The Runaway is the tenth episode of the second series. It is based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book More About Thomas the Tank Engine.

Plot

Thomas wakes up feeling gravely sick one morning and the workmen are unable to make him feel better, so the Fat Controller has Edward bring him to the works for a while and asks Duck to take over his duties on Thomas' Branch Line. Duck is delighted to be given such a responsibility.

Duck already knows Percy and he quickly befriends Toby, Bertie and Terence, who tells him to take extra special care with Annie and Clarabel. Duck is very gentle with them and both coaches are left very impressed with the Great Western Engine and remark on what a pleasure it is to go out with him. When Thomas returns from the works, Annie and Clarabel tell him how well Duck had managed on the line. Thomas does not feel jealous, as he is just happy to be back home.

Although Thomas feels better, he is not in complete working order because the repairs have left his handbrake very stiff, meaning it can feel like his brakes are hard-on when they are actually not. Therefore, Thomas begins to overrun the station platform, which causes him a great deal of embarrassment. Eventually, Thomas' crew learn to compensate for the defective handbrake and they stop in just the right place.

However, when Thomas' fireman falls ill one day, a relief man takes his place. After Thomas arrives at the junction, the relief fireman couples him to Annie and Clarabel. He then joins the driver and stationmaster on the platform while they wait for Henry's passenger train to arrive. Unfortunately, the relief has forgotten about Thomas' defective handbrake. When Henry starts to approach the platform, Thomas' wheels start to move as his brakes are not completely on, and he cannot stop or whistle a warning without his crew. Thomas has left everyone, including the guard, stranded on the platform and runs off without his crew in his cab.

Thomas, Annie and Clarabel gather speed out of the junction station. Both empty coaches want Thomas to stop but, he is unable to stop himself as he has plenty of steam and keeps going. Soon, an alarm goes out about the runaway train. The junction signalman sees what had happened and phones to stop the runaway train. Luckily, an engine inspector makes a plan, boards Harold the helicopter and flies to a station where Thomas is due to pass by.

When Thomas reaches the station, he is very tired and is moving far slower than normal. Then, he sees Harold landing near the station. The inspector then makes it to the platform and when Thomas passes, he scrambles aboard his cab and screws his brakes hard-on.

Having finally been brought to a stop, both Thomas and the inspector are very relieved and thank Harold, who tells them that it was no problem. The inspector tells Thomas that they must make sure this never happens again. Feeling exhausted, Thomas agrees with him.

Characters

• Thomas
• Annie and Clarabel
• Terence
• Harold
• Sir Topham Hatt
• Engine Inspector
• Edward (does not speak)
• Henry (does not speak)
• Percy (does not speak)
• Toby (does not speak)
• Duck (does not speak)
• Farmer Finney (cameo)
• One Little Boy (cameo)
• The Control-meddling Boy (cameos)
• The Vicar of Wellsworth's Son (cameo)
• Harold's Pilots (cameos)
• Bertie (mentioned)

Locations

• Tidmouth
  • Tidmouth Sheds
    • Tidmouth Goods Station
    • Tidmouth Engine Works
  • Tidmouth Yards
    • Tidmouth Yard Sheds
• Terence's Field
• The Watermill
• Elsbridge
• The Branch Line Bridge
• Upper Brendam
• Rail Under Road Bridge and Signal Box (stock footage)
• Knapford Yards (stock footage)
  • Sodor Shipping Company (stock footage)
• The Branch Line Cutting (stock footage)
• The Works (mentioned)

Trivia

• This episode marks:
  • Annie and Clarabel's last episode with leading roles until the eighth series episode, Thomas Saves the Day.
  • The first appearances of Thomas' downcast face and Duck's worried face.
  • Duck's first non-speaking role.
  • The last appearance of Thomas' shocked face without his bucktooth until the fourth series episode, Paint Pots and Queens.
  • The last appearance of Thomas' tired face on his model until the sixth series episode, Elizabeth the Vintage Lorry, as his tired face would later mistakenly used for Percy during the third series episode, Diesel Does It Again.
  • The only appearance of Thomas' first series shocked and tired faces in the second series.
  • The last appearance of Edward's anxious face until the seventh series episode, Edward's Brass Band.
  • Terence and Harold's last speaking roles in the Clearwater Features era.
• Various pieces of footage not filmed for this episode are featured:
  • Thomas on the Watermill is a deleted scene from Thomas, Percy and the Coal.
  • Thomas' fireman falling ill and the phone call about the runaway are stock footage from when similar events occur in Old Iron. The former is an alternate take that shows how the arm of the engine's crew member was improperly attached to achieve its intended effect in the other episode.
  • Thomas running away uses stock footage from Thomas and Bertie.
  • Several scenes of Harold flying are stock footage from Percy and Harold. One of these is played twice and mirrored the second time.
• Despite being the main character, Thomas only has two lines in the entire episode, with the first one being a thought and the second being out loud.
• George Carlin's narration of this episode was never featured on an episode of Shining Time Station. It first appeared on the Thomas and His Friends Get Along VHS released on February 10, 1998 and later was aired on Mister Moose's Fun Time. As noted by Carlin's tone of voice, the narration was likely recorded in 1993 during production of the third season of Shining Time Station.
• In Ringo Starr's and the Welsh, original Norwegian and Japanese dubs and the Ukrainian voice-over, when Thomas pulls into the shed, passes Duck and enters Elsbridge twice, his whistle is omitted as is a music cue as he enters Elsbridge again. This also applies to Henry as he approaches Elsbridge.
• When Thomas "suddenly felt his wheels begin to move," the sound of his brake was its first series pitch, as opposed to its usual one for this series.
• In the restored version, the fade effect after Harold flies over the bridge is removed.
• A scene from this episode is shown in the 2006 British drama film, After Thomas.
• With the exception of the generic stock footage of Harold, this is the only second series episode not to have any moving camera shots.
• The JEI TV version of the Korean dub added subtitles to inform viewers what a handbrake is.

Goofs

• Thomas' eyes are misaligned for most of the episode.
• Because stock footage is used:
  • Thomas' ill fireman is actually James' ill driver, and Thomas' cab is actually James' cab.
  • The stationmaster answering the phone is the signalman of Old Iron.
  • Harold hits a tree as he flies through the valley and Percy can be seen for a split second going around the bend.
  • Annie and Clarabel are smiling as the runaway begins.
• At the start, Thomas' lamp is crooked and his eyes also jolt before the camera cuts to the Fat Controller.
• In the first close up of the Fat Controller, his hat has small gash mark and a chip of paint missing on the brim.
• When Edward takes Thomas to the works, his eyes are a little misaligned.
• When the Fat Controller speaks to Duck, the Breakdown Train's right buffer is broken.
• Duck's face is crooked when he stops next to Terence and his eyes are also misaligned.
• A red wire is sticking out of Terence side when he talks to Duck about Annie and Clarabel.
• When Duck leaves Terence, his eyes jitter for a few seconds.
• Annie is facing the wrong way when Duck passes Tidmouth Sheds and during the stock footage from Thomas and Bertie.
• When Thomas returns to the sheds:
  • Toby's eyes jolt a couple times.
  • Toby and Percy's eyes are pretty misaligned.
  • He is tilted to the right (viewers' left).
  • His face is crooked.
• The brake van behind Duck appears to have derailed when Thomas passes.
• When Thomas backs up after missing the platform, he is moving at a much slower pace compared to the chuffing sound. There is also no chuffing sound when the narrator says "Gradually his driver and fireman learned to be extra careful."
• The ill fireman's arm starts very low down on his body.
• When Thomas buffers up to Annie and Clarabel:
  • The chuffing sound still continues after he stops.
  • The sound effect of Thomas backing into Annie and Clarabel is severely off.
• When Thomas says "Not long now":
  • His dome and whistle are crooked.
  • He has a small chip on his boiler.
  • His lamp is crooked.
  • His number is chipped on his left side. It then changes back to normal when Thomas starts moving and the top left of his number is also peeled off.
  • In both of Ringo Starr's dubs and the Ukrainian voice-over, before saying the line, he can be heard smacking his lips.
• The narrator says that Thomas saw Henry approaching, but Henry is behind him.
• Henry's eyes are misaligned when he approaches the station.
• In a close-up of Thomas' wheels, a red wire can be seen near his middle wheel and some of the wheels' paintwork is chipped at the edges.
• Thomas and later Henry are smiling as he begins to runaway.
• Many of the small-scale railway staff figures have paint chips.
• When the inspector climbs on Harold, sticky tac can be seen underneath his feet. In the same shot, green wires are also seen inside of Harold.
• When Harold lands at the station, studio equipment is reflected on his blades.
• When Thomas enters the station, one of Clarabel's doors is open.
• The shot of the inspector applying Thomas' brakes is actually of his reverser.
• When Thomas thanks Harold, a large piece of white tape can be seen on Harold's left side (viewers' right).
• Towards the end of the episode, in the close up of the inspector in Thomas' cab, Annie and Clarabel are missing.

In Other Languages

Merchandise

• My Thomas Story Library - Annie and Clarabel

Home Video Releases

Episode

The Runaway - UK

UK Narration

The Runaway - US (George Carlin)

US Re-dub

References