Steam Team to the Rescue

"Someone's coming." "Is it Thomas?" "Uhh, there's too much steam. I can't see." "Thomas and Gordon maybe?" "There's even more steam than that. I think it's the whole team!" "It's the Steam Team!"

- Big Mickey, Cranky and Carly

Steam Team to the Rescue is the first double-length episode of the twenty-third series.

Plot
While Harold is checking over Sodor one evening, Porter is getting ready to pick up some deliveries. With more ships coming in, Salty offers to help but accidentally bumps some trucks Cranky attempts to use. When Salty attempts to pull them back in, Carly accidentally knocks some pipes Cranky is lowering which knock Salty off the tracks and into the sea.

The next day, the Fat Controller wakes Thomas up early to get a flatbed and rescue Salty - who is being fished out by Cranky - and to take him to the Dieselworks, while having Den do Salty's job. Meanwhile, Porter gets covered in flour because of the increased workload.

While Salty is on the hoist, he shakes off some seaweed on him. Den then accidentally slips on it, which ends up leading to the Dieselworks and its sheds to close and trap the Diesels in it. This leads to Percy being asked to help out at the Docks with Salty, Porter and Den out of action. He asks Thomas to help, but the Fat Controller tells him and the rest of the Steam Team about most of the Diesels being stuck in their sheds and that they are going to need to work extra hard to do all of the work.

Despite Percy desperately needing Thomas at the Docks, the Fat Controller tells Thomas to instead get to the Blue Mountain Quarry and then to take some Diesel fuel to the Dieselworks. All the work soon overloads at the Docks with Percy unable to get it done, and it ends up collapsing in on him and Carly almost falling into the sea.

The Sodor Search and Rescue Team are called out to the Docks to help. Harold tells Thomas what is going on, leading Thomas to rush to Tidmouth Sheds for help. Although the other engines are very tired from the increased workload, Thomas is able to convince them to help save Percy.

The Steam Team and Harold soon race to the Docks to help and are able to get all the work done, while also helping to save Carly and Percy. It takes them all night to get it all done, after which they are praised for their efforts by the Fat Controller. After he does so, he begins to think if there was something he is forgetting (the Diesels still being trapped), but decides he has not.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Emily
 * Nia
 * Rebecca
 * Belle
 * Caitlin
 * Porter
 * Diesel
 * Salty
 * Den
 * Dart
 * Sidney
 * Paxton
 * Norman
 * Flynn
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Harold
 * Captain
 * Cranky
 * Big Mickey
 * Carly
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Knapford Stationmaster
 * Toby
 * Rosie
 * Stanley
 * 'Arry and Bert
 * Winston
 * Luke
 * Troublesome Trucks
 * Butch
 * Merrick
 * Owen
 * Willie
 * The Dock Manager
 * The Blue Mountain Quarry Manager
 * Philip
 * Ferdinand
 * Victor

Locations

 * Island of Sodor
 * Bluff's Cove
 * Knapford
 * Knapford Station Yard
 * Annie and Clarabel's Shed
 * Knapford Yards
 * Sir Topham Hatt's Office
 * M.C. Bunn
 * Brendam Docks
 * Sodor Shipping Company
 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Tidmouth Goods Station
 * The Works
 * Vicarstown
 * Vicarstown Dieselworks
 * Vicarstown Diesel Sheds
 * Diesel 10's Shed
 * Crosby Tunnel
 * Blue Mountain Quarry
 * Blondin Bridge
 * Wellsworth
 * Wellsworth Bridge
 * Gordon's Hill
 * Farmer Trotter's Pig Farm
 * Sodor Search and Rescue Centre
 * Black Loch
 * Maithwaite
 * The Washdown
 * Sodor Steamworks
 * Norramby
 * Ballahoo
 * Sodor Castle
 * Kellsthorpe Road
 * Maron
 * The Mainland

UK

 * John Hasler as Thomas
 * Keith Wickham as Edward, Henry, Gordon, Salty, Den, Norman, Harold, Captain, the Fat Controller, the Knapford Stationmaster and a Passenger
 * Rob Rackstraw as James, Flynn and Big Mickey
 * Nigel Pilkington as Percy
 * Teresa Gallagher as Emily, Belle, Annie and Clarabel
 * Yvonne Grundy as Nia
 * Rachael Miller as Rebecca
 * Kerry Shale as Diesel
 * Steven Kynman as Porter, Dart and Paxton
 * Bob Golding as Sidney
 * Matt Wilkinson as Cranky
 * Lucy Montgomery as Carly
 * Jules de Jongh as Caitlin

US

 * Joseph May as Thomas
 * John Hasler as Thomas
 * William Hope as Edward
 * Kerry Shale as Henry, Gordon, Diesel and Harold
 * Rob Rackstraw as James, Flynn and Big Mickey
 * Christopher Ragland as Percy
 * Jules de Jongh as Emily and Caitlin
 * Teresa Gallagher as Belle, Annie and Clarabel
 * Yvonne Grundy as Nia
 * Rachael Miller as Rebecca
 * David Menkin as Porter
 * Keith Wickham as Salty, Den, Norman, Captain, Henry, Gordon , Sir Topham Hatt, the Knapford Stationmaster and a Passenger
 * Steven Kynman as Dart and Paxton
 * Bob Golding as Sidney
 * Glenn Wrage as Cranky
 * Lucy Montgomery as Carly

Songs

 * "Don't Stop"
 * "Don't Stop (Reprise)"

Trivia

 * Production-wise, this episode, as the standalone special of the twenty-third series, is placed after all the regular-length episodes and serves as the series finale of the twenty-third series.
 * This marks the first of many things:
 * The first episode directed by Joey So.
 * The first special since Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure to take place entirely on Sodor.
 * Caitlin's first speaking role since the twentieth series episode, Engine of the Future.
 * Merrick's first appearance since the twentieth series episode, The Missing Breakdown Train.
 * Captain's first appearance in an episode since the twentieth series episode, Skiff and the Mermaid.
 * The first episode in where Edward has only one speaking role in a series since the seventh series episode, Edward's Brass Band.
 * The first double-length episode since Diesel's Ghostly Christmas, albeit with a different format unlike the former due to this being the new special as a replacement for the one-hour long specials.
 * The first production to have David Stoten as head writer.
 * The first production produced by Mattel Television since their rename.
 * The first double-length special episode of the series to be separate from the regular-length episodes to being the new special which, following the series' reboot, replaces the feature-length movie stylized special.
 * This episode marks the only for several things in the twenty-third series:
 * Edward, Caitlin, Captain and Flynn's only physical appearances (not counting Edward's appearance in Thomas' thought bubble in The Other Big Engine and Captain's newspaper appearance in Rangers of the Rails) and speaking roles.
 * Belle, Porter, Carly and Big Mickey's only speaking roles.
 * 'Arry, Bert, Merrick and Willie's only appearances.
 * The first and only time John Hasler voices Thomas in the US version as well as Keith Wickham voicing Gordon, Edward, and Henry in the US version despite Henry singing, but this is in some of the versions of Netflix for the case of the first verse of Don't Stop. This is nonexistent in other digital downloads outside of Netflix.
 * The only double-length episode to have the old and new Steam Team members altogether.
 * The only double-length special episode not to introduce any characters as well as be a musical.
 * The only double-length episode not to include any narration (apart from Thomas reading the title aloud).
 * The only double-length special episode of the twenty-third series taking place on Sodor.
 * The only twenty-third series episode to not air on Nick Jr. in the US.
 * This episode marks the final episode of a few things:
 * Caitlin, Porter, Big Mickey, and Captain's final speaking roles.
 * 'Arry, Bert, Dart, Sidney, Flynn, and Butch's final appearances and Captain (not counting the newspaper appearance in Rangers of the Rails).
 * The final episode where Den and Dart appeared together.
 * A reference to "The Great Race" is made when Gordon tells Thomas to call him "The Shooting Star" in his sleep.
 * Thomas references Braveheart when he rallies the Steam Team.
 * Two references to The Adventure Begins and the first series are made:
 * Thomas calls "Wake up, lazybones!" to Gordon.
 * Gordon leaves his coaches behind in a similar manner to Thomas, by mistaking another guard's whistle for his own, which is also a references to the first series episode, Thomas' Train.
 * Gordon mistaken the guard's whistle for his own is almost similar to Wrong Road. But in said episode, Gordon's fireman mistakes the lady with the green hat for the guards green flag, causing him to leave his passengers.
 * Salty sings a verse of "What Shall We Do With the Drunken Sailor?" when Cranky fishes him out of the sea.
 * Yvonne Grundy, who performs Nia's speaking voice, performed her singing lines in this episode instead of Patricia Kihoro, who was her singing double in "Big World! Big Adventures!"
 * One of the ships' horns at Brendam Docks is the same as Captain's.
 * The logo of the series overall was replaced by a stylized version of the episode's title, due to being the new special.
 * 'Arry and Bert are the only diesel engines shown to still be working rather than being out of commission. Philip only appears in the fantasy sequence in which the Fat Controller loses all his diesels. Daisy, Mavis and Diesel 10 are the only standard gauge Sodor diesels featured in CGI to not be included in the episode.
 * This is the second time with a few things:
 * The second episode to have the diesels out of action, the first being the similarly named eighth series episode, Thomas to the Rescue.
 * The second episode to feature a character completely submerged underwater. The first episode to do so was Kevin's Cranky Friend when Kevin fell into the sea. This is also the only episode to feature an engine underwater, when Salty fell over Brendam Docks.
 * This is the seventh episode in the UK and eighth episode in the US in which the title ends with "to the Rescue". This is following Rusty to the Rescue, Harvey to the Rescue, Thomas to the Rescue, James to the Rescue, Race to the Rescue and Philip to the Rescue in both the UK and US, as well as Henry to the Rescue in the US only.
 * Before the episode was released in the Germany, the German dub was available on Netflix USA in October 2020. It was released on Netflix Germany in December 2020.
 * There are three titles for the German version of the episodes. The TV-guides list this episode as "Mit Volldampf zur Rettung" ("With Full Steam to the Rescue"), the promos call it "Dampflok-Team zum Rettungseinsatz" ("Steam Team To The Rescue") and in the actual episode, the title is "Schnelle Hilfe vom Dampflok-Team" ("Quick Help from the Steam Team"). The TV guides claim this episode's original title to be "Thomas and the Full Steam Team" which could have been a working title.

Goofs

 * Several characters and cast members were not credited in the UK and US end credits:
 * In the UK end credits, Edward is not listed with Keith Wickham's characters.
 * In the US end credits, William Hope is not credited for voicing Edward.
 * Annie and Clarabel are not listed with Teresa Gallagher's characters.
 * Jules de Jongh is not credited for voicing Caitlin in the UK credits. In the US end credits, she is not listed with Jules de Jongh's characters.
 * When Thomas leaves the docks with Salty, his brake van is an SR 25 Ton Brake Van. Once he leaves the Dieselworks, his brake van changes to an BR 20 Ton Brake Van.
 * The Misty Island Tunnel entrance is missing at the Sodor Search and Rescue Centre. The track leading to the tunnel is still visible, but leads nowhere.
 * 'Arry is seen travelling on narrow gauge track at the Blue Mountain Quarry, despite being a standard gauge engine.
 * In the overhead shot of the docks becoming cramped, Big Mickey is not in his correct spot and appears to be clipping through the rails beneath him.
 * When Harold says "Belle and Flynn are already on their way," the scene is not cut properly; Harold speeds up for a split second, and when the scene cuts back to both him and Thomas, they are both moving faster than before.
 * In the UK dub, James' US voice can be heard during Don't Stop as he pulls up to Rebecca.
 * During the reprise version of Don't Stop, the smoke of the chimney is not seen and Percy is not seen at the beginning.
 * On some versions of Netflix, the UK version of Don't Stop is featured, but the reprise is the US version.
 * In most shots of Brendam Docks, Carly's base extends in length.
 * In one shot of Knapford Station's yard, a flatbed carrying pipes can be seen clipping through the beige shed.
 * Dieselworks is misspelt as "Diesel Works" in the Netflix closed captioning.
 * In the German dub, Henry is not heard to be singing.

UK/AUS

 * Steam Team to the Rescue

Merchandise

 * Push Along - Seaweed Salty