Down the Mine (Unaired Pilot)

"The pilot episode was a very good path finding exercise for us.... No doubt it'll be discovered in a rusting tin at some point in the future."

- Robert Gauld-Galliers

Thomas Down the Mine is the original unaired 1983 test pilot of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends before the first episode aired in 1984 in the UK. It was filmed but never broadcasted on TV or released on any home media.

Production
In 1980, Britt Allcroft acquired the rights to produce episodes based on The Railway Series for television. She spent over two years meeting animators and watching test reels deciding on what type of animation would be used for the series. After meeting David Mitton it was decided that live-action model animation would be used. After getting a commitment from ITV, a low budget, pre-production test pilot episode was produced to pitch the series to several networks on 3rd April 1983. The pilot was based on The Railway Series story Down the Mine and differed from the final aired version. After the series was greenlit by ITV, the story was later refilmed as the twenty-fifth episode of the first series.

Differences with Final Version
The pilot had simpler sets, fewer characters, and flatter lighting. The models of Thomas and Gordon, including the wheels, were scratch-built by Martin Gill and were more simplistic in appearance. They were made of plastic and not brass. The models of Annie and Clarabel were based on kits from Tenmille, with little vac-formed faces. They were never tested before being filmed in front of the camera and proved to be unreliable. For example the pilot model's chassis performed so poorly that the models had to be pulled along with fishing wire.

Another example is the models were equipped with a smoke generator based on a 12V car cigarette lighter, with conventional studio smoke-machine oil dripped on the hot element before each shot – but the heat proved to be sufficient to warp the ABS and Perspex of the engine bodies, so they could not be used for any length of time. A swift charging before a shot allowed a rather feeble smoke effect that sometimes emanated from gaps behind the eyes or at the side of the face-plug. The eye mechanisms were improved considerably for the actual series. During the pilot, they snagged repeatedly, smoke came out around them, and they were constantly being modified. Often, the eyes were set and locked in a particular direction. It was not unheard of for the static from the power coupling on the track to affect the servos and make the eyes suddenly veer wildly off.

A final example of its performance can be seen in the remaining footage of the pilot in the final cut, smoke comes out of Thomas' eye sockets. All of the models used later in the series would use the more dependable Märklin chassis. The pilot models also lacked a few features that were added later on to their final models. Thomas was missing his lamp and lamp irons, the splashers were missing their red lining, and the cab's side windows would be missing its yellow lining. Gordon's model did not have a lamp, lamp irons or a whistle. It is unknown if his tender had a few differences compared to its final model. After filming the pilot Christopher Noulton refurbished Gordon's model, which would later become the same model that was used in the first series, using the new Märklin chassis and bufferbeam raised up, along with other smaller alterations as would Thomas' model.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Gordon
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Sir Topham Hatt

Locations

 * Lower Tidmouth
 * Rail Under Road Bridge and Signalbox
 * Knapford
 * The Lead Mines

Preservation
The pilot was never released to the general public. After it was test-screened in April 1983, it was handed to Rick Siggelkow, who showed it to his wife and then to a preschool class; the results were positive, launching Shining Time Station, with Siggelkow being the show's co-creator. It is believed that Rick Siggelkow is no longer in possession of the pilot, as he says he turned in all his Thomas the Tank Engine and Shining Time Station master tapes to Mattel. According to Ian McCue, the pilot footage currently resides in Mattel's storage unit in Southampton with plans of remastering it to be released as a bonus feature on a special DVD for the 80th anniversary in 2025.

No stills are known to exist, though some recycled footage from the unaired pilot is also seen in the aired version of Down the Mine itself, resulting in a brief glimpse of Thomas' pilot model. In 2022, both the dialogue and shooting scripts for the pilot were leaked online, in addition to several other early production documents regarding the pilot. The shooting script revealed that the danger sign in the pilot said "Engines must not pass this point" and not "Engines must not pass this board." In addition, some other shots seen in the final episode were confirmed to be part of the pilot.

Trivia

 * Britt Allcroft mortgaged her house to fund this episode's production.
 * The pilot was filmed on C-stage at Clearwater's Battersea studio.
 * The pilot took three weeks (fifteen business days) to film between March and April 1983. Out of the fifteen business days it took to film it, only ten were used to film the actual pilot.
 * David Mitton originally specified during the early pre-production of the pilot that Thomas "is coupled to a number of carriages. Clarabel and Annie are two of them." This was revised to just Annie and Clarabel by the time of filming.
 * Unlike the series which used Märklin tracks, the pilot used Tenmille. The Tenmille rails later rusted just before the first series and were replaced with Märklin.
 * There were plans to have an animated intro with steam puffs, but this never materialised. No intro for the pilot was made.
 * Robert Gauld-Galliers is unsure as to who watched the first screening of the episode, although he does remember that their reaction was positive.
 * According to a tweet by the Twitter user Tomsprops, Martin Gill wanted to make a Henry model for the pilot.
 * Gordon's model used in the pilot had a lower front bufferbeam that was the same height as his back one, which was raised for the first series to match the other rolling stock and accommodate the new larger Märklin chassis. It also had a completely different smiling face compared to the one used for the rest of the model series.
 * Contrary to Britt Allcroft's statement that the pilot was narrated by Ringo Starr, Rick Siggelkow states there was no Ringo Starr narration in the pilot. Though it is currently unknown for certain which is correct, early production documents seem to corroborate with Allcroft's recollection of the pilot.
 * According to Tim Staffell, the Gordon and Thomas models used in the pilot performed so poorly on set they had to be pulled by fishing wire in some shots.
 * Mike O'Donnell stated in an interview that he does not remember composing any music for the pilot.
 * Unlike the series, the pilot was filmed without Clearwater's Periscope Lens System, and instead with a standard rostrum based 35mm Mitchel camera. After the series was funded, the periscope lens with the overhead gantry were commissioned. Consequently, the video quality is rather inconsistent in the aired episode due to some footage being re-used from the pilot.