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This article is about the episode. You may be looking for the brake van or the magazine story.

“Right you horrible lot - I'm in charge now! So no bumping and none of your cheek!"
"Ah! But we like bumping!"
"Not on my watch, matey! This is now a bump-free zone! Oh dear, how sad, never mind. When you're ready, Thomas.”
― Bradford and the trucks

Bradford the Brake Van is the fifth episode of the twentieth series.

Plot

One day, Thomas is having trouble with the troublesome trucks. When Samson arrives and sees him, he brags that his trucks are not a problem. Leaving the yard, he leaves his brake van: Bradford. Bradford is ashamed of the trucks and offers to be Thomas' brake van. Thomas happily agrees.

Once in position, Bradford barks at the trucks to be quiet. As Thomas passes the other engines, they wish they had a brake van like Bradford, but at the Blue Mountain Quarry, Bradford makes Thomas stop; the stones in his trucks are nine millimetres above the allowed height. Thomas is surprised that Bradford is enforcing such a minor rule, even more when Bradford demands him to unload some stone, making him become very late.

At the docks, Whiff asks Thomas to borrow Bradford. Thomas agrees, happy to get away from him. Whiff soon runs into a problem with him; Bradford claims Whiff's trucks are too dirty. When Henry comes to pull the Flying Kipper, Bradford orders Henry to get a new lamp after seeing a tiny crack. Henry comes back very late, and all the engines complain about Bradford.

When Thomas collects his trucks later that day, the only brake van left is Bradford, but Thomas does not want to travel with him. He decides to sneak away, and when Bradford calls Thomas out, he pretends he cannot hear him. Then there is trouble; Thomas' trucks are filled with too many stones, and without a brake van, the Troublesome Trucks surge forward and push Thomas down Gordon's Hill and into the back of Percy's train, derailing his brake van and rear truck.

Later, Harvey arrives to help Percy, and the Fat Controller arrives as well. He asks Thomas why he left without taking Bradford, to which Thomas answers he did not want to be late again. The Fat Controller tells Thomas that safety comes first before being on time, and Thomas realises that Bradford was right all along.

Thomas apologises to Bradford, but Bradford says that he is leaving. As Samson pulls him away, the engines all whistle for him, but Bradford orders to not whistle while stationary, but then makes an exception this time. After what the engines and the trucks went through, they are all quite happy that Bradford is leaving Sodor.

Characters

Locations

Cast

UK

US

  • Joseph May as Thomas
  • William Hope as Edward and Whiff
  • Kerry Shale as Henry and Gordon
  • Rob Rackstraw as James and Bradford
  • Christopher Ragland as Percy and the Troublesome Trucks
  • Jules de Jongh as Emily
  • Robert Wilfort as Samson
  • Keith Wickham as Sir Topham Hatt

Trivia

  • Going by production order, this is the eighth episode of the twentieth series.
  • Apart from sighing, Edward and James do not have any dialogue in this episode.
  • This episode is distinct as it was never aired on television or released on DVD in the US. It can only be watched on the twentieth series digital release.
  • Bradford's theme is based on the theme from the 1963 film The Great Escape.
  • This episode marks:
  • Bradford's line "Oh dear, how sad, never mind" is a reference to a catchphrase used by the character of Battery Sergeant Major Williams from the British sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum.

Goofs

  • A rock is floating in one of the trucks when they are at the top of Gordon's Hill.

Merchandise

In Other Languages

View content
Language Title
Brazilian Portuguese Bradford, o Carro-Freio
Czech Brzdící vůz Bradford
Dutch Bradford de Remwagen
French Un Fourgon-Frein Autoritaire
Hebrew ברדפורד הבלם
Hungarian Bradford, a fékezőkocsi
Italian Bradford e il vagone con frenatore
Japanese ブラッドフォードってきびしい
Korean 제동차, 브래드퍼드
Latin American Spanish Bradford el Vagón de Freno
Polish Błażej Wagon Hamulcowy
Romanian Bradford, Vagonul de Frânare
Russian Всё по правилам
Serbian Kočničarski vagon Bredford
Slovenian Bernard, zavorni vagon
Turkish Furgon Bradford

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