S18 Ep.14:No Steam Without Coal

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND NOT FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FAN BASE

NO STEAM WITHOUT COAL

Written by

Davey Moore

Directed by

Don Spencer

Produced by

Brian Lynch & Robert Anderson (Arc)

Ian McCue (HIT)

Air Date

11/09/14

Plot

Bill and Ben run out of coal during a shortage at Clay Pits and have to rely on Timothy, who runs on oil, to help them out.

PRO:

- Moral: Everyone is special
- The comedic moments
- The characterisation of Timothy and Marion
- Bill and Ben's trickery has that S3 feeling

CON:

- Timothy being the only oil burning engine

This episode is like as some say, predictable. But it's not a bad episode either. Davey Moore had really captured the personality of Bill and Ben rather well with their bickering, banter and teasing. Plus some scenes with them remind me of 'One Good Turn', with one of them trying to pull a train of heavy trucks with their wheels slipping. The comedic moments were fun, especially the one that is used as the picture above. The characterisation of Timothy and Marion were spot on, Marion felt like a mother/teacher towards the twins, great character development from her too. Timothy does though share a bit of similarity as BoCo and Edward, though some characters do share the similar trait (e.g - Thomas and Percy being cheeky). To me, Bill, Ben and Timothy are the, spare the hate mail, logging locos done right! You have Bill and Ben being tricky and troublesome but get there comeuppance in the end and Timothy, who thankfully haven't shared the same trait as the one-sided persona climax engine, is very mature when it comes to the twin's mischief. The moral of the story is also great for children to learn from that everyone is special in their own way. Pretty much like Harvey in S6, 'Different is what makes you special.' There is one flaw in the story and that is when the narrator says that Timothy is the only oil burning engine on Sodor, sure you have the logging locos but does anyone actually care about those annoying one dimensional characters? Anyway they're pretty much ignored this season and that Misty Island was nowhere in site since 'Thomas the Quarry Engine'. But you have Victor, although it hasn't been officially stated, his basis is an oil burning tank engine, hence the lack of coal bunkers. But that's a nitpick but I think Davy Moore should be more careful. But in the end, it was a fun and good episode, despite being predictable.

Rating: 8/10