THESE ARE SOLEY UNDER MY OWN OPINIONS AND NOT FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FAN BASE
TICKLED PINK
Written by Allan Plenderleith
Directed by Greg Tiernan
Produced by Nicole Stinn
Air Date (UK):
27/1/10
Air Date (UK):
27/1/10
Plot:
The Fat Controller sends James to the Sodor Steamworks for a new coat of paint. Emily has broken down while picking up Bridget Hatt to take her to a birthday party and no other engine is available, so Sir Topham Hatt has to send James who is still painted in his pink undercoat.
PROS:
- This episode has a sense of railway realism with James having an undercoat and it is of course the right colour for the red paint, I'll explain that later.
CONS:
- Despite that this had one sense of realism (the undercoat) , James can't just get one undercoat.
- The lack of coaches for Gordon. It's a good thing they added more in S16.
- It would be obvious for Diesel to see James behind some coal trucks.
- Then again, the typical three strikes formula.
- This episode has a sense of railway realism with James having an undercoat and it is of course the right colour for the red paint, I'll explain that later.
CONS:
- Despite that this had one sense of realism (the undercoat) , James can't just get one undercoat.
- The lack of coaches for Gordon. It's a good thing they added more in S16.
- It would be obvious for Diesel to see James behind some coal trucks.
- Then again, the typical three strikes formula.
Despite the flaws this episode had to deal with, it is one of the episodes that I enjoyed. There is only one sense of realism in this episode which is of course the pink undercoat. As mentioned in my 'Pros', this for the people who are not much of a railway enthusiast. If you watch 'Central Steam', a documentary about the 'Great Central Railway' in Loughborough, there is a ex-LMS 3F 'Jinty' being restored and when they were giving the painting stages, the buffer beam is painted in the same colour as James' underpaint, so thumbs up for that.
As mentioned in my cons, James can't have one undercoat. When my dad and I were at the NSW Rail Transport Museum in Australia, they were re-comissioning a brand new diesel locomotive and the person who was in charge mentioned that several undercoats have to be made. My dad later told me that if one undercoat is painted on, it would burn off.
Many fans have complained about the lack of coaches that Gordon hauled, thankfully they added more in S15 and S16. But as mentioned before, I enjoyed this episode, with a nice nostalgic thought of 'Henry Sees Red' from the Railway Series book 'Henry and The Express' by Christopher Awdry.
Rating: 4/5
