The Missing Christmas Decorations

"Christmas is a time for being kind - and giving presents!"

- Percy

The Missing Christmas Decorations is the nineteenth episode of the seventeenth series.

Plot
It is Christmas time on Sodor and Tidmouth Sheds is beautifully decorated with festive decorations. The Dieselworks has a few decorations, but nowhere near as many as the steam engines have at Tidmouth Sheds. This infuriates Diesel 10, but the diesels do have one very special decoration; Sidney who is still hanging from the ceiling waiting for his new wheels. Diesel 10 decides that the Dieselworks still needs more decorations and orders Paxton to accompany him on a mission. Paxton is worried; the Fat Controller has ordered him to collect a truck from the shunting yards and bring it to the Dieselworks. That evening, the Steam Team all arrive at Tidmouth Sheds to discover that their Christmas tree is missing. Percy thinks the tree may have been knocked over, but Emily suggests that it may have been stolen. Percy is deeply saddened by this thought; Christmas is a time for giving, not taking things that do not belong to you.

Unbeknownst to the steam engines, Diesel 10 has taken the tree and put it in the Dieselworks. Diesel 10 suggests that they need some festive lights and a large decoration to put on the top of the tree. Once again, Diesel 10 orders Paxton to accompany him on another mission.

The next night, when the steam engines return to Tidmouth Sheds, they quickly notice that all of their lights are missing. Gordon is outraged that someone is stealing all of their decorations, but Percy still finds it hard to believe that someone could be so cruel at Christmas time.

Back at the Dieselworks, the diesels have covered Sidney in the bright lights that they had taken from Tidmouth Sheds. Sidney is not very happy, but Diesel 10 laughs and says that Sidney is their biggest decoration. Norman thinks that they still need something to decorate the tree. Diesel 10 knows where they can get some garland from and orders Paxton to be his henchman again. This time, Paxton plucks up the courage to tell Diesel 10 that he does not want to steal any more decorations and he sets off to collect the truck from the shunting yards as the Fat Controller had instructed. Much to Diesel 10's fury.

The next day, while all the steam engines are out working, Diesel 10 sneaks into Tidmouth Sheds and grabs hold of some garland with his claw. Diesel 10 does not notice Percy watching him. Percy calls out and Diesel 10 races away with the garland. Percy races after him. Diesel 10 and Percy race across the island. On the way, Percy recruits the rest of the Steam Team to help him chase the devious diesel.

By the time Diesel 10 speeds into the Dieselworks, all of the Steam Team are chasing him. Once inside, the steam engines immediately notice all of their missing decorations and are not at all happy. Diesel 10 tells the steam engines that the Fat Controller likes them more than diesels as they were given far more decorations, something Thomas denies saying the Fat Controller cares about all of them. Just then, Paxton rolls up pushing a truck packed full of festive decorations which the Fat Controller had given to the diesels. Diesel 10 feels rather guilty and very embarrassed after that.

The steam engines leave with their decorations, but Percy stays behind to chat to Sidney. Percy asks how long Sidney has been waiting for his new wheels. Sidney is not sure, but he does not think it has been long. Norman informs Percy that Sidney has actually been waiting for two years. Percy is very surprised that Sidney has been waiting for so long. Sidney concludes that the order must have been misplaced at some point. This gives Percy an idea and he travels to Knapford Station to have a word with the Fat Controller.

At Tidmouth Sheds, the engines are very glad to have their decorations back, even if some of them are very battered. Then, they hear a diesel horn which annoys Gordon, but Percy knows who it is. Suddenly, Sidney pulls into the yard with his new wheels. The steam engines are surprised to see him. Sidney thanks Percy for giving him the best present of all. The steam engines are shocked as to why Percy has given the diesels a present after all the bad stuff they had done. Percy reminds his friends that Christmas is a time for giving. Then, all of the other diesels arrive with truckloads of decorations. The diesels all agree that they should give their decorations to the steam engines as a way of repaying them for all their deviousness. Thomas wonders what decorations will be left for the dieselworks, but Sidney insists that they still have him still covered in bright lights and his new wheels. As Sidney lights up, all of the engines have a good laugh together.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Emily
 * Diesel
 * Diesel 10
 * Dart
 * Norman
 * Paxton
 * Sidney
 * Henry
 * Toby
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Henrietta
 * The Ginger-haired Boy
 * The Blond-haired Boy
 * The Bird Watcher
 * The Welsh Bird Watcher
 * The Female Puppet Show Entertainer

Locations

 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Tidmouth Goods Station
 * Knapford
 * Vicarstown Dieselworks
 * Vicarstown Diesel Sheds
 * Diesel 10's Shed
 * Kellsthorpe Road
 * Wellsworth
 * Dryaw
 * Town Square
 * Shunting Yards

UK

 * Ben Small as Thomas
 * Keith Wickham as Edward, Gordon, James, Percy and Norman
 * Teresa Gallagher as Emily
 * Bob Golding as Sidney
 * Steven Kynman as Dart and Paxton
 * Kerry Shale as Diesel
 * Matt Wilkinson as Diesel 10

US

 * Martin Sherman as Thomas, Percy and Diesel
 * William Hope as Edward
 * Kerry Shale as Gordon and James
 * Jules de Jongh as Emily
 * Bob Golding as Sidney
 * Matt Wilkinson as Diesel 10
 * Steven Kynman as Dart and Paxton
 * Keith Wickham as Norman

Trivia

 * Going by production order, this is the twenty-fifth episode of the seventeenth series.
 * The working title for this episode may have been New Wheels for Sidney, as mentioned in the description of the Wooden Railway "Sidney's Holiday Special" pack.
 * This episode marked the first of a few things:
 * Diesel 10 and Sidney's first appearances in a television series episode as well as their first appearances since Day of the Diesels.
 * The first episode to have Steven Kynman as Dart in both dubs and Martin Sherman as Diesel in the US dub.
 * The first episode where the original main eight engines are all addressed together as the Steam Team.
 * The first episode where Dart appears without Den.
 * This episode marks three one-time things:
 * Diesel 10's only appearance in a television episode.
 * The only time Diesel 10's horn is heard. It is the same as the Ferry Twins, Phillip and Filmore from the television show, Theodore Tugboat.
 * The only appearance of Diesel 10 in the Arc Productions switch, as well as his only appearance in the HIT/Mattel era.
 * Two references to previous productions are made:
 * Diesel 10 called Sidney Twinkle Toes, the nickname he called both Mr. Conductor and Junior in Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
 * Norman tells Percy that Sidney has been on the hoist for two years; Day of the Diesels, in which Sidney was introduced and seen without wheels, was released two years before this episode.
 * This episode marks the last of two things:
 * The final episode where Henrietta does not have a face.
 * Diesel 10's last appearance in the series, though he appears in the book Thomas and the Beanstalk and his claw, Pinchy, appears in a fantasy sequence in the twenty-second series episode, What Rebecca Does.
 * A fade effect is missing in the UK dub.
 * The diesel-shaped Christmas ornament in the first scene later appeared as a trophy in the eighteenth series episode, Spencer's VIP. It also appears to have been based off of Sidney: not only is it a BR Class 08, but its "face" is rounded at the top like Sidney's.
 * The episode's plot is loosely similar to the iconic Dr. Seuss book, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! When a clip of this episode showing Diesel 10 stealing the garland was released on the Thomas & Friends YouTube channel, part of its title was How Diesel 10 Stole Christmas, which makes a reference to said book.
 * The reason why this episode marked Diesel 10's last appearance is because the writers and Mattel found him too scary for the audience (mainly due to the show being targeted at younger children). This can be considered ironic since Mattel and the writers have made some of their antagonist characters do scarier things than what Diesel 10 did such as Sailor John nearly blowing Thomas up with dynamite in 2015's Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure.
 * 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

 * When Diesel 10 first lowers down the ground level of the Dieselworks, Diesel's wheels are not rendered properly.
 * When Emily reverses into Tidmouth Sheds, the berth next to James is empty, but in the next shot, Henry suddenly appears in it.
 * In the Latin American Spanish dub, when Edward says "Where are all our lights?" Javier Olguín says that line instead of Herman López.
 * When Diesel 10 is leaving Tidmouth Sheds:
 * He starts to run before the turntable stops.
 * The ribbon above Gordon's berth is missing even though it was there both immediately before and after.
 * Several animation errors occur in the shot where Percy pulls away from Tidmouth Sheds to chase Diesel 10:
 * Two trucks and a brakevan appear on the siding behind Percy.
 * Diesel 10 is back on the track he arrived on, even though he left the turntable on the track next to Percy.
 * Diesel 10 has been moved much further back towards the turntable than he was just prior.
 * At the same moment as the above, Diesel 10 is shown to already be carrying the garland above himself, even though he was dragging it along the ground when he got off the turntable.
 * Diesel 10's face is frozen, except for his eyes.
 * The garland as it appears in Diesel 10's grip is mis-shapen compared to the rest of the episode; it otherwise is depicted with four ends, but it only has two ends in this shot.
 * Part of the garland returned on Percy's side of the shed even though it was taken off, as seen in the shot where he got off the turntable.
 * Too much of the garland remains on the opposite side of the shed compared to how much Diesel 10 stole.
 * The ribbons above Henry, James, Thomas, Percy and Emily's berths are back, even though they were stolen.
 * The stolen bells and wreaths are also back.
 * When Diesel 10 races through Wellsworth, Pinchy fazes through the footbridge, thought this is hidden behind Edward's funnel, instead of being lowered to go underneath it.
 * When the narrator says, "Now the whole Steam Team was chasing Diesel 10":
 * Toby is missing.
 * Gordon is missing in the next shot.
 * When the Steam Team enter the Dieselworks:
 * Everyone's faces are frozen; Emily's in particular remains frozen until Thomas insists that the Fat Controller likes all his engines.
 * James' tail lamp is missing.
 * Diesel 10 and Norman are the only engines on the upper level, but seconds later, Paxton suddenly appears.
 * When Gordon says, "And those are our Christmas lights!" Thomas appears where Edward should be.
 * When Paxton reveals the decorations:
 * Pinchy cuts from being raised directly above Diesel 10's roof to being a bit off to his right.
 * Henry and Gordon swap places.
 * James' face freezes as soon as he finishes his line.
 * When Norman says, "It's been about two years":
 * He is not on the track he was on just prior.
 * He is not even on the track beneath him properly.
 * In the last close-up of Gordon and Emily, the Christmas lights at the sheds are missing.

Merchandise

 * Wooden Railway - Sidney's Holiday Special
 * Minis - Chillin' Sidney

Home Media Releases
{{Scroll box|

UK

 * Santa's Little Engine
 * The Complete Series 17

DVD Boxsets

 * Festive Favourites

AUS/MYS

 * Santa's Little Engine

US

 * Santa's Little Engine
 * Season 17

JPN

 * Thomas the Tank Engine Series 17 Vol.2

THA

 * Santa's Little Engine
 * No Snow For Thomas

CHN

 * No Snow For Thomas

GER
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 * Thomas' Snowplough

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