Thomas Comes to Breakfast

"You miserable engine! Just look what you've done to our breakfast! Now I shall have to cook some more!"

- The stationmaster's wife after Thomas crashed into the stationmaster's house. Thomas Comes to Breakfast is the eighteenth episode of the second series. It is based on the story of the same name from the Railway Series book Branch Line Engines.

Plot
Having run his branch line for many years, Thomas knows it very well. One day, his driver jokes that Thomas could almost manage without him; Thomas thought his driver meant it and brags to Percy and Toby that he does not need a driver. They both disagree with this as they would never even consider running without their drivers, but Thomas insists he is not afraid to run by himself and willing to prove it.

The next morning, the firelighter comes and stokes the engines' fires. Thomas wakes up first from the warmth spreading through his boiler. When he sees Percy and Toby are still asleep, he decides to take the opportunity to run by himself and prove them wrong. Thomas slowly starts moving along the track, unaware that this is only because of a careless cleaner fiddling with his controls. He realises his mistake when he finds out that he cannot stop.

At the end of the siding ahead is a nearby stationmaster's house, where he and his family are sitting down to breakfast. Thomas comes off the rails, runs right through the fence and hedges and crashes right through the dining room wall. The stationmaster glares at a stunned Thomas, whom his wife scolds for ruining their breakfast. She then storms out of the dining room, slamming the door, causing plaster to fall on Thomas.



After workmen lay rails through the garden and stabilize the house, Donald and Douglas arrive, and together, they pull Thomas clear of the house and back onto the rails, revealing his front to be battered and bent from the impact with a bush and pieces of broken wood stuck to it.

Back at the sheds, the Fat Controller chastises the battered tank engine for his recklessness and informs him that he will have to go to the Works to have his front mended, which will take a long time; in his absence a diesel railcar will be brought in to run his branch line. Thomas is shocked at hearing this, and the Fat Controller then concludes to him that "diesels always stay in their sheds until they are wanted and never gallivant off to breakfast in stationmasters' houses."

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Percy
 * Toby
 * Donald and Douglas
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * The Ffarquhar Stationmaster's Wife
 * The Ffarquhar Stationmaster
 * The Firelighter
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Bridget Hatt
 * Mrs. Kyndley
 * One Little Boy
 * The Ffarquhar Stationmaster's Children
 * Earnest
 * The Careless Cleaner
 * Daisy

Locations

 * The Watermill
 * Tidmouth
 * Tidmouth Yards
 * Ffarquhar Sheds
 * The Ffarquhar Stationmaster's House
 * Post Windmill
 * The Works

Trivia

 * This is the first episode of the second series to air in the US and Canada. This infamously created a few continuity errors for American and Canadian audiences, as Toby and the Scottish Twins were brought in before their respective introductory episodes.
 * This episode marks the second time in the second series an engine crashes into someone's estate, the first being Duck in A Close Shave. Even the camera angles showing the front face views of Duck and Thomas are similar to each other.
 * Stock footage from Thomas and the Guard is used as is a deleted scene from Thomas, Percy and the Coal.
 * A portrait of Earnest, a Victorian-style steam engine depicted with a mustache, can be seen in the Ffarquhar Stationmaster's house.
 * This episode was filmed at the same time as Break Van. Donald's tender is seen merged into the signal box when Thomas pulls into Tidmouth and in the first close-up of Percy at Ffarquhar Sheds.
 * Footage of the episode was used as a reference to the original story read aloud by Christopher Awdry in the exclusive YouTube documentary 70 Years of Friendship. Christopher also stated that this was one of his favourite stories.
 * This is writer Michael White's favourite episode.
 * A large scale model of Thomas was used for the scenes inside of the house.
 * When the narrator says "The stationmaster was furious!", the wall set-up behind the stationmaster and the amount of plaster on him is different in the restored version.
 * In George Carlin's dub, when the stationmaster's wife shouts "Now I shall have to cook some more!", the sound of the door being banged sounds quieter than in all the other dubs for this episode.
 * The cereal box that the stationmaster's son is holding is a recreation of a Kellogg's Corn Flakes box.
 * Bridget Hatt's model is used for the Ffarquhar stationmaster's daughter.
 * The events of this episode are referenced by James in Journey Beyond Sodor and Edward in Big World! Big Adventures! during the song Where in the World is Thomas? The scene where Thomas crashes into the stationmaster's house was also recreated in CGI during the song.
 * A small portion of the opening was cut for both narrations when the episode aired on Shining Time Station.
 * This episode and Horrid Lorry are the only two in the television series that show Thomas without his head lamp (due to damage from the crash in this one). However, he is also seen without his head lamp in a rare photo in Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree.
 * In the Railway Series story of which this episode is based on, Thomas crashed into the stationmaster's house as a result of a siding ending on the road having no buffers to stop him, causing him to run off the rails and onto the road until he reached the house. This was not done in this adaptation due to the models heavily being powered by electrified track, so the rails had to be led to the stationmaster's house.
 * However, the Ladybird and Buzz Book adaptations of this episode uses the original Railway Series dialogue.
 * This episode marks the last time Thomas' sad face has modified eyebrows to resemble a nervous one. Also, this episode marks the last appearance of Thomas' sick/half-eye sad face until the eighth series episode, Chickens to School and his third sad face mask (anguished/horrified sad face) until the seventh series episode, Something Fishy.
 * After this episode aired on 13th August 1991, the further four episodes preceding the series were not shown and instead aired Edward's Exploit a week later.
 * The JEI TV version of the Korean dub added subtitles to inform viewers what a rail car is.
 * This is one of two episodes where Thomas' horrified face does not have teeth, with the other being Ghost Train.

Goofs

 * Clarabel is facing the wrong way and her roof is loose when Thomas comes into Tidmouth.
 * In the close-ups of Thomas' driver, he is clean shaven, but in some wide shots, he has a beard.
 * When Percy and Toby are shown sleeping, Toby is tilted to the left.
 * In the close-up of Toby sleeping, his windows are open slightly, but in the wider shot of the three engines in the shed, Toby's right window is completely open. It is then again slightly open when Thomas is rolling out of the shed.
 * Just after Thomas finds that he cannot stop, he passes a station building on his left, but in the next shot, he has not passed it yet.
 * In the shots from Thomas' perspective before he runs into the house, the tracks on the right all seem to end abruptly at a wall, which is presumably there to hide the edge of the set.
 * After Thomas quickly exits Ffarquhar sheds, his body is slightly raised up from his chassis.
 * As Thomas crashes into the house, his wheels do not move. They also do not move when he is being pulled out of the house by Donald and Douglas as well.
 * When the narrator says "The stationmaster was furious," the stationmaster instead looks sad.
 * When Thomas is looking into the house, a bush is covering his face, but when Thomas is pulled free from the house, the bush seems to have become smaller and is lying on his buffer beam, and when the Fat Controller is scolding him, the bush has become larger and moved back to its original position to cover Thomas' face in order to muffle his voice.
 * After Thomas crashes into the house, his head lamp disappears, except for the shot of Donald and Douglas pulling him out.
 * When Thomas is pulled away from the house, he looks unharmed. However, in the next shot, a bush suddenly appears on his suddenly damaged buffer beam, in addition to his head lamp vanishing.
 * When Thomas enters Tidmouth and in the close-up of Percy looking cross, Donald's tender and a hole can be seen in the signal box in the background, indicating that this episode was filmed during the same time as Break Van.
 * In the close-ups of the Fat Controller, the faded marks of where a smile had been visible behind his frown.
 * George Carlin and some other foreign narrators do not attempt to do a muffling on their voice despite being stated that Thomas' voice was muffled by the bush.
 * Thomas' eyes are off-centre from each other throughout the majority of the episode.
 * When the narrator says, "Thomas thought he was being clever," Thomas' eyes jitter.
 * Thomas is wearing his unwell face mask when he is meant to be conceited.
 * When Thomas finds that he cannot stop, his lamp is not placed on correctly.
 * In the Japanese dub, Ringo Starr's narration can be faintly heard throughout the episode.
 * Thomas' side rods change positions from when he crashes into the house to when he is rescued.
 * Due to portions of the script being taken verbatim from the original book, the narrator says that bits of fencing, the bush and a broken window frame festooned Thomas' front, even though a plank of wood is the only bit of fencing seen, and there is no window frame.

Quotes

 * Thomas: Driver says I don't need him now.
 * Percy: Don't be so daft.
 * Toby: I'd never go anywhere without my driver. I'd be frightened.
 * Thomas: Pah! I'm not scared.
 * Toby: You'd never dare.
 * Thomas: I would then. You'll see.

Merchandise

 * Wooden Railway - Thomas Comes to Breakfast Accessory Pack, Limited Edition Thomas Comes To Breakfast, and Thomas Comes to Breakfast version of Thomas
 * Plarail - The Ffarquhar Stationmaster's House
 * Minis - Breakfast Thomas
 * Books - Thomas Comes to Breakfast and Breakfast-Time for Thomas
 * Buzz Books - Thomas Comes to Breakfast
 * Railway Series Books - Thomas Comes to Breakfast
 * Ladybird Books - Thomas Comes to Breakfast and BoCo the Diseasel
 * Pop-Up Books - Trouble on the Tracks
 * Engine Adventures - Thomas Goes Crash!
 * Magazines - Thomas Comes to Breakfast

Home Media Releases
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UK

 * The Deputation and Other Stories
 * Thomas Comes to Breakfast and Other Stories
 * The Best of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends
 * Ghost Train and other stories/Time for Trouble and other stories
 * Your Favourite Story Collection
 * 3 Splendid Episodes
 * The Complete Series 2
 * The Very Best of Thomas and Friends
 * A Close Shave

DVD Packs

 * Classic Collection
 * Ghost Train and other stories/Time for Trouble and other stories
 * The Fogman and The Very Best of Thomas and Friends Double Pack

US

 * Tenders and Turntables and Other Stories
 * Thomas Comes to Breakfast and Other Thomas Adventures
 * Thomas' Useful Stories
 * Thomas & Friends Classic Volume 2

CAN

 * Tenders and Turntables and Other Stories
 * Thomas Comes to Breakfast and Other Thomas Adventures

DVD Boxsets

 * Totally Thomas Volume 9
 * Adventure On the Tracks

AUS

 * The Deputation and other Stories
 * ABC For Kids - Bumper Collection
 * The Very Best of Thomas and Friends
 * The Complete Series 2
 * My First Thomas with Thomas

DVD Boxsets

 * 60th Anniversary - Limited Edition Boxset
 * Essential Collection
 * Complete Series 1-10
 * My First Thomas
 * My First Thomas
 * Classic Collection
 * Series One and Series Two Double Pack

FRE

 * The Talkative Trains

JPN

 * Thomas the Tank Engine Vol.10
 * Best of Thomas
 * Let's Sing Thomas Songs Together Vol.2
 * The Complete Works of Thomas the Tank Engine 1 Vol.6
 * Nice to Meet You Thomas!
 * The Best Collection
 * The Complete DVD Box 1

KOR

 * Stories That Fosters Responsibility

PHL

 * The Deputation

HRV

 * Better Late Than Never

GER

 * Better Late Than Never and 4 Other Adventures
 * Thomas and His Friends Vol. 5

NZ

 * The Deputation and Other Stories
 * Thomas Train Set Compilation Video Volume 2

NOR

 * Thomas the Tank Engine 4
 * Thomas-Festival

ZA

 * Volume 4

UKR

 * A Train Thomas and Friends

NL

 * Percy and Harold
 * The Greatest Stories: The Adventures of Thomas

ITA

 * The Brave Locomotive

IND

 * Pop Goes the Diesel and Other Stories

BRA

 * The Earliest Adventures of Thomas

LATAM

 * The Visit of Thomas

DVD Boxsets

 * The Adventures of Thomas

SER

 * Thomas the Tank Engine 4

MYS

 * Thomas Comes to Breakfast and Other Thomas Adventures
 * The Deputation and Other Adventures

ROM

 * Thomas Comes to Breakfast

DVD Packs

 * Triple Pack 2

FIN

 * Thomas the Tank Engine 4

GRC

 * A Lively Companionship

CHN

 * Thomas and Friends Season 1-4

HK

 * Thomas and Friends Volume 5

THA
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 * Thomas and Friends - Volume 7