Coal and other stories

Coal and Other Stories is a UK/IRL/AUS/NZ VHS featuring nine first series episodes narrated by Ringo Starr. It was released in Welsh in 1988 with all episodes narrated by John Ogwen. It was re-released in the UK in 1993 and 2002 as Down the Mine and Other Stories.

1986 UK (English/IRL)
It's full steam ahead once again for Thomas, the little blue engine with the short stumpy funnel, short stumpy boiler and short stumpy dome. Share 9 exciting new adventures with Thomas and his friends, Gordon, Henry, James, Percy, Edward, Toby, Annie and Clarabel the coaches, and of course, the Fat Controller. Thomas's special friend (storyteller Ringo Starr) says "Thomas is a smashing little engine - he's Number One and never lets anyone forget it!"

1988 UK (English/IRL)
It's full steam ahead once again for Thomas, the little blue engine with the short stumpy funnel, short stumpy boiler and short stumpy dome. Share 9 exciting adventures with Thomas and his friends, Gordon, Henry, James, Percy, Edward, Toby, Annie and Clarabel the coaches, and of course, the Fat Controller. Thomas's special friend, storyteller Ringo Starr, says "Thomas is a smashing little engine - he's Number One and never lets anyone forget it!"

1987 AUS
It's full steam ahead for Thomas, the little blue engine with the short stumpy funnel, short stumpy boiler and short stumpy dome and his special friends Gordon, Henry, James, Percy, Edward, Toby, Annie and Clarabel the carriages and of course their Boss, the Fat Controller. Now Thomas has a new friend - storyteller Ringo Starr, says 'Thomas is a smashing little engine - he's cheeky and has a mind of his own. Thomas is Number 1 and never lets anyone forget it!'

1991 AUS
It's full steam ahead for Thomas, the little blue engine with the short stumpy funnel, short stumpy boiler and short stumpy dome and his special friends Gordon, Henry, James, Percy, Edward, Toby, Annie and Clarabel the carriages, and of course their Boss, the Fat Controller. His friend (storyteller Ringo Starr) says 'Thomas is Number 1 and never lets anyone forget it!'

UK (Welsh)
Hwn yw trydydd fideo Tomos y Tanc, a'r olaf yn gyfres bresennol.

UK (Welsh; English translation)
This 3rd and final video of Thomas the tank in the current series.

Episodes

 * 1) Coal - For all his size and his shiny green coat, Henry has always been a rather delicate engine. The Fat Controller decides to put things right.
 * 2) The Flying Kipper - Henry is very proud the day he pulls "The Flying Kipper," the morning train from the fish quay. But snow jams a signal down and disaster strikes.
 * 3) Whistles and Sneezes - Gordon looks foolish and Henry gets even with naughty boys who drop stones from bridges.
 * 4) Toby and the Stout Gentleman - The Fat Controller goes on holiday and a newcomer, Toby the Tram Engine arrives in the yard.
 * 5) Thomas in Trouble - Thomas is stopped by a policeman and Toby the Tram Engine comes to the rescue.
 * 6) Dirty Objects - James the Red Engine learns that it is wise not to speak rudely to other engines. You never know what will happen next.
 * 7) Off the Rails - Gordon the big express engine is very upset when he has to pull a train of big trucks. He decides to try a spot of sabotage but gets more than he bargains for.
 * 8) Down the Mine - Thomas tries some mischief and gets in a hole. Gordon has to help him out. Both engines are in disgrace so they decide to form an alliance and never be cheeky to each other again.
 * 9) Thomas' Christmas Party - Thomas and all of his friends from the engine shed get together to say "thank you" to a nice old lady and everyone has a happy Christmas.

Trivia

 * At the beginning of the 1986 UK English and Irish release, as well as all Australian releases, it showed the intro then the episode (Coal). But in later UK and Irish releases, it skips right to the ending scene of the intro, skipping the episode title entirely before the intro music fades out and cuts to the nameboard sequence twice. While in New Zealand Releases the intro music never fades out and instead cuts to Edward's nameboard after the windmill scene, skipping Terence's nameboard along the way.
 * The front cover of the 1986 UK and Irish release and the back cover of the 1987 Australian release feature an image from Thomas' Train. The 1986 UK and Irish back cover features images from Edward, Gordon and Henry, Thomas and the Breakdown Train, Thomas and Gordon, and Troublesome Trucks.
 * The end credits after Thomas' Christmas Party are red on all UK and Irish releases, the original Australian release, and the New Zealand release, but yellow on the Australian re-release.
 * The Video Collection release cover featured illustrations by Owen Bell.
 * The back cover of the 1988 UK and Irish release features an image of Bill and Ben.
 * The back cover of the 1991 Australian release features an image from Edward, Gordon and Henry.
 * The front cover of the New Zealand release features an image from Break Van.
 * The cover of the Welsh release features images from Daisy and Thomas and Trevor.
 * The front cover of the 1993 and 2002 UK and Irish release features an image from Wrong Road.
 * Some of the 1993 releases included a warped audio track with extra music playing over the narration, at times nearly drowning it out.
 * This was the last UK and Irish VHS released by Kaleidoscope.
 * In 1994, the Australian release had a new master with a different opening and Britt Allcroft endboards.
 * An alternate label exists of the New Zealand Release that reads "Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends: Coal and Other Stories" instead of "Thomas: Coal and Other Stories."

Goofs

 * Select copies of the 1991 Australian release were printed with the "THOMAS, PERCY AND THE COAL" label
 * Several errors are present on the New Zealand Endeavour release:
 * When the Britt Allcroft jingle starts at the beginning of the tape the audio changes pitches for a few seconds before reverting back to normal.
 * Just as Edward's nameboard appears in the intro the audio drops in pitch for a second before reverting back to normal.
 * Right at the beginning of Coal the audio changes pitch once again before reverting back to normal a quarter of the way through the first line of narration.
 * When the intro for Toby and the Stout Gentlemen comes on the audio changes before reverting back to normal.
 * At the end of Off the Rails the audio changes pitch before reverting back to normal.