Toby's Special Surprise

"'Hello, Toby! Why you looking at old tin cans?"

- Whiff

Toby's Special Surprise is the seventh episode of the twelfth series.

Plot
One spring morning, Toby greets his friends at Tidmouth Sheds. The Fat Controller is giving the engines their orders for today, but, while all the others get important jobs, Toby must go back to his shed at Arlesdale End to wait; his only job is to collect workmen and deliver them to Great Waterton in the afternoon. Toby is very disappointed that waiting in the shed is not a special at all.

Once back at Arlesdale End, Toby thinks that his friends have been given specials because they have found something very special, like the time Emily found the family of seals, the time Henry found a flag of Sodor, and the time Thomas rediscovered Great Waterton. So Toby decides to find something special so he can be given a special too. Taking Henrietta with him, Toby goes up into the hills. First, he sees something red in the trees and thinks it is a big red bird. But on closer inspection, it is only an old Wellington boot. Toby then spies something glittering. Thinking it is a treasure chest, Toby puffs closer, but it turns out to be a rusty trucks full of tin cans for Whiff to collect. Whiff is surprised that Toby is looking at old tin cans, which makes Toby feel silly.

Toby continues his journey, only to learn from Thomas that the Fat Controller is at Great Waterton waiting for him. Toby had completely forgotten about his job, so he quickly sets off to collect the workmen. With the workmen aboard Henrietta, Toby tries his best to get to Great Waterton, but he gets distracted again, this time by a shiny piece of metal, which is stuck in the undergrowth. Suddenly, Toby hears a hissing noise; he used up all of his coal.

Quickly, Toby tells the workmen to use their hammers to hit the metal as hard as they can while he rings his bell, to inform someone at Great Waterton that they are in trouble. Fortunately, Whiff and the Fat Controller are at Great Waterton and hear the noise. The Fat Controller climbs onto Whiff's footplate and they set off to find Toby. Once they arrive, Toby tells the Fat Controller that he does not feel special, but the Fat Controller reminds Toby that, as the only steam tram on Sodor, he is special.

Later, Edward arrives with Rocky to take the old metal from the undergrowth to the Smelters. However, the Fat Controller realises that the old metal is very special indeed; Toby has found the old sign of the Sodor Tramways. This makes Toby very happy and very proud.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * Toby
 * Emily
 * Whiff
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Henrietta
 * Rocky
 * Edward
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Sir Topham Hatt's Assistants
 * The Mayor of Sodor
 * Sodor Tramway Engines

Locations

 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Tidmouth Engine Works
 * Great Waterton
 * The Water Works
 * Great Waterton Tram Shed
 * Black Loch
 * Cabalnoo
 * The Workmen's Halt
 * Toby's Shed
 * Whiff's Waste Dump

Trivia

 * Stock footage from Thomas and the Storyteller, extended stock footage from Thomas and the Lighthouse and an extended and edited stock footage from The Great Discovery are used as well as references to the eighth series episode, Emily's New Route, the ninth series episode, Henry and the Flagpole, and the said special are made in this episode. In addition, a recreated CGI flashback of Emily's New Route is used.
 * This episode marks the last of two things:
 * The last appearance of the faceless Breakdown Train before becoming Judy and Jerome in The Adventure Begins.
 * The last appearance of the red express coaches until the special, The Great Race and their last appearance in a episode until the twentieth series episode, Sidney Sings.
 * Whiff's last appearance until Misty Island Rescue, his last appearance in episode until the fourteenth series episode, Thomas and Scruff and his last appearance in the model series.
 * This episode aired before Emily's Rubbish in Australia, so the audience would not know who Whiff is.

Goofs

 * When Toby collects the workmen, there are three, but when he runs out of coal, there are only two.
 * When the engines say "Good morning!" to Toby, their faces are not positioned correctly and the Fat Controller's car door can be heard, but he was already out when Toby arrived at the sheds.
 * The narrator said Whiff was taking the truck of cans to the rubbish yard, but it was seen at Great Waterton when Whiff and the Fat Controller knew that Toby was in trouble.

Merchandise

 * Magazine stories - Toby's Discovery!/Toby's Special Surprise
 * Books - Toby's Surprise

Home Media Releases
{{Scroll box|

UK/AUS

 * Heave Ho!
 * The Complete Series 12

UK DVD Boxsets

 * 10 DVD Boxset

AUS DVD Boxsets

 * The Essential Collection

US/CAN

 * Percy and the Bandstand

DVD Boxsets

 * Adventure Pack

MYS

 * The Party Surprise and Other Adventures

FRA

 * Thomas and Friends

IND/THA

 * Henry Gets it Wrong

KOR

 * Thomas the Little Engine and Friends Season 7 Vol. 1

TWN

 * Best Friend

HK
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 * Thomas and Friends Volume 43

La Sorpresa Especial de Toby ההפתעה המיוחדת של טובי Niespodzianka Tobika Особый сюрприз Тоби