Murdoch

"Please, I want some peace and quiet. I don't want to share a shed with chatterboxes!"

- Murdoch complaining Murdoch is an orange tender engine with ten drive wheels. He is one of Sodor's largest and strongest tender engines, who hauls goods trains on the Main Line and lives at Knapford Sheds.

Biography
Murdoch was brought to help out the engines with their heavy workloads. Because of his size and strength, Salty and Harvey were eager to learn more about him. Murdoch, however, disliked the noise of their chatter and he ended up getting cross with them. The next day, Murdoch finally had a chance to pull a train through the quiet countryside. Unfortunately, his journey was interrupted by a flock of sheep that strayed onto the line. Murdoch had to wait with the noisy sheep until Toby could bring the farmer to lead them away. That night, Murdoch found Salty's and Harvey's company a relief.

Murdoch was happy but shy about being decorated for the May Day festivities.

One windy autumn day, a large red carpet landed on a goods wagon from Murdoch's goods train, unbeknownst to Murdoch. Percy had briefly chased after it, until the heavy winds blew it away yet again.

When Whiff first arrived on Sodor, Murdoch (alongside Molly and Neville) laughed at Emily because she was showing Whiff around Sodor.

Emily once needed Murdoch's help when she became stranded in the muddy water and near the end, Emily asked him which track should she take. Murdoch told Emily that the tracks on Gordon's Hill were being cleared and told her to take the valley route instead.

Murdoch shunted Rocky while helping Thomas recover the lost materials for the Sodor River Bridge's restoration.

Personality
Murdoch is a mighty, powerful engine with ten drive wheels. He is one of the largest engines working on Sodor and was brought to the Island to help with the heavy workload and pull heavy goods trains across the Main Line. Murdoch is as shy as he is strong, as he is actually a gentle giant. He can often be found seeking peace and quiet, away from the bustle of the yards and the Docks. He enjoys long hauls through the countryside and although he can get short of patience and a little annoyed if he does not get some alone time, he can be quite a reserved engine. Although he can be an independent worker, Murdoch is often content to join in, help and offer advice where he deems it worthy, but, despite being hard to miss due to his defining strength and size, he will not jump to put himself at the centre of attention.

According to Thomas and Friends Writers' Bible, he is described as "a quiet and thoughtful engine – Murdoch is a gentle giant and good listener. Never one to push himself forward, he has to be drawn into conversation, even when he has something interesting to contribute. As an instinctive peacemaker he finds conflict between other engines unbearable and will assert himself to sort things out.  The other engines like and respect Murdoch – still waters run deep." As he works on the Main Line, he most commonly come into contact with the larger engines.

Basis
Murdoch is based on a BR Standard Class 9F with a BR1G tender, which was used for fast and heavy goods trains. The class was the last of the BR Standards and the final steam engine class built by British Railways, with the last one, "Evening Star", built in March 1960. Due to the size and shape of the class, they were given the nickname "Spaceships". "Evening Star" and eight other 9Fs are preserved. One 9F, "Black Prince" holds the record for hauling the heaviest steam-hauled train in all of England, Scotland and Wales, at 2,198 tons. "Evening Star", the very last steam locomotive built by BR, is also part of the National Collection.

Livery
Murdoch is painted dull orange with green and red lining. He has smoke deflectors, on which he wears red nameplates with his name in gold.

Originally, Murdoch was to be painted maroon with red and chrome yellow lining, as shown in early artwork by Robert Gauld-Galliers. His livery was later changed, likely due to it being similar to another of the new characters introduced in the seventh series, Arthur.

Appearances
Television Series= {{Scroll box|

Thomas & Friends

 * Series 7 - Something Fishy, Peace and Quiet and Best Dressed Engine
 * Series 8 - Percy and the Magic Carpet
 * Series 11 - Emily's Rubbish
 * Series 12 - Excellent Emily and Thomas Puts the Brakes On

Music Videos
}} {{Scroll box|
 * Series 7 - Five New Engines in the Shed and Salty
 * Series 8 - Determination
 * -|Other Media=

Books

 * 2004 - Gordon and the Competition and New Friends for Thomas
 * 2005 - Railway Rhymes
 * 2006 - Percy and the Magic Carpet and Thomas' Sticker Express
 * 2007 - Murdoch, Ride Along with Thomas and Thomas' Giant Coloring Book
 * 2009 - A Little Rest for Murdoch
 * 2010 - A Hooray for Thomas!, Excellent Emily, Thomas Puts the Brakes On and Traveling Tales
 * 2011 - The Big Book of Engines
 * 2012 - 1001 Stickers Fun Book and Full Steam Ahead!

Magazine stories
Murdoch also appeared in the magazine story, Noisy Passengers.
 * 2004 - Blackout!, The Engine Clock, Missing Murdoch and Sound of Silence
 * 2005 - Percy and the Magic Carpet
 * 2006 - Taking Charge
 * 2007 - Snow Chute

Video Games
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 * 2007 - DVD Bingo
 * 2008 - Begins Educational Learning

Official Description
2004-2010= From Official Website

From Official Website
 * -|2010-2021=

Trivia

 * Murdoch's model used to be on display in Canada at Nitrogen Studios. The model was displayed with no face. In 2012 the model was sent back to storage.
 * The Halloween Engine in the eighth series episode, Halloween, used Murdoch's cylinders.
 * Murdoch's name was once misspelt as Mordoch, The Motor Road and Rail system previously spelt Murdoch's name incorrectly as "Murdock".
 * Even though Murdoch's tender wheels are black, most merchandise ranges have them orange, excluding Ertl, Tomica, Tomy, TrackMaster, Take-N-Play and Hornby.
 * Michael Angelis gives Murdoch a Scottish accent in the twelfth series, while Michael Brandon gives him an English accent.
 * The remote control used for Murdoch's eye mechanism and later Stanley's is now owned by Twitter user IsaacM6991.
 * Murdoch is the first character introduced in the television series to have smoke deflectors, and the second overall, with the Big City Engine being the first.
 * Murdoch had a total of ten facial expressions, three of which (wincing, shocked and sleeping) were not used on-screen.

Merchandise

 * Ertl
 * Wooden Railway
 * Take Along
 * Take-n-Play
 * Motor Road and Rail
 * TrackMaster
 * My First Thomas
 * My Thomas Story Library
 * Hornby
 * Tomica
 * Nakayoshi
 * Capsule Plarail
 * Pocket Fantasy
 * Padlock and Key