Thomas the Tank Engine Wikia
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This article is about the episode. You may be looking for the UK VHS, the German VHS, the Danish/Romanian DVD or the magazine story.
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“ Stop the runaway!”
― The signalman

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 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 Duck 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.

TheRunaway8

"Take care of Thomas' coaches. He's sure to miss them while he's away."

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

Locations

Trivia

  • This episode marks:
  • Stock footage from Thomas and Bertie, Old Iron and Percy and Harold is used, as is a deleted scene from Thomas, Percy and the Coal, an alternate shot from Old Iron and mirrored stock footage from the previous episode.
  • 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 stock footage of Harold, this is the only second series episode not to have any moving camera shots.
  • The letters "RIP" can be seen on the inside of Harold's door when the inspector climbs aboard. Presumably, this is an in-joke on the part of the model makers.
  • 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 in James' cab.
    • The stationmaster answering the phone is the signalman of Old Iron.
    • Harold hits a tree as he flies through the valley.
    • 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

View content
Language Title
Brazilian Portuguese O fugitivo
Chinese Mandarin 失控
Croatian Bijeg
Czech Uprchlík
Danish Det løbske tog
Dutch Op hol geslagen
Finnish Karkulainen
French Le fugitif
German Der Ausreißer
Greek Tο ανεξέλεγκτο τρένο
Hungarian Az elszabadult mozdony
Italian Una corsa sfrenata
Japanese こわれたブレーキ
Korean 고삐 풀린 토마스
Latin American Spanish Thomas en dificultades
Norwegian Tog på avveie
Polish W pogoni za Tomkiem (Original)
Ucieczka (Alternate)
Romanian Fugă
Romansh Il fugitiv
Russian Без тормозов
Serbian Odbegla lokomotiva
Slovenian Pobegli vlak
Swedish Tåg på flykt
Turkish Kaçak
Ukrainian Утікач
Welsh Help gan Harold

Merchandise

Home Video Releases

UK

UK DVD Boxset

WAL

US

CAN

  • Better Late than Never and Other Stories (Ringo Starr's US dub)
  • Thomas and His Friends Get Along

US/CAN DVD Boxset

AUS

AUS DVD Packs

NZ

ZA

IND

MYS

PHL

ITA

FRA

ROM

ROM DVD Pack

NL

GER

NOR

DK

SWE/FIN

ICE

  • Thomas the Tank Engine 4

SVN

HRV

SRP

GRC

GRC DVD Boxset

TUR

THA

JPN

JPN DVD Boxset

KOR

CHN

HK

Episode

References



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