This article is about the episode. You may be looking for the 1997 magazine story, the 2005 magazine story or the DVD.

Something Fishy is the fifteenth episode of the seventh series.

Plot

Arthur is still new to the railway and learning his way around. One morning, he discovers the fishing village, and soon sees it as his favourite place on the island. That evening, the Fat Controller comes to the shed looking for an engine to run a new line to the fishing village. Thomas and Percy look away as they have enough work to do. Arthur hopes he will be chosen, but the Fat Controller ends up choosing Thomas, who is not very pleased. Arthur is disappointed when the Fat Controller sends him to haul coal to the Steelworks instead.

Later, Thomas - who is fuming about being chosen to run the new line - is having a washdown when Arthur arrives and teases him. Thomas complains of the smell. Arthur knows he would be happier than Thomas if he was running the line.

The next morning, Thomas is still grumpy and is sent to collect some fish. He is impatient to be loaded up when a fisherman tells him to enjoy the smell, to which Thomas snorts in disgust. When he leaves, the trip initially starts off smooth, but a set of malfunctioning points leads the trucks the right direction, while Thomas deviates onto an old pier line, and loses the trucks in the process. After which, he falls through an uncompleted causeway gap into a tidal pool, much to the trucks' delight. When the Fat Controller hears the news, he checks the timetables and sends Arthur to assist Thomas.

Due to the heat, the ice keeping the fish fresh begins to melt and Thomas is worried that it will go off. Arthur is surprised to find Thomas in the water, but Thomas is not concerned about himself and tells Arthur to take the fish and leave him. Arthur takes the fish away and hurries to the Docks, delivering the fish just in time.

Later, Arthur finds Thomas in the fitter's yard, who proposes that they trade jobs. That evening, the Fat Controller comes to Knapford Sheds looking for a temporary replacement engine for Thomas while he's being repaired. Emily and Murdoch look away, but Arthur volunteers and asks the Fat Controller if he could run it permanently. The Fat Controller agrees and allows Arthur to run it. Arthur is proud to be running his routine work on the fishing line.

Characters

• Thomas
• Arthur
• Troublesome Vans
• Sir Topham Hatt
• The Fisherman
• Percy (does not speak)
• Emily (not named, does not speak)
• Murdoch (debut) (not named, does not speak)
• Henry (cameo)
• Gordon (cameo)
• Duck (cameo)
• Spencer (debut) (cameo)
• Annie and Clarabel (cameos)
• Cranky (cameo)
• Stephen Hatt (cameo)
• Cyril (cameo)
• Farmer Trotter (cameo)
• One stone-dropping boy (cameo)
• The Tidmouth Lighthouse Keeper (cameo)
• The Hot Air Balloon Pilot (cameo)
• Big Mickey (faceless, cameo)
• Farmer McColl (deleted scene cameo)
• Troublesome Trucks (mistakenly mentioned)

Locations

• Tidmouth Beach
  • Tidmouth Lighthouse
• Tidmouth Tunnel
• Gordon's Hill
• Maithwaite
• The Fishing Village
  • The Old Pier Rail
• Tidmouth Sheds
• The Coaling Plant
• Knapford Sheds
• The Runby Bridge
• Sir Topham Hatt's Office
• Brendam Docks
  • Sodor Shipping Company
• Sodor Cement Works (deleted scene)
• The Steelworks (mentioned; appears in a deleted scene as Heavy Industrial Area)

Trivia

• The opening shot of the episode features unused B-Roll footage from the sixth series.
• A book adaptation of the episode features a copyright notice where the title is listed as Gone Fishing. It is possible that this was an early title for the episode.
• Going by production order, this is the twenty-fifth episode of the seventh series.
• The line "He's fallen in the water!" is a quote often used in the radio comedy The Goon Show, of which David Mitton was a fan.
  • Furthermore, Mitton has claimed that when he wrote episodes, he based Thomas and Percy's dynamic of Eccles and Bluebottle's dynamic from The Goon Show.^[1]
• Due to scenes on one particular set across the season being filmed in one go, the scene of Arthur passing Duck and Percy and the coaling plant and the scene at the coaling plant in Peace and Quiet have the same arrangement of oil tankers and trucks in front of the coal hopper, the main difference being Duck and Percy have switched positions.
• This episode marks:
  • Arthur's final episode with a leading role.
  • The last time until the twentieth series episode, Bradford the Brake Van, that vans have been seen with faces.
  • The last episode to use Mike O’Donnell and Junior Campbell's laughing samples for the Troublesome Trucks and Vans. Throughout the HiT Entertainment model era (excluding the twelfth series episode James Works It Out), the Troublesome Trucks' laughing samples are provided by Micheal Angelis.
  • Knapford Sheds' first appearance since the first series episode, Off the Rails, not counting the stock footage appearance.
  • Murdoch and Spencer's first appearances and only non-speaking roles in the seventh series.
  • The first time Thomas' scared/worried face appeared in an episode since the second series episode, Thomas Comes to Breakfast, and the first time it appeared since Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
• This is one of several episodes from the seventh series to have its title card read on Nick Jr. and PBS half-hour ninth series airings.
• The events of this episode are mentioned by Bill during the song Where in the World is Thomas? from Big World! Big Adventures!, although he only said bridge and not pier.
• The title used in the Welsh dub is the same title used in the Welsh dub of the fifth series episode, Something in the Air.
• In the UK, this episode aired before Peace and Quiet and Gordon and Spencer, so the British audience would not know who Murdoch and Spencer were.
• In Australia, this episode was released early on VHS and DVD before the seventh series aired on television so the Australian audience would not know who Arthur was, never mind Emily and Murdoch appearing as not named and non-speaking roles.
• In both the UK and Japan, this episode aired before Gordon and Spencer meaning the British and Japanese audience may not know who Spencer was.

Goofs

• The narration is out of sync until the scene of Thomas at the fishing village on the Nick Jr. airings of the ninth series.
• When Arthur passes through the Fishing Village for the first time, a camera shadow is seen.
• The Troublesome Vans are incorrectly mistaken as Troublesome Trucks.
• Henry's eyes are wonky when he is at Tidmouth Sheds.
• Arthur is shown to be smiling when taking coal trucks to the Steelworks, despite the narrator saying he felt disappointed.
• When Thomas arrives at the fishing village, there are dirty vans at both ends of his train, but when he goes over the bridge, both vans are at the front of the train. When Arthur takes them away, one of the vans is in the middle.
• In the shot from Thomas' point of view where he is separated from the fish vans, the camera is not aligned with rails on the pier.
• Thomas' eyes are wonky right before he falls off the pier.
• When Thomas falls off the pier:
  • The pier track shakes a bit; the background also moves slightly and the lighting changes, indicating a film cut.
  • His tail lamp does not have a handle. But when Arthur arrives to pick up the vans, it gains a handle.
• When the trucks say "He's fallen in the water", only two of them are shown with the brake van. This is only noticeable in the widescreen version.
• Thomas falls face first off the pier, but lands cab first.
• The breakdown train is incorrectly mistaken as the breakdown van.
• When Thomas is shown in the tidal pool, the end of the set can be seen behind him.
• When Arthur sees Thomas in the tidal pool and pulls the fish vans to the docks, he incorrectly has Spencer's whistle sound.
• When Thomas is pushing the fish vans, the brake van has a light. But when Arthur takes the vans, the light is gone.
• In the scene at Knapford Sheds, Arthur's left eyebrow is smudged and Murdoch's left eyebrow has a scratch on it.
• When Arthur arrives at the docks, the brake van's colour changes.
• When Arthur is leaving the fishing village, his eyes are misaligned.

Quotes

Trucks: [after Thomas derails] He's fallen in the water!

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Thomas: Thank you for helping me.

Arthur: Thank you. I wish I had the fishing village line all the time.

Thomas: Then tell the Fat Controller, because I don't like fish.

Merchandise

• Plarail
• Board Books - Arthur's Harbour Run

In Other Languages

View content
Language Title Albanian Diçka me Peshq Czech Rybí problém Danish Fiskerbyen Finnish Tuomaksen kalaonni Hungarian Halszag Italian Il Villaggio dei Pescatori Japanese アーサーとさかな Korean 생선 냄샌 싫어! Mandarin (China) 腥臭的东西 Polish Zapach Ryby Romanian Miroase a Peşte Russian Что-то рыбное Serbian Miris Ribe Swedish Fina Fisken Turkish Bu İşte Bir İş Var! Welsh Drewdod

Home Media Releases

UK/IRL/AUS Engines to the Rescue The Complete Series 7 UK/IRL DVD Boxsets Classic Collection Peep Peep Party/Engines to the Rescue/The Chocolate Crunch Triple Pack AUS DVD Boxsets Limited Edition Box Set Essential Collection The Complete Series 1-10 3 DVDs Series Seven and Series Eight Double Pack WAL Machines Save the Day US/CAN Percy Saves the Day and Other Adventures (Direct-to-Home Video) Thomas & Friends Classic Volume 7 DVD Boxsets Adventure on the Tracks Totally Thomas Volume 6 MYS The Spotless Record and Other Adventures Something Fishy and Other Adventures SWE The Snow Engine DK Snow Engine and Other Stories DVD Boxsets Danish DVD Boxset JPN Thomas the Tank Engine Series 7 Vol.3 To Transport a Lot Today Whole Sodor Island Adventure ITA Hooray for Thomas KOR Stories About Getting Close to Nature Character Special Edition Series Vol. 1 THA Thomas and Friends - Volume 25 HK Thomas and Friends Volume 18 (VCD) Thomas and Friends Volume 4 (DVD) TWN Thomas and Friends Volume 17

References

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