THESE ARE SOLEY MY OWN OPINION AND NOT FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FAN BASE
EDWARD, GORDON & HENRY
Originally Written by
The Rev.W.Awdry
Air Date:
14/09/84
Plot:
Gordon's safety valve had burst and Gordon had decided to let Henry try the express as Edward was not strong enough for the coaches. Henry was let out of the tunnel by the Fat Controller and he and Edward had pulled the train nicely and the Fat Controller was pleased with Henry and in the end, Henry learned his lesson about the rain.
PRO:
- A perfect happy ending for Henry.
- The express has five coaches, despite that there were two brake coaches.
- Railway terminology was being used like safety valve.
CON:
- Edward being stationed at Knapford. When in the book he was stationed at Vicarstown and was in a shed and was pulling the train forward.
- Wellsworth being known as 'The big station at the end of the line', when really its the junction to Edward's branch line.
- Gordon's safety valve was inside the cab, when really, its on the top near the cab windows.
EDWARD, GORDON & HENRY
Adapted for Television by
Britt Allcroft, David Mitton & Robert Cardona
Originally Written by
The Rev.W.Awdry
Air Date:
14/09/84
Plot:
Gordon's safety valve had burst and Gordon had decided to let Henry try the express as Edward was not strong enough for the coaches. Henry was let out of the tunnel by the Fat Controller and he and Edward had pulled the train nicely and the Fat Controller was pleased with Henry and in the end, Henry learned his lesson about the rain.
PRO:
- A perfect happy ending for Henry.
- The express has five coaches, despite that there were two brake coaches.
- Railway terminology was being used like safety valve.
CON:
- Edward being stationed at Knapford. When in the book he was stationed at Vicarstown and was in a shed and was pulling the train forward.
- Wellsworth being known as 'The big station at the end of the line', when really its the junction to Edward's branch line.
- Gordon's safety valve was inside the cab, when really, its on the top near the cab windows.
And this what I mean by saying that us Thomas fans know what really happens at the end of 'The Three Railway Engines'. Since Gordon had broken down and Edward not strong enough to haul the heavy coaches, Henry was the only choice. You might say Thomas, but he was never seen nor heard in the first book, and so with the Fat Controller accepting Gordon's idea, he was let out of the tunnel and pulled the express nicely.
So, the journalist of that article last month from 'The Guardian' is wrong about the story. Henry wasn't left in the tunnel for good, he was left there as a punishment because of vanity and he finally learned his lesson to think of others and not his green paint and to have nice wash when the days work is done.
Right, getting that out of the way. This episode is perfect ending for Henry both from the book and the episode, it was also great seeing the express having five coaches, despite that the other two are brake coaches. Since that railway terminology is used in the books, I do like it how they used it in the TV series, something that the recent series of Thomas is missing out on, sure they say, 'The valve in Stanley's cab had burst.' but they never explained what valve it is. But its shown in the cab instead of being near the cab window, heck it was painted in the picture of the first book:
Right at the top of Gordon's cab.
Plus there were two flaws of the locations, they show Knapford instead of Vicarstown for Edward's scene and in the book, the stories are set at Vicarstown. They have a set, why can't they use that? Well, maybe they didn't make a station at the time, which is a shame though. And there was Wellsworth being dubbed as 'the big station at the end of the line'. Wellsworth is only halfway. But mistakes are made and I'm not annoyed by the whole thing. The episode provides a happy ending and good moral for Henry about thinking of others then himself.
Rating: 4/5
