Thomas The Tank Engine Review Seasons 1-21

Season 2

The second series of Thomas and friends premiered on 24 September 1986 in the UK. Ringo Starr narrated all twenty-six episodes in the UK. the majority of the episodes were based on stories written by the Reverend W. Awdry. Christopher Awdry was commissioned to write a new Railway Series book as source material for the second series since there wasn't enough stories about Thomas himself. Mike 'O' Donnell and Junior Campbell returned for another season as composures, this would be Robert D. Cardona last season with Britt Allcroft and David Mitton. This would also be the last season for Ringo as he went on with his music career. So, Michael Angelis would take over once season 3 was in production. With that all out of the way, let's review all 26 episodes of season 2.

Thomas, Percy and the coal

It was a beautiful morning on the Island of Sodor. Thomas the Tank Engine's blue paint sparkled in the sunshine as he puffed happily along his branch line with Annie and Clarabel. He was feeling very pleased with himself. He stops at a station to talk to Percy and Toby, Thomas brags about his blue paint being special while Toby and Percy don't mind what colour they are (brown and green). Thomas being annoyed by this, puffs away, Percy said no more. He just grinned at Toby. Later, Thomas was resting when Percy arrived. A large hopper was loading his trucks full of coal. Thomas was still being cheeky; Percy accidently rolls back too far with the trucks which makes the coal pour down all over Thomas which makes him angry. It took so long to clean Thomas that he wasn't in time for his next train. Toby had to take Annie and Clarabel. Thomas was grumpy in the shed that night. Toby thought it was a great joke, but Percy was cross with Thomas for thinking he had made his paint dirty on purpose. Percy throws insults at Thomas. Next day, Thomas was feeling more cheerful, as he watches Percy bring his trucks from the junction. The trucks were heavy and Percy was tired, the driver offered him a drink. The water column stood at the end of the siding with the unsafe buffers. Suddenly, Percy found that he couldn't stop. The buffers didn't stop him either. The buffers were broken and Percy was wheel deep in coal. It was time for Thomas to leave. He had seen everything. That night, the two engines made up their quarrel. They both now know to be extra careful around coal.

Few points I would like to make

-The duo of Percy/Toby/Thomas- Toby is like the cool uncle trying to calm the children down but then realizes that it would be funnier to laugh at them. While Thomas and Percy's friendship started to show in the series. Honestly, I love this duo and it's a real shame that we didn't see too much of this duo.

-Thomas and Percy were both in the wrong- Thomas was in the wrong for boasting about his blue paint while Percy was in the wrong for rolling too far back into the buffers. Then both were in the wrong by accusing each other, this is a great lesson to teach to kids that nobody is perfect and that we do make mistakes.

This episode gets an 8/10

Cows

Edward was getting old. His bearings were worn, and he clanked as he puffed along. He was taking empty cattle trucks to a market town. The sun shone, birds sang, but Edward was heading for trouble. Edward puffed and clanked, the trucks rattled and screamed. Some cows were grazing nearby. They were not used to trains. The noise and smoke disturbed them. As Edward clanked by, they broke through the fence and ran across the line. A coupling was broken and some trucks were left behind. Edward felt a jerk, but didn't take much notice. He was used to cattle trucks. He was at the next station before either he or his driver realized what had happened. When Gordon and Henry heard about the accident, they laughed and boasted while Toby tells Edward that they don't know the trouble of cows. Some days later, Gordon rushed through Edward's Station. A long stretch of line lay ahead. In the distance was a bridge. It seemed to Gordon that there was something on the bridge. His driver thought so too. Turns out it was a cow on the bridge, Gordon moved slowly on to the bridge, but the cow wouldn't "Shoo"! She had lost her calf, and felt lonely. Just then Henry arrives to shoo the cow but fails, then at the next station, Henry's guard told them about the cow, and warned the signalman that the line was blocked. Percy was there with the mother cow ready to go to market, at the bridge, Bluebell was very pleased to see her calf again, and the porter led them away. Henry and Gordon felt embarrassed about the situation and decided to hide the news, but the news soon spread. Edward teases Gordon about the whole thing which makes Gordon believe that Edward knows only too well.