Free the Roads

"This is much more like it! No more railways! The buses have finally won!"

- Bulgy

Free the Roads is the first episode of the twenty-third series.

Plot
Bulgy is annoyed at the engines always taking the passengers. He attempts to take some that are waiting for Percy to arrive, but they decline his offer to ride on him. Bulgy attempts to block off Percy at the level crossing while trying to express his "free the roads" policy but moves after Bertie tells him to. While fantasying about him and Bertie saving passengers from being taken by Percy by taking them instead, he accidentally knocks into some steel drums that have some tyres on them. One of the tyres rolls off the drums and onto a plank of wood that launches a bag of soil into a water tower.

Thomas fills up with water from the water tower Bulgy catapulted the bag of soil into and breaks down some time later while taking Annie and Clarabel. Bulgy is then asked by the Fat Controller to take Thomas' passengers instead. Some of the other engines also take on water from the same water tower and break down as well, leaving Bertie and Bulgy very busy.

Bulgy initially likes taking passengers, but he soon gets more than he bargained for; Bertie ends up breaking down due to an overload of passengers to take, leading them to ride in Bulgy and causing him to break down as well. When his passengers complain about this, Bulgy states his regrets in getting the soil in the water tower. Unfortunately, The Fat Controller hears this and chastises Bulgy for what he did and for causing confusion and delay. Bulgy is then left broken down while the passengers are picked up by the engines. He is then left further dismayed when he is taken back to the garage by Thomas, but is still sticking to his beliefs.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Percy
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Bertie
 * Bulgy
 * Max and Monty
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * The Knapford Stationmaster
 * The Teacher
 * Albert's Wife
 * The Great Railway Show Judge
 * The Man with the Green Waistcoat and Grey Hair
 * The Grumpy Passenger
 * Gordon
 * Butch
 * One of Dowager Hatt's Friends
 * The Bird Watcher
 * The Welsh Bird Watcher
 * Sodor United Football Team
 * The Lady with the Big Hat
 * The Female Puppet Show Entertainer
 * Emily
 * Rebecca
 * George

Locations

 * Knapford
 * Dryaw
 * Maithwaite
 * Ffarquhar
 * Wellsworth
 * Crosby
 * Vicarstown

UK

 * John Hasler as Thomas
 * Nigel Pilkington as Percy
 * Teresa Gallagher as Annie, Clarabel, the Teacher and Albert's Wife
 * Keith Wickham as Bertie and the Fat Controller
 * Colin McFarlane as Bulgy
 * Kerry Shale as Max
 * Rob Rackstraw as Monty, the Knapford Stationmaster and a Passenger
 * Christopher Ragland as a Passenger

US

 * Joseph May as Thomas
 * Christopher Ragland as Percy and a Passenger
 * Teresa Gallagher as Annie, Clarabel, the Teacher and Albert's Wife
 * Keith Wickham as Bertie and Sir Topham Hatt
 * Colin McFarlane as Bulgy
 * Kerry Shale as Max
 * Rob Rackstraw as Monty, the Knapford Stationmaster and a Passenger

Trivia

 * Going by production order, this is the first episode of the twenty-third series.
 * This episode marks the first of a few things:
 * The first time since the seventh series episode, Bulgy Rides Again that Bulgy has had a leading role in an episode.
 * The first episode since the twentieth series finale, Over the Hill to be produced by Ian McCue.
 * Max and Monty's first speaking roles since the twentieth series episode, Mucking About, their first appearance without any of the other Pack members and their first appearances since the twenty-first series episode, A Shed for Edward.
 * The first episode where Thomas, Gordon, Percy, Bertie and Bulgy gain more realistic looks.
 * The first episode dubbed in Võru for Kidzone TV.
 * Bulgy and Bertie in the fantasy sequence were portrayed as Batman and Robin from the 1960s television series Batman. Theme music renditions were played throughout the episode.
 * This episode marks Bertie and Bulgy's only appearances and Butch's only non-cameo appearance in the twenty-third series.
 * On Nick Jr. in the US, this episode was paired with Heart of Gold, in Mexico, they are paired with Chucklesome Trucks, and in Japan, this episode is paired with Crowning Around.
 * Apart from laughing with Monty after saying "Out of the way Bulgy" Max does not have any dialogue in this episode.
 * Bertie mentions the events of the twenty-first series episode, Unscheduled Stops.
 * This episode is named after a quote on Bulgy's original signboards.
 * According to Michael White, he had originally written for George to appear in this episode. Unfortunately, his role was later replaced by Max and Monty for unknown reasons. If the change had not happened, this would have been George's first CGI appearance, his first appearance since The Great Discovery and first episode appearance since the tenth series episode, Big Strong Henry, and his first speaking role since the fifth series episode, Bye George! and his last appearance.

Goofs

 * Max and Monty have their US voices in the UK dub.
 * Kerry Shale is not credited in either the UK or US end credits despite voicing Max.
 * Rob Rackstraw is not credited in the UK end credits for voicing Monty. However, Rasmus Hardiker is credited despite not voicing him.
 * Max and Monty have incorrectly worn Sidney and Paxton's horn sounds, respectively.
 * When Bulgy arrives at Maithwaite, he clips through the signal box.
 * As Percy starts leaving Maithwaite, his last two coaches are not rendered properly as they are merged together.

Merchandise

 * Magazines - Free the Roads!

UK/IRL/AUS

 * Steam Team to the Rescue