The Afternoon Tea Express

"The visitors will wait a long time for their afternoon tea if Stephen is given the job!" "I'll have you know they used to call me the Rocket, because I was so speedy!" "Ha! Compared to a horse and cart, maybe!"

- Spencer and Stephen

The Afternoon Tea Express is the twenty-third episode of the seventeenth series.

Plot
Stephen becomes very excited when the Earl gives him the special job of collecting the ingredients for the afternoon teas at the Castle. But Spencer teases him about being too old and slow. Stephen is cross but is soon steaming around Sodor picking up all the ingredients. But soon, Gordon puffs up behind him and tells him to hurry up. He then pushes Stephen quickly along the rails up to the junction to Ulfstead Castle. Spencer is surprised to see Stephen back so soon.

Stephen pretends to have been really fast. Over the next few days, Stephen is pushed by Thomas, James and Emily making him super fast. But when he is collecting jam for the Earl, Lady Hatt, and the Fat Controller, none of the engines are there to help push him. However, he finds Spencer, who pushes him the fastest up to the castle. But he goes so fast, he cannot stop and biffs into the buffers at Ulfstead Castle, making the four barrels of jam fly all over the Earl, Lady Hatt and the Fat Controller.

After he apologizes, he takes the visitors to the castle on a tour of Sodor whilst getting more jam, and realizes that going slow is not that bad after all.

Characters

 * Gordon
 * Spencer
 * Stephen
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Lady Hatt
 * Sir Robert Norramby
 * Thomas
 * James
 * Emily
 * The Duke and Duchess of Boxford
 * Millie
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Cranky
 * Sir Topham Hatt's Assistants
 * The Dairy Manager
 * The Dairy Employees
 * The Bakers
 * The Teacher
 * The Bird Watcher
 * Dowager Hatt's Friends
 * The Blond-haired Boy
 * The Welsh Bird Watcher
 * The Great Railway Show Judge
 * The Female Puppet Show Entertainer
 * A Schoolgirl
 * Big Mickey

Locations

 * Ulfstead Castle
 * Sodor Dairy
 * Sodor Bakery
 * Wellsworth
 * Gordon's Hill
 * West Maron Junction
 * Brendam Docks
 * Sodor Shipping Company
 * Brendam Warehouse
 * Sodor Animal Park

UK

 * Keith Wickham as Gordon and the Fat Controller
 * Matt Wilkinson as Spencer
 * Bob Golding as Stephen
 * Teresa Gallagher as Lady Hatt
 * Mike Grady as Sir Robert Norramby

US

 * Kerry Shale as Gordon and Sir Topham Hatt
 * Glenn Wrage as Spencer
 * Bob Golding as Stephen
 * Teresa Gallagher as Lady Hatt
 * Mike Grady as Sir Robert Norramby

Trivia

 * Going by production order, this is the fourteenth episode of the seventeenth series.
 * This episode marks Spencer's only appearance in the seventeenth series.
 * This is the second time James is a middle engine, the first was in Middle Engine.
 * This episode marks the last of two things:
 * Lady Hatt's last speaking role until the twentieth series episode, Engine of the Future.
 * The last appearance of the Sodor Bakery until the twentieth series episode, All in Vain.
 * Teresa Gallagher takes over the role as Lady Hatt from Jules de Jongh in the US dub.
 * In the Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Baltic Russian and one of the Vietnamese dubs, the UK dub can be heard in the background as a dubbing track was not used.

Goofs

 * Stephen has his black funnel throughout the episode. Although, a rare picture shows him with his correct white funnel.
 * The open-topped carriage constantly changes height throughout the episode.
 * Stephen's trucks swap places during his journey.
 * When Stephen and Gordon go over the camera, Gordon seems to be pulling less than six carriages when in the next few shots he has six carriages.
 * When the narrator is talking about Stephen getting pushed by other engines, he says "The next day" even though Stephen's runs are weekly.
 * When Emily pushes Stephen, she is pulling the express coaches instead of her own, and there appears to be another set of wheels behind the brake coach.
 * When the barrels of jam fly onto the platform at Ulfstead Castle, the narrator says that the barrels "smashed to the ground." However, the barrels never broken, they remained completely intact.
 * The jam covering Lady Hatt disappears for a scene.

Merchandise

 * Take-n-Play - Stephen's Sticky Delivery
 * Books - The Rocket Returns
 * Magazine stories - The Afternoon Tea Express

Home Media Releases
{{Scroll box|

UK

 * Spills and Thrills
 * The Complete Series 17

DVD Packs

 * Special Edition Box Set
 * 10 DVD Boxset
 * Limited Offer DVD Box Set

AUS/NL

 * Spills and Thrills

DVD Boxsets

 * 2 DVD Boxset

US

 * Spills and Thrills
 * Season 17

JPN

 * Thomas the Tank Engine Series 17 Vol.2

CHN

 * The Afternoon Tea Express

THA

 * Henry's Hero

GER
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 * The Ghost-Express

El Express del Té de la Tarde רכבת תה המנחה Herbatkowy Ekspres Послеобеденное чаепитие