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This article is about the episode. You may be looking for the vinyl record, the VHS or the magazine story.
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Coal, retitled Henry's Special Coal on North American releases, is the eighteenth episode of the first series. It is based on the story of the same name from the Railway Series book Henry the Green Engine.

Plot

Coal2

James: "Rubbish, Henry!
You don't work hard enough!"

Sometimes Henry can pull trains but, at other times, he has no strength at all. One morning, he wakes up feeling very ill. He complains about it to James, who grumpily shrugs it off as him being lazy. The Fat Controller is also unhappy about this, given that this is the latest in a long line of problems with Henry and not even new parts or paint seem to help him. Henry is warned that if he does not get better soon, then he will have to be replaced, which upsets him and his crew.

Determined to get to the bottom of the problem, the Fat Controller changes out of his usual suit into a crewman's uniform to ride along in the cab as Henry takes his first train. Henry manages to start but his fireman is not pleased and notes that his firebox is not producing adequate heat. As a result, Henry quickly loses steam and has to rest in a siding when he reaches Wellsworth, where Edward takes over the train for him. Henry's fireman and the Fat Controller continue to investigate what the problem is and the fireman discovers that the coal provided is unsuitable for him, made worse by the poor lot they have been receiving lately. While the other engines have big fireboxes, Henry's is too small to make the amount of heat needed for him to run properly. However, if Henry had Welsh coal, he would easily improve. Although the Welsh coal will be expensive, the Fat Controller agrees that Henry deserves a fair chance and sends James to collect some.

When the Welsh coal arrives, Henry's fireman carefully stokes up his fire to give the best possible results. Henry initially has his doubts but his mood changes as he comes into the platform with more than enough steam. The Fat Controller is happy to see that Henry is feeling well and warns the driver not to push him. The driver assures the Fat Controller not to worry, as Henry would not need pushing but would have to be held back. Henry has a pleasant journey with his passenger train and for the first time, arrives at Elsbridge before Thomas. When Thomas arrives, Henry calls him "lazybones" before quickly running off, paying Thomas back for insulting him before. Too surprised to be cross, Thomas reacts with disbelief and Annie and Clarabel agree with him.

Characters

Locations

Trivia

  • Stock footage from Edward, Gordon and Henry and Troublesome Trucks, deleted pre-filmed footage from the next episode and deleted stock footage from Tenders and Turntables is used.
  • A rare picture implies that James may have been intended to play a larger role in this episode; this picture can be found on the back cover to the 1990 release of American VHS James Learns a Lesson and Other Thomas Adventures, albeit mirrored. Another shows that Henry was to pull the express coaches instead of the old ones.
  • The American title is the same one used by Johnny Morris in his audiobook recordings of Henry the Green Engine.
  • This was the last episode introduced by Bonnie Langford during her time on Children's ITV. Matthew Kelly took over from 6 December 1984 but he was not too involved in the series, prompting him to only introduce one pairing (Toby and the Stout Gentleman/Thomas in Trouble) and Children's ITV was not shown until January 1985 when Roland Rat took over.
  • This is the least featured first series episode across all UK releases.
  • This episode was never released on home video in South Korea.

Goofs

  • In the Shining Time Station episode Dan's Big Race, Henry is said to be so unwell that he could not even pull a freight train but, in the episode, he was pulling a passenger train.
  • At the beginning of the episode, the source of James' smoke is visible.
  • Because stock footage is used, the Fat Controller is smiling when he tells Henry about being replaced.
  • Due to portions of the script being taken verbatim from the original book, the narrator says that:
    • The Fat Controller put on overalls when he actually put on a crewman's uniform.
    • Henry stopped outside Edward's Station but his train has stopped at the platform.
  • Throughout the episode, Henry's coaches keep changing their places and positions:
    • When Henry collects his coaches from Knapford and approaches Wellsworth, the first class coach, the one with the yellow stripe is in the middle of the train. However, when Henry stops next to the platform, the coach is suddenly at the front.
    • When Henry starts out of Knapford with his Welsh coal:
      • The brake coach is at the front of the train. However, when Henry is out on the main line, the coach is suddenly the rear one. Then, when Henry approaches the bridge, the coach is suddenly facing the other way round for the remainder of the episode. This is to prevent the teak side, the other side of the coach, from appearing on screen.
      • The first class coach is at the rear of the train. However, as Henry passes the bus yard and approaches the bridge, the coach is in the middle. Then, when Henry passes under the bridge, the coach is at the front of the train for the remainder of the episode.
  • In the restored version, an outtake of Henry backing into the siding is used instead of the original shot, as his tender hits the station building and he leaves the siding afterward to be re-filmed. As a result, a few chuffing sounds are heard after Henry stops and Edward remains stationery despite his whistle and puffing sound being heard.
  • As Edward backs onto the train, his eyes repeatedly bounce up and down.
  • In the close-up of Henry's fireman holding a piece of coal, a piece of blu-tack is visible sticking the coal to his hand and another one is also keeping one of his arms attached to his body.
  • In the shot of Henry's fireman at Tidmouth Sheds, blu-tack is visible below his right arm. In that same scene, part of Henry's paintwork is also blue because Gordon's large scale tender is used with green vinyl covered.
  • As Henry leaves Knapford, the truck at the top of the platform changes into a van and steam also rises in between his coaches.
  • When Henry passes the goods yard, blu tack can be seen under a workman's shoes.
  • In the last close-up scene of Henry, he is in his new shape, which was a deleted scene for the next episode.
  • When Henry's train rounds a bend, one side of the coaches is teak livery. In fact, the Old Coaches were painted emerald green with cream windows surrounds, while the other side remained unpainted teak. The Old Coaches were, in fact, repainted teak coaches but were only repainted on one side because of budget constraints this means across this episode and the whole series, the brake coach is often the wrong way round.
  • Before Henry approaches Elsbridge, a bush is seen moving by itself.
  • In the close up of Thomas, a gap can be seen behind his left eye.

In Other Languages

View content
Language Title
Brazilian Portuguese Um carvão especial para Henry
Chinese Mandarin
Croatian Ugljen
Czech Uhlí
Danish Henry og kullet
Dutch Kolen
Finnish Huono hiilet
French Le charbon
German Kohle
Greek Ο Τσάρλι και το κάρβουνο
Hebrew פחם
Hungarian A szén
Icelandic Kol
Italian La locomotiva malata
Japanese ヘンリーのせきたん
Korean 다시 기운을 찾은 헨리
Latin American Spanish Un carbón especial para Henry
Norwegian Kull
Polish Węgiel
Romanian Cărbune
Romansh Charvun
Russian Уголь
Serbian Ugalj
Slovak Uhlie
Slovenian Premog
Swedish Kol
Welsh Glo

Merchandise

Home Video Releases

UK

UK VHS/DVD Boxsets

WAL

US

CAN

  • Tenders and Turntables and Other Stories (Ringo Starr's US dub)
  • A Big Day for Thomas
  • The Early Years (UK dub)

US/CAN DVD Packs

AUS

  • Coal and Other Stories
  • Series One

AUS DVD Packs

NZ

ZA

IND

MYS

PHL

ITA

FRA

ROM

ROM DVD Pack

NL

NL DVD Boxsets

GER

NOR/ICE

DK

SWE/FIN

SVN

HRV

SRP

GRC

GRC DVD Boxset

TUR

  • Brave Hero (VCD)
  • Brave Hero and Hello Thomas (DVD)

THA

JPN

JPN DVD Boxset

CHN

HK

Episode

References



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