Crowning Around

"I'm useless without my crown!" "It did look great on you, Rajiv, but you don't need it."

- Rajiv and Ashima

Crowning Around is the second episode of the twenty-third series.

Plot
Rajiv loves his crown, as it makes him feel like royalty and gets it newly polished. Although he, Thomas and Ashima are very cheerful, Noor Jehan is not as she has achy brakes. Shankar criticizes Rajiv for obsessing over his crown instead of working, to which Rajiv claims that he can be very useful with his crown.

While pulling his train, Rajiv attempts to avoid some troublesome monkeys to stop them getting to his crown when it gets knocked off by the Breakdown Train, tossed around by the monkeys, and then thrown into a truck. This makes him devastated and feel not very useful, despite Ashima attempting to tell him he does not need it. Rajiv all the same says that he does and refuses to get back to work until it is returned to him.

Ashima and Thomas attempt to find Rajiv's crown while also doing his jobs, unaware that it is being tossed around their trains. A workman even finds it in a muddy puddle and, not knowing what it actually is, throws it into Shankar's trucks for the scrapyard. When Thomas, Ashima and Shankar return to the sheds, tired after having to do Rajiv's jobs as well as their own, they attempt to tell Rajiv that he does not need his crown and that he is still really useful.

With the other engines asleep, Rajiv sees Noor Jehan - still with her achy breaks - out of control and set on a collision course for Shankar. Reacting quickly, Rajiv charges into Shankar, with Noor Jehan crashing into the back of the sheds. After being praised for what he did, this makes Rajiv realise that he does not need his crown. As Charumbala is chastising Rajiv for being very silly, she tells him that she also heard that he was a hero and offers him his crown back. Rajiv all the same cannot help but be pleased by it and compliments himself.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Ashima
 * Rajiv
 * Shankar
 * Noor Jehan
 * Charubala
 * Indian Troublesome Trucks
 * A Diesel Shunter
 * One Indian Breakdown Cranes
 * The Indian Fashion Designer

Locations

 * India
 * Indian Railway Sheds
 * Indian Railway Shunting Yard
 * Indian Bridge Over Tunnel Runby
 * Varkala Railway Station

UK

 * John Hasler as Thomas
 * Tina Desai as Ashima
 * Nikhil Parmar as Rajiv and the Indian Troublesome Trucks
 * Sheena Bhattessa as Noor Jehan and Charubala
 * Sanjeev Bhaskar as Shankar

US and CAN

 * Joseph May as Thomas
 * Tina Desai as Ashima
 * Nikhil Pamar as Rajiv and the Indian Troublesome Trucks
 * Sheena Bhattessa as Noor Jehan and Charubala
 * Sanjeev Bhaskar as Shankar

Trivia

 * Going by production order, this is the fifth episode of the twenty-third series.
 * This is the first episode of a few things:
 * The first episode written by Camille Ucan and Rose Johnson.
 * The first episode set outside Sodor in which Thomas is not the main character.
 * The first time two fantasy sequences are featured.
 * At the end of the second fantasy sequence, Rajiv is shown to have tears in his eyes; this is the first time since Blue Mountain Mystery that any engine has had any tears at all.
 * Not counting his stock footage appearance in Grudge Match, this marks Rajiv's only appearance in the twenty-third series.
 * The title is a pun of the phrase, "clowning around."
 * On the Nick Jr. US airing of this episode, it was paired with Thomas Makes a Mistake.

UK/AUS

 * The Royal Engine