are causing trouble for the Fat Controller. They're going on strike for being made to shunt, and refuse to work at all. 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 a new engine called Percy and shuts the big engines up. In the end, Thomas and Edward run the main line while Percy runs the branch line with Annie and Clarabel.
17	17	"Percy Runs Away"	Troublesome Engines By Rev. W. Awdry	26 October, 1984
Percy, the new engine, is working hard, and Gordon, James and Henry have been let out of the shed after promising to be good. 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 forgets Edward's warning about going on the main line, and is almost caught in a collision with Gordon and the Express. Frightened, Percy runs away, leaving it up to Gordon to find him.
18	18	"Coal" "Henry's Special Coal"	Henry the Green Engine By Rev. W. Awdry	28 October, 1984
Henry isn't feeling well because 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	19	"The Flying Kipper"	Henry the Green Engine By Rev. W. Awdry	31 October, 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's happy, and soon sets off for the snowy countryside in the early morning. He's having a good time, but some points that go to the main line are frozen to a siding and he misreads a signal that was supposed to say danger, but was pushed down by snow.
20	20	"Whistles and Sneezes"	Henry the Green Engine By Rev. W. Awdry	3 November, 1984
Henry, now having his new shape, tends to whistle loudly and happily. Gordon despises this, and lectures him about it. Henry's miserable after hearing this, but cheers up later when Gordon's whistle jams 'on', and he won't stop whistling. Next day, Henry experiences troubles of his own, when boys throw stones at him from a bridge, breaking his coaches' windows, and annoying him, his crew and the passengers. To teach them a lesson Henry "Sneezes" at the boys covering them in smoke ash.
21	21	"Toby and the Stout Gentleman" "Toby the Tram Engine"	Toby the Tram Engine By Rev. W. Awdry	6 November, 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 cars, lorries and buses. Soon, he is only carrying a few passengers and shunting few trucks.
22	22	"Thomas in Trouble" "Thomas Breaks the Rules"	Toby the Tram Engine By Rev. W. Awdry	9 November, 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 lawbreaker for not having a cowcatcher or sideplates. When The Fat Controller hears about it, he buys Toby who brings Henrietta with him.
23	23	"Dirty Objects" "James in a Mess"	Toby the Tram Engine By Rev. W. Awdry	12 November, 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 crashes into some tar wagons, spoiling his own paintwork.
24	24	"Off the Rails" "Gordon Takes a Dip"	Gordon the Big Engine By Rev. W. Awdry	19 November, 1984
One morning Gordon is very difficult, especially when he's given a goods train. He decides to jam the turntable to prove a point, but only proves to be silly when his attempt makes him slide into a ditch.
25	25	"Down the Mine"	Gordon the Big Engine By Rev. W. Awdry	23 November, 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, goes past it to prove there's no danger, and ends up falling down the mine instead of going past it.
26	26	"Thomas' Christmas Party"	Thomas' Christmas Party By Rev. W. Awdry	25 December, 1984
It's Christmas on the Island of Sodor. All the engines are busy with passengers and parcels, especially Thomas and Toby. Thomas 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.

Characters introduced

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

• Thomas (Thomas And Gordon)
• Edward (Edward And Gordon)
• Henry (Thomas And Gordon, Improperly) (The Sad Story Of Henry, Properly)
• Gordon (Thomas And Gordon)
• James (Thomas And Gordon, Improperly) (Thomas And The Breakdown Train, Properly)
• Percy (Trouble In The Shed)
• Toby (Toby And The Stout Gentleman)
• Bertie (Thomas, Terence And The Snow, Informally) (Thomas And Bertie, Formally)
• Terence (Thomas, Terence And The Snow)
• The Fat Controller (Thomas And Gordon, Cameo) (The Sad Story Of Henry)
• Mrs. Kyndley (Thomas' Christmas Party)
• Annie and Clarabel (Thomas And The Breakdown Train)
• Henrietta (Toby and the Stout Gentleman)
• Troublesome Trucks (Edward and Gordon)
• Lady Hatt (Toby and the Stout Gentleman, does not speak)
• Stephen and Bridget Hatt (Toby and the Stout Gentleman)

References

1. ^ ^{a b} http://www.sodor-island.net/steveasquithinterview.html
2. ^ http://www.brittallcroftproductions.com/tribute.htm