Percy's Promise

"I'll have some of your floorboards, please!" "I only swept the floor this morning."

- Percy's Fireman and the Guard Percy's Promise is the second episode of the third series. It is based on the story of the same name from the Railway Series book Percy the Small Engine.

Plot
Every Summer, the Island of Sodor is busy with holidaymakers visiting the Island to see the sights. One day, Thomas is running along the coastal branch line taking children to the beach. When he reaches the station at the port, he meets Percy bringing stone trucks to the harbour. Percy greets Thomas and remarks he wishes that he could take children, to which Thomas states that the children he is taking are the Vicar's Sunday School. He will also be busy in the evening, but offers to let Percy take the children back home, in which he gladly promises to do.

At Dryaw, Percy meets Harold who warns him of inclement weather coming and says to take care. He is also warned by Edward at the junction to be careful of an upcoming storm, but Percy knows he must keep his promise. The children enjoy a fun day at the beach until teatime, at which the weather turns bad and begins raining hard. Percy returns to the port station, where Annie and Clarabel are waiting for him to take the children home. Percy is most uncomfortable with the rain but, despite his longing to be at the sheds, he manages to get on with it.

As Percy begins his return journey, he leaves the coastal village and enters the countryside. The heavy rain makes the river rise very quickly. Percy struggles to see through the beating rain, but worse is to come; the tracks ahead have been flooded and Percy winds up in the middle of the floodwaters, his fire is dampened as water floods into his cab. His crew then tries to find some dry firewood and his fireman asks the guard for some floorboards from his van. The guard grumbles since he had only swept the floor earlier, but still agrees to help. Percy's fire is soon burning well and he feels more comfortable again, until he sees Harold approaching and worries that he wants to laugh at him. A crate attached to a parachute is dropped out and thuds on top of Percy's boiler, to his annoyance. His driver explains Harold brought hot drinks for the crew and passengers, Percy then thanks Harold before the helicopter flies away.

Percy bravely continues on with his journey and, though he begins losing steam again, keeps going. He finally reaches tracks clear of the flood and triumphantly brings the train to Eldridge. Thomas is waiting for him and congratulates him for keeping his promise. The Fat Controller arrives aboard Harold and thanks Percy and his crew. The Fat Controller is greatly impressed with Percy's efforts and praises him for being a Really Useful Engine.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Percy
 * Harold
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * The Vicar of Wellsworth
 * James
 * Bertie
 * A Troublesome Truck
 * Stephen Hatt
 * Bridget Hatt
 * Mrs. Kyndley
 * Jeremiah Jobling
 * The Boy
 * The Little Boys
 * Harold's Pilots

Locations

 * The Watermill
 * Suddery Coastal Village
 * Tidmouth Beach
 * Tidmouth Lighthouse
 * Tidmouth Hault
 * Dryaw
 * Dryaw Canal Runby
 * Dryaw Airfield
 * Elsbridge
 * The Country Line
 * Low Lands
 * Black Loch
 * Cliff Side Track
 * Arlesdale Castle
 * Dilly's Pond
 * New Harbour
 * Ffarquhar Sheds

Trivia

 * This episode was originally planned to be a part of the second series but was pushed to the third. The dialogue and visual script for this version of the episode would be leaked in 2022. In the original script, Percy's journey was to begin at the New Harbour rather than Tidmouth Hault. Despite being cut from the episode, the harbour still receives a mention in the final narration. The visual script also mentions the plan of simulating the flooded track with molded pieces of plexiglass rather than running Percy's model through actual water as was ultimately done.
 * In the original story and first script, the floorboards were actually extracted from Clarabel. A non-sentient brake van was added in the final adaptation to avoid the implication the guard was using an axe on a sentient coach.
 * The episode can be seen in a Japanese game, Magical Adventure.
 * In the restored version:
 * There is a different scene of the coastal village with the sky being blue and no people being close to the house.
 * An extended shot of Percy meeting Edward at Elsbridge is shown, with the last few seconds cut off.
 * The shot of Percy getting disgusted by the rain is an alternate take with more steam flowing.
 * The fade effect and scene of Percy arriving at Elsbridge with Annie and Clarabel are removed and replaced with a cut and an extended shot of Thomas waiting for Percy.
 * The very last shot of Percy does not freeze.
 * This episode marks the first appearance of Tidmouth Hault.
 * In a rare picture, Edward is wearing his anxious face instead of his neutral expression face when he talks to Percy at Elsbridge.
 * Although being adapted for the third series, the events of this episode were mentioned in the second series episode, Percy Takes the Plunge. Thus, this episode most likely takes place before the aforementioned episode as according to the Railway Series.
 * B-Roll footage from the first series of Thomas on Toby's Old Tramway are used at the beginning of the episode.
 * This episode reran back-to-back with the third series episode, Henry's Forest on Storytime with Thomas.
 * Modified models of the Coast Guard and a shrimper from TUGS appear at Suddery Coastal Village, making this the first episode to use TUGS models.
 * In the original UK dub and US dub, as well as the Ukrainian dub when Harold and Edward warn Percy about the storm and when Percy returns to Tidmouth Hault to take the children home, the music is omitted.
 * This episode was never released on home media or aired on television on Finland, it was only released on a website in 2015.
 * The Vicar of Wellsworth takes the role of the Vicar of Knapford.
 * This is the first episode to feature Annie's raised front bufferbeam.
 * The first scene of the episode was used in the sixth series' intro.

Goofs

 * When Percy plunges into the flooded tracks, Annie and Clarabel have swapped positions and the water appears to come above his firebox. However, in the next shot, the water is below his buffers. Also when Percy plunges into the flooded tracks, the ground sinks severely, and a bush moves on its own.
 * When Thomas is on Toby's Old Tramway, Clarabel is facing the wrong way. Then in the next shot, Annie is facing the wrong way.
 * Despite the fact that the water only reached Percy's footplate, he has a water line across his boiler when he meets Thomas at the end of the episode.
 * In the shot of Percy's driver and fireman during the scene where Percy is in the flooded water, the fence behind them is submerged; but in the close-up of the fireman, the fence is completely above the water. This changes again in the shot of the driver, fireman and guard carrying the wooden planks through the water.
 * When Thomas talks to Percy at Tidmouth Hault, a red mark can be seen next to his left eye.
 * When Percy puffs out of Tidmouth Hault the points are set where he goes into the yard with the passengers.
 * When Percy says, "I wish I could see," his roof is lifted.
 * In the Polish dub, Edward's English name was used by accident.
 * When Percy rounds the last bend the puddle near the tracks contains black plastic.
 * The narration on the Trust Thomas and Other Stories DVD is severely out of sync.
 * When Percy says, "Oh the water is sloshing my fire!" his boiler has a large chip on it.
 * Percy arrives at Elsbridge after going through The Low Lands, even though the branch line The Low Lands are located on goes past Elsbridge.

Quotes

 * Harold: Sorry, Percy. Can't talk. I'm on high alert.
 * Percy: Why?
 * Harold: Bad weather's due. My help's always needed. Mind how you go, Percy.
 * Percy: Ha! As long as I've got rails to run on, I can go anywhere, in any weather, anyhow. [leaves] Goodbye!




 * Edward: Be careful. There's a storm coming.
 * Percy: A promise is a promise, no matter what the weather.




 * The Fat Controller: Harold told me you were a wizard. He says he can beat you at some things, but not at being a submarine. I don't know what you two get up to sometimes, but I do know that you're a really useful engine.
 * Percy: Oh, sir!

Merchandise

 * Buzz Books - Percy's Promise
 * Magazine stories - Percy's Promise, Percy's Promise Going for a Swim! and Percy Gets Wet!
 * My First Thomas Books - Percy and Harold
 * My Thomas Story Library - Percy
 * Books - Percy's Promise (book)
 * Board Books - Percy gets Stuck
 * Engine Adventures - Percy

Home Media Releases
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UK

 * Time for Trouble and other stories
 * Ghost Train and other stories/Time for Trouble and other stories
 * Thomas' Train and 17 other stories
 * The Complete Series 3
 * Seasonal Scrapes
 * My Little Thomas and Percy Adventures
 * Thomas and Gordon & Percy's Promise
 * The Best of Percy

DVD Boxsets

 * Classic Collection
 * The Best of Friends

WAL

 * Thomas the Tank Engine: Bumper Special 1

US

 * Trust Thomas and Other Stories
 * Thomas and His Friends Help Out
 * Thomas' Useful Stories
 * 10 Years of Thomas
 * Best of Percy
 * Thomas' Fan Favorite Adventures
 * Thomas & Friends Classic Volume 3

CAN

 * Trust Thomas and Other Stories
 * Thomas and His Friends Help Out
 * 10 Years of Thomas
 * Best of Percy

VHS/DVD Boxsets

 * Special Video Collector's Set
 * Thomas' Useful Stories
 * Totally Thomas Volume 3
 * Totally Thomas Volume 6
 * Totally Thomas Volume 7
 * Best Tales on the Tracks
 * Best of Thomas, Percy and James Platinum Edition
 * Trust Thomas and Other Stories/A Big Day for Thomas Double Feature
 * Thomas' Trackside Tunes and Other Thomas Adventures/Thomas and His Friends Help Out Double Feature
 * On-the-Go Pack
 * Ultimate Thomas Collection
 * Best of Collection
 * 3 DVD Lunchbox Set

AUS

 * Time for Trouble and other stories
 * The Complete Series 3
 * My First Thomas with Percy

DVD Boxsets

 * Complete Series 1-10
 * My First Thomas
 * My First Thomas
 * Classic Collection
 * Series Three and Series Four Double Pack

NZ

 * Time for Trouble and other stories
 * Bumper Video Collection Volume 4
 * Thomas Train Set Compilation Video Volume 2

JPN

 * Thomas the Tank Engine Volume 12
 * Best of Percy
 * The Complete Works of Thomas the Tank Engine 1 Vol.5
 * Anytime With Percy!
 * The Complete DVD Box 1

KOR

 * Stories That Fosters Responsibility

GER

 * The Woolly Bear and 4 Other Adventures
 * Thomas and His Friends Vol. 6
 * Show What You Can!

DVD Boxsets

 * Thomas and His Friends Box Set 2

DK

 * Now There Will Be Trouble and Other Stories

UKR

 * A Train Thomas and Friends

PHL

 * Edward's Exploit

BRA

 * Helping the Friends

IN

 * Ghost Train and Other Stories

NOR

 * Favourites From Thomas and Friends
 * Ghost Train

SER

 * Thomas the Tank Engine 5

MYS

 * Edward's Exploit and Other Thomas Adventures
 * The Deputation and Other Adventures

ITA

 * On Christmas Eve

SVN

 * Daisy

NL

 * The Ghost Train
 * The Greatest Stories: The Adventures of Thomas, Percy and Gordon

GRC

 * A Lively Companionship

CHN

 * Thomas and Friends Season 1-4

THA

 * Thomas and Friends - Volume 8

HK
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 * Thomas and Friends Volume 6
 * Thomas and Friends Volume 2

Video Games

 * Magical Adventure

Percys Versprechen La Promesa de Percy ההבטחה של פרסי パーシーとこうずい Obietnica Piotrusia Обещание Перси