Toad and the Whale

"Oh, he does like to be back in the water! Oh, he does like to be back in the sea! Now he's back inside the sea, He's beside himself with glee! Beyond the seaside, Inside the sea!"

- Toad singing about the whale

Toad and the Whale is the eighth episode of the nineteenth series.

Plot
One summer's day, Toad is feeling particularly happy as Oliver pulls his train along the line, so he begins to sing merrily. Oliver thinks the sunshine has gone to Toad's head, but it is not long before Oliver gets annoyed. Duck passes by and remarks that such a noise would never be heard on the Great Western railway. This upsets Toad: he had not meant to offend Duck. As the engines pass by Bluff's Cove, Toad spots a whale stranded on the beach. He tries to tell Duck and Oliver, but they both think he is joking.

Later at Knapford, Oliver leaves Toad in a siding while he fetches another train. Thomas notices Toad looking sad and asks him what is wrong. Toad tells Thomas about the stranded whale, but Oliver returns and tells Thomas that Toad imagined it.

Toad does not say a word all day as Oliver pulls him along Bluff's Cove again. Oliver is just about to apologise for complaining about Toad's singing when he screeches to a stop. He has spotted the whale who, by now, has gathered a crowd of people. Oliver apologises for not believing Toad, and together they set off to alert the Sodor Search and Rescue Centre. The rescue vehicles soon hear the news and they set off to save the whale.

The initial plan is to use Butch to tow the whale back to the sea, but the workmen find it too risky: the tide is too far out for the whale to survive such a task. Oliver and Toad watch as the whale is covered by a sheet to protect it from the hot sun, and a trench is dug around it while Belle and Flynn use their water cannons to keep it wet. Toad thinks that the whale could be picked up and taken to Brendam Docks, where the water is deep, but Oliver decides to let the rescue team do their job.

Oliver brings the empty water tankers back to Knapford. By now, all of the engines are talking about the whale. Toad tells Thomas about his plan to move the whale to the docks, which Thomas thinks is a wonderful idea. Thomas calls the Fat Controller over, and Toad explains his plan. The Fat Controller telephones the Search and Rescue manager while Thomas fetches Rocky.

Rocky lifts the whale off the sand and lowers it carefully onto Oliver's flatbed. The whale is looking very tired and sad, so Toad gets worried and Belle gives him the idea to use his singing to soothe the whale while they travel to the docks.

Salty and Cranky can hardly believe their eyes when they see the whale on Oliver's flatbed as they arrive. Cranky lifts the whale carefully and lowers it into the water. Toad anxiously watches until finally they see the magnificent whale swim away.

From that day on, whenever Toad passes Bluff's Cove, he remembers his new friend by singing a song.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Duck
 * Oliver
 * Belle
 * Salty
 * Flynn
 * Toad
 * Rocky
 * Harold
 * Cranky
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * A Knapford Station Yard Workman
 * Two Sodor Search and Rescue Centre Workers
 * Butch
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Edward
 * Emily
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * The Large Chinned Policeman
 * The Photographer
 * The Fireman
 * The Teacher
 * The Bird Watcher
 * The Ginger-haired Boy
 * The Blond-haired Boy
 * Two Schoolgirls
 * One of Dowager Hatt's Friends
 * The Welsh Bird Watcher
 * The Lady with the Big Hat
 * The Grumpy Passenger
 * Albert's Wife
 * The Great Railway Show Judge
 * Big Mickey
 * The Search and Rescue Manager
 * Ferdinand

Locations

 * Norramby Fishing Village
 * Bluff's Cove
 * The Little Western
 * Sodor Search and Rescue Centre
 * Misty Island Tunnel
 * Knapford
 * Knapford Station Yard
 * Annie and Clarabel's Shed
 * Brendam Docks
 * Sodor Shipping Company

UK

 * John Hasler as Thomas
 * Steven Kynman as Duck
 * Joe Mills as Oliver, Toad and a Workman
 * Teresa Gallagher as Belle
 * Keith Wickham as Salty, Harold, the Fat Controller and a Workman
 * Kerry Shale as Flynn
 * Matt Wilkinson as Rocky and Cranky

US

 * Joseph May as Thomas
 * Steven Kynman as Duck
 * Joe Mills as Oliver, Toad and a Workman
 * Teresa Gallagher as Belle
 * Keith Wickham as Salty, Sir Topham Hatt and a Workman
 * Glenn Wrage as Cranky
 * William Hope as Rocky
 * Kerry Shale as Flynn and Harold

Trivia

 * Going by production order, this is the seventh episode of the nineteenth series.
 * The plot is similar to the magazine story, The Beached Whale!
 * This episode marks the first of several things:
 * The first appearance of Emily's Coaches since the sixteenth series episode, Muddy Matters.
 * The first episode in which Duck is voiced by Haris Grigoropoulos in the Greek dub.
 * The first time that death has been explicitly mentioned in the English dub of the television series.
 * Belle's first speaking role since the seventeenth series episode, Too Many Fire Engines.
 * Flynn's first appearance since the seventeenth series episode, The Frozen Turntable, but he was mentioned in the eighteenth series episode, Millie and the Volcano.
 * This episode marks the only time Kerry Shale voiced Flynn after Ben Small's departure and before the role went to Rob Rackstraw, who voiced Flynn for the remainder of the CGI series.
 * Just as in Rocky Rescue and Wild Water Rescue, the Sodor Search and Rescue team's theme is an arrangement of Percy and Harold's themes by Robert Hartshorne.
 * Toad sings part of the song, I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside, throughout the episode.
 * This episode marks Duck, Oliver and Toad's only speaking roles in the nineteenth series.
 * On the PBS Kids and nineteenth series Digital Download airing, the episode is paired with Very Important Sheep, while on the Nick Jr. US airing, it was paired with the twentieth series episode, Diesel and the Ducklings.
 * In the Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Baltic Russian and Vietnamese dubs, UK dub can be heard in the background as a dubbing track was not used.
 * The whale that was rescued from the beach was likely a Minke Whale, though it more likely resembles a blue whale. However, blue whales are longer and larger then the trains, so unless it was a very young blue whale calf, the size might have been inaccurate.

Goofs

 * When Oliver brings the water tankers to Bluff's Cove, he is pulling three, but later at Knapford, he is pulling four.
 * In the UK dub, when Rocky calls "Emergency at Bluff's Cove on the beach!" he has his US voice.

Merchandise

 * Capsule Plarail
 * Bachmann

Home Media Releases
{{Scroll box|

UK

 * Whale of a Tale and Other Sodor Adventures
 * The Complete Series 19

US

 * Whale of a Tale and Other Sodor Adventures
 * Season 19

CAN

 * Whale of a Tale and Other Sodor Adventures

AUS

 * Whale of a Tale and Other Sodor Adventures

FRA

 * Series 19

CHN
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 * Toad and the Whale

Toad y la Ballena טואוד והלווייתן Anatol i Wieloryb Чудесное спасение