THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND NOT FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FAN BASE
SIGNALS CROSSED
Written by
Mark Hukerby & Nick Olster
Directed by
David Stoten
Produced by
Robert Anderston (Arc)
Ian McCue (HIT)
Air Date:
29/08/14
Plot
Toby is always nervous when he has to go through Knapford Junction with the big gantry signal over the track. One day Toby waits nervously for his signal to change, but it stays on red. He waits and waits, holding up other engines, but the signal does not change. The Fat Controller is very cross until everybody finally realises the signal is broken.
PRO:
- The realism
- The interaction between Toby and Henrietta
- A moral lesson about railway signalling
- James' apology to Toby and Henrietta at the end
CON:
- Toby being out of character
- James and TFC thinks Toby isn't trust worthy
Despite that Toby being out of character, it's quite understandable why he's nervous. The junction is busy and Toby could be worried about maybe causing an accident, given the state of it. Compare that to 'Toby and the Whistling Woods', 'Toby's Discovery' and 'Toby and The Flood' where Toby is wimpy and nervous about sounds, ghosts and crossing a dam. I love the interaction between Toby and Henrietta, a good reason why she needs a face, despite that some fans have a vendetta against it despite that the Spiteful brake van had a face before. I will agree that the plot could've gone to another character maybe Rosie or Percy and I didn't like the fact that at the end, the Fat Controller and James think Toby's lying about the red signal, making him not trust worthy, the writer seem to handle Oliver and Toad's return very well compare to Toby. The realism was just fantastic with the engines rolling in and out of the station, like a real railway station and a signal failure was also funny to see as it can happen in real life on any railway around the world. Plus it has a good moral lesson about railway signalling, like a traffic light, it's unsafe to cross a red light. Plus James' apology was a bit comical and dry and the interaction between Toby and Henrietta have great interaction and chemistry, you can see Henrietta being faithful towards Toby and looking out for him like a mother or a wife.
Rating: 7.5/10
