Three Cheers for Thomas

"I'll race you, Thomas! The first one to the station is the winner!" "You're on! Ready, steady go!"

- Thomas and Bertie

Three Cheers for Thomas, retitled  Hooray for Thomas in American releases, is the twenty-sixth and final episode of the seventh series.

Plot
Thomas has to take some children to their annual sports day. When they arrive, a boy tells Thomas that he hopes he is number one and wins a medal. Thomas agrees it is magnificent to win a medal and later imagines himself with a medal around his funnel.

Later, Thomas and Bertie are at the sheds, when Percy arrives. He tells them he is taking the Fat Controller to the venue. Thomas tells him he can see the egg and spoon race there, where children race with eggs on spoons and the winner gets a medal. Thomas tells Percy and Bertie he wishes he could have a medal, and Percy tells him he would have to win a race. Bertie challenges Thomas to a race to the station, a challenge which Thomas accepts and the race begins.

Bertie edges in front at first, but manages to get stuck behind a slowing Trevor and Thomas takes the lead. However, he does not keep the lead for long, as he has to stop to pick up passengers. Bertie regains the lead as he rumbles over the bridge. Then, Bertie has to stop at a level crossing and Thomas takes the lead once more.

Thomas is almost at the station when he spots a signalman with a red flag in his hand and the Fat Controller. The Fat Controller explains that the medals were left in his office and asks Thomas to retrieve them. Thomas, no longer caring about the race, puffs away to retrieve the medals.

Down the line, Bertie arrives at the station having won the race. Bertie waits keenly for Thomas, but he never comes. Thomas is steaming back for the medals. He arrives at Knapford, where the stationmaster gives Thomas' driver the medals. Thomas arrives at the venue, with the medals, just in time for the medals to be handed out.

The next day, Thomas is at Maithwaite station when the Fat Controller and Bertie arrive with a surprise for Thomas; despite him not winning the race this time, a boy gives Thomas his own medal and wraps it around his funnel. The Fat Controller and the boy express their gratitude for Thomas' hard work during sports day and they thought Thomas deserved a medal all for himself. Thomas thanks them for the medal and all the children give him three cheers.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Percy
 * Bertie
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * The Little Boys
 * Harold
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Trevor
 * Butch
 * Tiger Moth
 * Stephen Hatt
 * Bridget Hatt
 * Jem Cole
 * Farmer Trotter
 * Nancy
 * Cyril the Fogman
 * Jenny Packard
 * Mrs. Last
 * The Boy
 * Tiger Moth's Pilot
 * The Storyteller
 * One of the Stone-Dropping Boys
 * The Railway Board
 * The Fisherman
 * James
 * Harvey

Locations

 * Tower Windmill
 * Sports Field Halt
 * The Runby Bridge
 * Dryaw
 * Dryaw Airfield
 * Oliver's Shed
 * Knapford
 * The First Three-Track Station
 * The Mountain Village
 * Maithwaite
 * Wellsworth
 * Wellsworth Bridge
 * Tidmouth Lighthouse
 * Sir Topham Hatt's Office

Trivia

 * Going by production order, this is the second episode of the seventh series.
 * Stock footage from Make Someone Happy, James and the Red Balloon, Percy Gets it Right, and Bulgy Rides Again is used, as well as mirrored stock footage from It's Only Snow and extended stock footage from James and the Queen of Sodor.
 * A London, Midland and Scottish Railway poster is seen at Maithwaite.
 * This is the only non-Pack related episode where Miss Jenny appears.
 * The majority of the footage of Thomas puffing forward seems sped up, even after the race.
 * An instrumental version of Let's Have a Race can be heard during Thomas and Bertie's race in the UK and international dubs with Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell's music.
 * This is the first episode where Bertie's eyes move onscreen.
 * This was the last episode of several things:
 * The last episode directed by David Mitton.
 * The last episode produced by Phil Fehrle.
 * The last episode to have Peter Urie as executive producer.
 * The last episode of the main series produced by Gullane Entertainment, and the last episode from the Gullane era until the Jack and the Pack spin-off series episode Alfie Has Kittens.
 * The last episode written by Jan Page, as well as the only episode to have her as script editor.
 * The last to have music composed by Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell in the UK until the sixteenth series episode, Percy and the Calliope that was used in both the UK and US.
 * Britt Allcroft's last episode as script consultant.
 * The final episode of the series produced with any of the above mentioned people's involvement.
 * The last episode to use 35mm film.
 * The last episode in the UK to use the original opening credits.
 * The last episode to use the shot of Thomas in front of Tidmouth Sheds for the end credits in the UK.
 * The last episode of the main show to have a run time of four minutes and thirty seconds.
 * The last episode to be dubbed by Håkan Mohede in Sweden, Tommy Kenter in Denmark, Kim Il in South Korea, Alexandru Rusu in Romania until the tenth series, and until the thirteenth series in Wales (as well as the final episode where the narrator voices all the characters in said dub).
 * The last appearance of The Mountain Village.
 * The last appearances of The Little Boys and the Stone Dropping Boys.
 * In the episode, there is a water tower right next to the shed that Thomas, Percy and Bertie were at. But in a deleted scene with Harvey, the tower has moved up and moved to the other side of the tracks.
 * When the episode aired in the half-hour TV format airing, "Helping" in the US, the UK title card is used.
 * This is the third time Thomas and Bertie are seen racing, the first being Thomas and Bertie and the second being Harold and the Flying Horse; only this time, Thomas is actually shown to not complete the race.
 * A shortened version of this episode was made into a picture-read story for the passport in the My Journey with Thomas the Tank Engine book, titled Thomas and the Race.
 * It is likely that the ending of this episode was filmed around the same time as the Jack and the Sodor Construction Company episode, A Visit from Thomas, as Miss Jenny can be seen waving on the platform at Maithwaite.

Goofs

 * After Thomas stops to pick up passengers at the station, his side rods change position.
 * In the rear shot of Trevor, the left wheels of his cart are not moving.
 * As Thomas races through Dryaw, a strange white object (presumably a film glitch) is seen as he goes off-screen.
 * When all the children surround Bertie, his right eye is wonky.
 * In Michael Angelis' dub with re-dubbed music in the half hour TV format airing, "Helping" on Nick Jr. UK, when Thomas is given his medal, Percy's whistle sound is heard, but he is nowhere to be seen.
 * Because stock footage is used, the close-up of the Fat Controller when he tells Thomas that the sports day medals have been left in his office shows him at Maithwaite and he is smiling. Also, James is seen pulling coaches at the beginning of the episode, but a few seconds later, he is seen pulling a goods train.

Merchandise

 * Magazine Stories - Bertie and the Race
 * Books - A Hooray for Thomas!

Home Media Releases
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UK

 * Happy Little Helpers
 * All Aboard!
 * Bumper Party Collection!
 * The Complete Series 7
 * Active Collection
 * You Can Do It, Toby & Three Cheers for Thomas

DVD Packs

 * Classic Collection
 * Bumper Party Collection!/Truck Loads of Fun Double Pack

WAL

 * Hip Hip Hooray for Thomas

US

 * Hooray for Thomas and Other Adventures
 * Thomas & Friends Classic Volume 7

CAN

 * Hooray for Thomas and Other Adventures

DVD Boxsets

 * On-the-Go Pack
 * Totally Thomas Volume 5

AUS

 * The Complete Series 7

DVD Packs

 * Complete Series 1-10
 * Series Seven and Series Eight Double Pack

HK

 * Thomas and Friends Volume 16
 * Thomas and Friends Volume 3

THA

 * Thomas and Friends - Volume 26

TWN

 * Confident Brave Little Engine
 * Long Live Thomas
 * Thomas and Friends Volume 5

JPN

 * Thomas the Tank Engine Series 7 Vol.1
 * People of Sodor Island
 * Run! Big Race on the Island of Sodor

ZA

 * Peep! Peep! Hurray! Three Cheers for Thomas

DVD Boxsets

 * 5 DVD Boxset

DK

 * Hip Hooray for Thomas and Other Stories

DVD Boxsets

 * Danish DVD Boxset

SWE

 * Hooray for Thomas!

MYS

 * Fergus Breaks the Rules and Other Adventures
 * Something Fishy and Other Adventures
 * School Break with Thomas

ITA

 * Hooray for Thomas

KOR
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 * A Story That Builds Confidence
 * Character Special Edition Series Vol. 1

Un Hurra para Thomas שלוש תרועות לתומס トーマスだけのメダル Potrójne Brawa dla Tomka Да здравствует Томас!