Samson and the Fireworks

"This is a detonator. We will be placing these on the tracks to warn you that you will be coming up to a signal. So when you hear a bang, slow down and look out... because there is a signal ahead!"

- Cyril the Fogman

Samson and the Fireworks, originally titled Oliver's Fear of Fireworks, is the sixteenth episode of the twenty-second series.

Plot
Samson arrives from the mainland with a load of empty trucks and his brake van Bradford in tow. On his way to the Blue Mountain Quarry, he meets Thomas hauling a load of fireworks. Samson mentions that he is scared of fireworks before continuing his journey.

Not long afterwards, thick fog rolls in, resulting in Thomas, Gordon, Emily and Rebecca nearly or accidentally crashing into each other due to being unable to see the Knapford signal gantry. Unaware that detonators are being placed to alert engines of upcoming signals by Cyril the Fogman on the Fat Controller's orders, Samson panics after running over one and mistaking it for a firework.

Despite Bradford trying to inform Samson what actually happened, Samson panics and runs away, taking his train and Bradford with him. He ends up running over several more detonators, making him panic even more, causing him to nearly hit Rebecca and push Nia and her train down the tracks ahead of him.

Samson is eventually diverted onto a siding and hits a set of buffers, where he calms down and is informed what had actually happened. Lost, he eventually sees fireworks high in the sky and follows them to find his way back and ends up at Ulfstead Castle, finding Thomas, Emily and Rebecca there, the former and Bradford commend him on conquering his fear of fireworks.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Gordon
 * Emily
 * Nia
 * Rebecca
 * Samson
 * Philip
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Bradford
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Cyril the Fogman
 * Sir Robert Norramby
 * James
 * Percy
 * The Bird Watcher
 * The Welsh Bird Watcher
 * A Schoolgirl
 * Albert's Wife
 * Oliver
 * Toad

Locations

 * Vicarstown
 * Vicarstown Bridge
 * Knapford
 * Knapford Station Yard
 * Annie and Clarabel's Shed
 * Ulfstead Castle
 * Blue Mountain Quarry

UK

 * John Hasler as Thomas
 * Keith Wickham as Gordon, the Fat Controller and Samson's Driver
 * Teresa Gallagher as Emily, Annie and Clarabel
 * Robert Wilfort as Samson
 * Yvonne Grundy as Nia
 * Rachael Miller as Rebecca
 * Rasmus Hardiker as Philip
 * Rob Rackstraw as Bradford
 * Kerry Shale as Cyril the Fogman

US and CAN

 * Joseph May as Thomas
 * Kerry Shale as Gordon and Cyril the Fogman
 * Jules de Jongh as Emily
 * Robert Wilfort as Samson
 * Yvonne Grundy as Nia
 * Rachael Miller as Rebecca
 * Rasmus Hardiker as Philip
 * Teresa Gallagher as Annie and Clarabel
 * Rob Rackstraw as Bradford
 * Keith Wickham as Sir Topham Hatt and Samson's Driver

Trivia

 * Going by production order, this is the eighth episode of the twenty-second series.
 * This episode was originally:
 * Going to be part of the twenty-first series, but was pushed back to and reworked for the format of the twenty-second series after the twenty-first series was cut short.
 * Not going to feature Nia, logically, as the twenty-first series was before she was introduced.
 * Titled Oliver's Fear of Fireworks and featured Oliver and Toad as the main characters.
 * Titled Samson's Fear of Fireworks once it was re-written for Samson and Bradford.
 * Had the episode been released as originally planned, this would have been:
 * The first episode to have Oliver as the main character since the seventh series episode, Snow Engine.
 * Oliver and Toad's only appearances in the twenty-first series, as well as the twenty-second series should it also apply.
 * The only CGI episode to feature Oliver as a lead.
 * Oliver's last speaking role in an episode.
 * Oliver's last appearance in an episode until the twenty-fourth series episode, The Great Little Railway Show.
 * Toad's last appearance in an episode.
 * The last episode where Joe Mills is part of the voice cast.
 * In the UK, the air date of this episode was held back until the 5th of November to coincide with Guy Fawkes Night.
 * The twentieth series episode, Bradford the Brake Van was never aired on television in the US nor released on DVD, only being released on the Season 20 digital download release online, so the American audience may not have known who Bradford was.
 * This episode marks the first of a few things for Cyril:
 * His first appearance since the twelfth series episode, Thomas and the Billboard.
 * His first speaking role since the eleventh series episode, Thomas and the Lighthouse.
 * The first time he is referred to by name since his debut in the sixth series.
 * His first appearance in the CGI series, though a CGI model of him was shown in Thomas and the Billboard.
 * This episode marks Samson and Bradford's last appearances.
 * The rocket of Thomas' fantasy is similar to Thunderbird 1 in Thunderbirds, a show of which series co-writer and producer David Mitton was a crew member. Many voice actors from the CGI series also worked on the sequel series, Thunderbirds Are Go.
 * In the US dub, the sound Emily makes after Rebecca bumps into her is reused from the twenty-first series episode, Emily in the Middle.
 * In the UK dub, Bradford refers to the goods trucks in front of him as goods cars when yelling at the seagull, its American term.
 * Samson's driver's line "Oh, sorry," is reused from the twenty-first series episode, Daisy's Perfect Christmas.
 * On the Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. US airings of this episode, it was paired with Cyclone Thomas. The episodes were the last to both premiere and air on said network in the US until 30th December 2019, when the twenty-third series episodes Deep Trouble and Rangers of the Rails premiered on there.
 * This marked the last episode of the original Thomas & Friends show to ever air in weekday mornings on Channel 5's Milkshake on Friday November 5th, 2021 in order to make room for Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go.

Goofs

 * In the opening shot, Bradford is not coupled to the trucks, but in the next shot, he is.
 * In the German dub, when Rebecca says "Sorry!", after she bumped into Emily and Gordon at Knapford, she has Emily's voice.
 * When Thomas hits the fog detonator and Annie and Clarabel get scared, Annie has Clarabel's voice.
 * In the first shot of Samson and Bradford in the fog, the wheels on the first three trucks are not aligned to the axleboxes.
 * The Nickelodeon airing mistakenly credits Kerry Shale as Samson's driver.
 * On the official Thomas and Friends YouTube channel the episode (albeit a clip of the episode) is misspelled as "Samson and the Firework."

UK/AUS

 * Monkey Trouble!

GER

 * Big World! Big Adventures! - News from Sodor