Terence Breaks the Ice

"You have to be sensible if you want to stay safe!"

- Thomas and Terence

Terence Breaks the Ice is the sixteenth episode of the twenty-first series.

Plot
Terence is helping to cut down trees for the Christmas market at Tidmouth. Thomas arrives to collect them and Terence comments that he is wearing his snowplough, which he originally refused to do when he first met Terence. Since being rescued from a snowdrift by Terence, Thomas has learned the importance of wearing a snowplough. After reminiscing about when they first met, Thomas leaves with the trees.

Thomas stops at Knapford on the way to Tidmouth to speak to the Fat Controller, who asks him where the huge tree he was meant to get for the Ulfstead Christmas Fair. As it turns out, the Fat Controller never asked Thomas to get a huge tree, having forgotten to do so. Thomas promises to get a big tree once he has dropped off the load he already has.

Thomas returns to the forest and asks Terence for a large tree. Terence knows where the ideal tree is, but it is on the other side of a nearby pond that has been frozen over. Thomas advises against going over the pond, but Terence is not worried because of his caterpillar tracks. He gets to the other side of the pond but leaves a huge crack in the ice.

After the tree has been chopped down, Terence goes back over the frozen pond. Thomas notices the ice cracking, but Terence chooses not to stop, as he is almost to the other side. He runs over the crack he left earlier and the ice breaks, leaving both Terence's rear end and the front of his trailer in the pond, to the horror of Thomas and the woodsmen. After Farmer Finney gets out of Terence's seat and carefully makes his way to safety, he yells for Thomas to go get help, but Thomas knows that this will take too long. He decides to pull Terence out on his own and has his driver and fireman attach chains to his plough while Farmer Finney and the woodsmen carefully hook the other end up to Terence. Thomas pulls Terence free of the water, but the trailer's hitch breaks and it sinks to the bottom of the pond, taking the tree with it. Terence apologises to Thomas for his recklessness, but Thomas is not at all upset.

At the Christmas fair at Ulfstead, Terence apologises to the Fat Controller for losing the tree, but he is just happy that Terence is safe. Sir Robert arrives to unveil the replacement tree and anticlimactically, turns on the lights to reveal that he only has a small tree, which has been put amid a stack of presents to give the illusion that it is massive in size. Nonetheless, he thanks Thomas and Terence for the tree and wishes everyone a Merry Christmas.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Terence
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Lady Hatt
 * Sir Robert Norramby
 * Sir Topham Hatt's Brown-haired Assistant
 * The Tree Specialists
 * Farmer Finney
 * Dowager Hatt
 * The Bird Watcher
 * The Ginger-haired Boy
 * The Blond-haired Boy
 * Emily

Locations

 * Duck Pond
 * Knapford
 * Terence's Field
 * Crosby Tunnel
 * Hackenbeck Tunnel
 * Ulfstead Castle
 * Tidmouth

UK, AUS, NZ and MYS

 * John Hasler as Thomas
 * Teresa Gallagher as Annie, Clarabel, Lady Hatt and the People
 * Tom Stourton as Terence
 * Keith Wickham as The Fat Controller, Farmer Finney, the Woodsman and the People
 * Mike Grady as Sir Robert Norramby

US and CAN

 * Joseph May as Thomas
 * Teresa Gallagher as Annie, Clarabel, Lady Hatt and the People
 * Tom Stourton as Terence
 * Keith Wickham as Sir Topham Hatt, Farmer Finney, the Woodsman and the People
 * Mike Grady as Sir Robert Norramby

Trivia

 * Going by production order, this is the third episode of the twenty-first series.
 * This episode marks the first of several things for Terence:
 * His first appearance in CGI.
 * His first appearance overall since the special, The Great Discovery.
 * His first speaking role since the fifth series episode, Happy Ever After.
 * His first appearance in an episode since the seventh series episode, Not So Hasty Puddings.
 * His first appearance in an episode with an expression that is not a happy expression.
 * His only appearance in the twenty-first series.
 * The first time that he has been the main character in an episode since his debut in the first series episode, Thomas, Terence and the Snow.
 * A recreated CGI flashback of the first series episode Thomas, Terence and the Snow was made and referenced along with a recreated music cue of Thomas getting stuck in the snow. Unlike the original episode where Terence pulled Annie and Clarabel first when they were uncoupled from Thomas, he pulls them all out at the same time in the flashback.
 * This episode also marks the first of a couple things:
 * The first appearances of Hackenbeck Tunnel and Terence's Field since the fifth series episode, Happy Ever After and their first appearances in CGI.
 * The first episode in the CGI Series to feature only one engine and the first to do so since the Jack and the Sodor Construction Company episode, Thomas' Trusty Friends. It is also the first episode of the main series since the sixth series episode, A Friend in Need, to feature one engine as well as the last until the twenty-fourth series episode, Cleo's First Snow. In all three cases, the engine is Thomas.
 * This episode marks Farmer Finney's only speaking role in the television series.
 * At the beginning of the episode, a fawn and a rabbit are seen slipping and skiing on the ice. This is a reference to the 1942 Disney film Bambi.
 * The music in the scene where the tree sinks to the bottom of the lake and Terence apologises for it sounds very similar to the soundtrack of the 1997 romantic drama, Titanic. Terence is also wrapped in a blanket afterwards, much like Rose, the film's main character.
 * When this episode first aired on Nick Jr. On Demand in the US, it was paired with The Christmas Coffeepot on 15th December 2017, before making its official debut on the 22nd.
 * A shortened version of the episode, narrated by Joseph May as Thomas, can be found on the official YouTube channel and formerly on the Nick Jr. US website.
 * This episode marks Sir Robert Norramby's last speaking role until the twenty-third series episode, Heart of Gold.

Goofs

 * As Thomas enters Hackenbeck Tunnel, which reuses the model for Crosby Tunnel, the tunnel has three lines, but when he exits, it has two lines.
 * When Terence pulls Thomas, Annie and Clarabel back into the tunnel, his caterpillar wheels clip through the rails.
 * When the giant tree falls into Terence's cart, the tree changes size.
 * On the Nickelodeon US end credits, Terence's name was misspelt "Terrence".
 * In some scenes, when Terence moves forward, his caterpillar tracks are actually moving backwards.
 * When Terence moves his caterpillar tracks after Farmer Finney tells Thomas to get help, no one is in the driver's seat.

Merchandise

 * Motorized

UK

 * Christmas on Sodor
 * The Complete Series 21

US/AUS

 * Christmas on Sodor

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