James the Second Best

"You're finally in a poster! Maybe you are good enough after all!"

- Thomas seeing James in Edward's poster

James the Second Best is the twenty-seventh episode of the tenth series.

Plot
One morning, the Fat Controller comes to Tidmouth Sheds with a photographer, declaring there will be a railway poster, and he needs an engine to be on it. James is confident that he will be on the poster, as he is a splendid engine, but the Fat Controller chooses Edward, who is delighted. James cannot believe it, so while the photographer prepares his camera, James pulls in front of Edward. The Fat Controller then sternly orders James to leave the sheds, to James' dismay.

Later, the posters are put up all over the railway, each bearing a picture of Edward. James is upset and wonders why Edward was chosen instead of him. Henry, Percy and Thomas say that it is because Edward is gentle with his trucks, he does not mind doing dirty jobs and is always on time. This makes James cross, and he decides that he will do all those things as well to prove he is just as good as Edward.

At the coaling plant the following morning, Edward and Thomas are shunting coal trucks. Edward does his shunting gently, which James also does when he arrives. Thomas states that Edward has already finished and set off to deliver his coal, but James still wants to be just as good as Edward, so he rushes off to deliver his coal. All day, James delivers coal, and at the end of his job, he is very filthy. At Maron, James tells Henry that he can get just as dirty as Edward, and feels that he is just as good as he is.

Later, James is being cleaned before his passenger train, but it takes a very long time to clean him. Percy cheekily tells James that he is late, and that Edward is always on time. James decides to take Gordon's express track instead of the branch line, and therefore, he will collect his passengers before Edward, and he will be good enough to be the poster engine.

James puffs off to collect his passengers, and he switches onto the express track, racing as fast as he can to get ahead of Edward. When James finally switches back onto the branch line, he is indeed ahead of Edward, but at that moment, the signal turns to red. James manages to stop, but Edward cannot stop in time and he biffs into the back of James, pushing him straight into one of the posters. Edward apologises for being unable to stop, but James owns up and admits it was his fault for pushing in. Thomas puffs up on the track below and sees James; his face is sticking out of the poster where Edward's face should be. Thomas cheekily laughs that James is finally in a poster, and that maybe he is good enough after all. But James does not feel good and feels very silly.

Soon, the Fat Controller arrives onboard Emily, who sternly tells James that his racing around the island has caused confusion and delay. Worse still, Edward's piston cylinder has been damaged from the crash, meaning he cannot take the children to the seaside. Seeing the children sad that they cannot ride on the poster engine, James feels even worse. To make up for his accident, James offers to be Edward's back engine so he can still take the children, which the Fat Controller happily agrees.

James sets off, pushing Edward and his coaches along towards the seaside. At Bluff's Cove, they stop to collect more passengers. The children cheer to see Edward, and they also cheer to see James as being a grand and kind engine. James feels proud and more useful than ever, and Edward remarks that the only thing more special than being the poster engine is being really useful.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Henry
 * James
 * Percy
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Emily
 * The Photographer
 * Charlie Sand
 * Sidney Hever
 * Stephen Hatt
 * Bridget Hatt
 * Refreshment Lady
 * The Storyteller
 * Gordon

Locations

 * Crosby Tunnel
 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * The Works
 * Brendam Canal
 * Knapford
 * The Coaling Plant
 * Maron
 * Dryaw School
 * Wellsworth Bridge
 * The Second Three-Track Station
 * Tidmouth Beach
 * Tidmouth Lighthouse
 * Bluff's Cove
 * Ffarquhar

Trivia

 * One Wellsworth station building is altered and used to portray The Three-Track Station.
 * This was the last episode of a few things:
 * The last episode to have faceless models of The Horrid Lorries.
 * The last episode to feature Edward and James' original plastic models; Edward's was used in the first scene and the posters, whilst James' model was used when he was being cleaned.
 * The last appearance of Brendam Canal.
 * The last appearance of Bluff's Cove in the model series and its last overall until the thirteenth series episode, Henry's Good Deeds.
 * The US dub of this episode was never released on home media.
 * The theme where James races to get ahead of Edward was reused since the ninth series episode, Keeping Up with James.
 * James looking sad while in the poster may be a subtle reference to the first series episode Edward and Gordon, where his sad face was used for Edward's at Maron.

Goofs

 * When Edward is pushing James and the camera speed slows as James derails, Edward's wheels are still moving forward.
 * Despite his front crashing through the poster, only James' face and funnel are shown to have crashed through.
 * James' face is loose when he is at the washdown.

Merchandise

 * Magazine stories - Picture Perfect

Home Media Releases
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UK

 * The Complete Series 10
 * The Best of James

DVD Boxsets

 * Classic Collection
 * The Best of Friends

AUS

 * The Complete Series 10

DVD Boxsets

 * Complete Series 1-10
 * The Essential Collection
 * Series Nine and Series Ten Double Pack
 * The Complete Series Ten and Hero of the Rails Double Pack

SPN

 * Thomas and Friends - Volume 12

DVD Boxsets

 * Second Season

MYS

 * Thomas and the Treasure and Other Adventures
 * Thomas and the Colors and Other Adventures

THA

 * Thomas and Friends - Volume 46

ARA

 * Rocky to the Rescue

JPN

 * Song and Story: Sing Fun
 * There Are Lots Of Thomas & Friends

KOR

 * Thomas the Little Engine and Friends Season 5 Vol. 3

HK

 * Thomas and Friends Volume 22

NOR/SWE/DK/FIN/POL

 * Thomas and the Treasure

TWN
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 * Thomas and Friends Volume 21

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