Letters to Santa

"Slow and out-of-date, eh? I'll show him! Hurry, Hurry, Hurry!"

- Percy

Letters to Santa is the eleventh episode of the twentieth series.

Plot
It is Christmas Eve on the Island of Sodor, and the children are sending their letters to Santa for Percy to pick up, who would then take them to Vicarstown, where Hiro would take them to the airport on the mainland for them to be taken to Santa at the North Pole.

Percy is delivering the letters to Hiro. It is difficult, as there is snow on the line. Harold offers to help, but Percy objects, thinking he is trying to prove helicopters are better than steam engines, remembering the time he met Harold and won against him in a race. Percy changes his mind as he comes to a tunnel which is blocked by a massive snowdrift. He asks Harold to take the letters to Hiro, which Harold is more than willing to do so.

Later that evening, Hiro is waiting at the Vicarstown Bridge for Percy, but decides he is already late and that he must leave without the letters. He is just setting off when Harold catches up with him, who explains he has got Percy's mail. Hiro collects the letters and carries on with his delivery.

At Tidmouth Sheds, Percy is worried about the children's letters, but Thomas assures him that Harold is very responsible and will do what he is supposed to.

The next morning, Percy meets up with Toby, who tells him that Harold did not return to the Sodor Search and Rescue Centre the night before. Harold, who is out of fuel and stranded in a field, is worried he will have to spend Christmas stuck on the ground where he is. Percy remembers that Christmas is a time of good will to everybody, even whirly-birds. That evening, he brings him a tanker of fuel. Harold is overjoyed, and gives Percy his many thanks.

On Christmas Day, thanks to Percy, Harold and Hiro, all the children get what they asked for from Santa, and everyone has a Merry Christmas.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Percy
 * Toby
 * Hiro
 * Harold
 * A Workman
 * A Signalman
 * Tom Tipper
 * Edward
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Duck
 * Emily
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Henrietta
 * Slip Coaches
 * The Dock Manager
 * The Bird Watcher
 * The Blond-haired Boy
 * Albert's Wife
 * Jeremy
 * Father Christmas

Locations

 * Island of Sodor
 * Town Square
 * Dryaw
 * Dryaw Airfield
 * Dryaw FC
 * Ffarquhar
 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Tidmouth Goods Station
 * Sodor Suspension Bridge
 * Brendam Docks
 * Crosby Tunnel
 * Vicarstown Bridge
 * Sodor Search and Rescue Centre
 * Vicarstown
 * The Mainland
 * Isle of Man

UK

 * John Hasler as Thomas
 * Nigel Pilkington as Percy
 * Rob Rackstraw as Toby
 * Keith Wickham as Harold and a Signalman
 * Togo Igawa as Hiro
 * Kerry Shale as a Workman

US

 * Joseph May as Thomas
 * Christopher Ragland as Percy
 * William Hope as Toby
 * Kerry Shale as Harold, a Signalman and a Workman
 * Togo Igawa as Hiro

Trivia

 * Going by production order, this is the second episode of the twentieth series.
 * This episode is one of seven in the twentieth series produced by Robert Anderson, the rest being produced by Tracy Blagdon, along with Sidney Sings, Toby's New Friend, Henry Gets the Express, Henry in the Dark, Three Steam Engines Gruff and The Christmas Coffeepot. This episode is among the former four that have a copyright date of 2015, while the latter three are dated 2016 like all the other episodes in this series.
 * A recreated CGI flashback of the second series episode, Percy and Harold is used as well as a reference to said episode. This flashback is based on Percy the Small Engine's illustrations by C. Reginald Dalby, rather than the episode. Brendam Docks was used to represent Knapford Harbour in the flashback.
 * The plot is similar to the Annuals Story, Post Early for Christmas.
 * This episode marks Jeremy's first appearance since the twelfth series episode, Excellent Emily. However, he is not a CGI model, but instead represented by an image of his TrackMaster toy. This also serves as his final appearance in the show.
 * This episode marks Hiro's only appearance in the twentieth series and his last appearance in an episode and speaking role until the twenty-fourth series episode, Kenji on the Rails Again.
 * This episode is Jane Sobol's last episode as supervising producer.
 * The signalman's line "Oh no!" is re-used from the nineteenth series episode, Rocky Rescue.

Goofs

 * Christopher Ragland is credited in the UK credits despite none of his characters speaking in that dub.

UK

 * Thomas' Christmas Carol
 * The Complete Series 20

AUS

 * Thomas' Christmas Carol

US

 * Tinsel on the Tracks
 * Series 20 (Digital Download)

IDN

 * Diesel and the Ducklings

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