Season 16 - Episode 19: Don't Bother Victor

March 2012 saw the nineteenth episode of Season 16 of Thomas & Friends...

...but before the review, the usual disclaimer:

The views below are entirely those of the author and not representative of the Sodor Island Forums as a whole.

On that note, it's time to get this review underway...

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Happy Birthday, Sir!

Writer: Sharon Miller

Thomas and Winston, the new track inspection vehicle, restore an open-top carriage for the Fat Controller's birthday.

Overall Thoughts

So, this has actually proved to be the final episode of the series, given that the 20th Episode has been delayed indefinitely. So, did we end the season with a bang, or a whimper?

Definitely a whimper. And a few groans too. Sorry HiT – I love the choice of Winston's prototype, but it was badly utilised from the get go. Yet another “show X around the island because I want him to see what it is to be really useful” boring, overdone and bland opening.

And then suddenly, we get what I consider to be one of the loveliest bits of writing we've had this season. If this was your doing, Ms Miller – all is forgiven. I absolutely loved the flashback, in black and white. Okay, so Salty telling the story (given he's not ever been a Sodor regular aside from in the HiT era) was a bit of a cop out, but hearing Edward speak about how the Fat Controller loved to travel in that coach...and the nod to Edward's age. Priceless, and wonderfully written.

The choice of coach is an interesting one. It is definitely older than Edward! No prizes for guessing where the inspiration for that coach came from...! Same location as Stafford, Whiff, Scruff, and Winston. It is, in my view, an odd choice but a lovely one all the same. It has the heritage (the real carriage it is based on is a replica of a Liverpool & Manchester Railway carriage), and it does look good behind the Edwardian stylings of Edward the Blue Engine (pun unintended!)

But – and I must be consistent – it's an unfitted vehicle so should technically have a brakevan behind...!

However, I do appreciate that the presence of a brakevan would have spoiled the effect somewhat. So, in this instance, it is perhaps more forgivable than in Muddy Matters.

However - overall, the story is bland, finding the carriage is contrived, as is its same day restoration to working order, there's lots of railway related gaffes (Thomas bumping into the back of Winston – how tough do you think a permanent way inspection vehicle is compared to a 30 ton steam locomotive?!), and whilst there was little rhyming of note, there was a severe amount of Thomas being a total so and so, and never quite getting the comeuppance he deserved. Again.

You see, sometimes there's that flash of brilliance with the writing, as the black & white sequences proved today. That hint of what could have been with this series.

But the problems inherent with everything else the current crop of writers have managed over the last three years is still there, a shadow over the future of the series.

This is likely to be Nitrogen's last showing prior to Blue Mountain Mystery, so we must take a moment to thank them, as the outgoing animators of the series, for their superb efforts throughout, and welcome Arc to the family with open arms.

At the same time, we bid adieu to Sharon Miller and the current writing team, and welcome Andrew Brenner and his newly formed writing team.

The future of Thomas & Friends was very bright, in my view, the day the CGI was announced, and although we have had a very rocky road as fans, parents and guardians alike, the last three years, I would hope that the worst is behind us now, and the future continues to look bright from this point on.

Thoughts From Other SiF Members

Eric (SiF Second in Command):

Everyone has been talking about the flashback, which I did like because it was so different, and it paid credit due to Edward being a senior member of the team.

Sir Topham's lack of enthusiasm over shopping with the ladies was brilliant, and I can only hope the delivery of the line translates to the American version just as well.

It is a joke that will no doubt fly over the kids' heads, and I think the show could use more of this. Also, the humorous way in which Sir Topham drive/brake/drive/brake's Winston at the end. Too funny. Masterfully done. Unfortunately for Winston I didn't really get any sort of personality there, and if we're supposed to go into the Blue Mountain Mystery special knowing much about him, then I'm afraid he's very flat.

He has no defining characteristics, just a different design, and one should never judge based on appearances. We don't know what his desires are, and why he is so hell-bent on finding the coach for Sir Topham. He could have been replaced with any other engine and the story would not have changed. Hell, this might have been suited better for Elizabeth, Sir Topham's "first truck."

Everything else in the episode, from the ease of finding the coach, to the three strikes was forgettable, but I felt that the way this episode ended was actually very touching, and a nice way to end the season. (And if engines shouldn't be looking for things, then I hope this is the last episode where this happens ever again!)

Christopher (ERS Mod):

Basically, to sum up:

While the middle section really brought the story down, the Beginning and End were very pleasant. Loved the flashback story and Edward pulling the restored carriage. Nitrogen really made use of their visits to the National Railway Museum during their time on Thomas. Every new item of rolling stock or a certain new character since S13 I could pin-point easily. And TFC's special carriage has been another of those delightful Easter Eggs for Rail Enthusiasts to discover more of.

We'll still miss Greg and his team, but wish them what they so rightly deserve during their time in the "Miller Era" - the very best.

So while it wasn't perfect, at least it's a better season finale than "Fiery Flynn" to be sure of. Though I suppose "No One" must be the name of the Helper driving Winston. Such a shame he got hurt in that fierce "collision"...

Ian (ERS Mod):

A coach, randomly left so as to be 'lost' in the woods. Nobody has seen anything of it for years despite it being right next to a running line.

Yet within a few shorts hours of finding this 'lost' relic Thomas is able to recover it, haul it to the Steam Works, get it spruced up and get Edward to haul it to the Big Station for the Fat Controller.

If carriage preservation really was as quick and easy as this, the heritage railway's would be laughing.

So little thought or research went into this idea- nice though it was, it fell flat by being hurried and by not giving any decent explanations. A real chance to do a 'preservation' piece, a bit like Old Slow Coach in series 5, wasted simply because we had to endure half an episode of Thomas hauling two trucks of apples and two trucks of logs, while being an absolute hypocrite into the bargain.

Winston will hopefully be better developed in Blue Mountain Mystery - if this is the sum total of the character then he's about as worthwhile as a 6ft cat flap in your front door. T

There was no mention of his role or purpose on Sodor. Clearly there is some joke in Blue Mountain Mystery about The Fat Controller not being fully competent at driving Winston, for twice we saw that yet it wasn't explained at all. He barely spoke, and Thomas was at his arrogant, annoying best. Having the two of them running side by side on an up and down running line, and then having them running close together on the same running line- both big 'no-no's'.

Lovely writing at the start, great way to introduce the idea of the lost coach, Edward and Salty were 100% spot on and in character.

But why make it a birthday? There was no need for that. It could have simply been something Edward remembered from the old days, and Winston wanted to find it for Edward's benefit. So he could have asked all the other engines to keep a look out for it, culminating in an engine saying they had spotted something at a certain location- Henry in the forest, Mavis at the quarry, Diesel behind the Diesel Works- whatever. It could have finished with a lovely group scene, some months later, with Edward collecting the vintage carriage from the Steam Works and have him thanking Winston.

No birthdays. No repetitiveness. No Thomas.

I feel like I should copy and paste my conclusion from many of the reviews I've done- nice idea, but poorly executed. Pretty much sums up the writing of the CGI era.

Final Conclusions

It was, in the words of my esteemed colleague, “a nice idea, but poorly executed”. You could apply that to the vast majority of the episodes this season, but over the CGI era with Sharon Miller as head writer, and Nitrogen as the animators? No, no this would not be true of the series as a whole.

In fact what has defined this particular era of Thomas & Friends, is the insatiable desire of the writing team to push certain new characters – mostly because they are the latest toys (and this is unsurprising, I hasten to add, and part of their jobs), but doing so at the cost of the Awdry locale and its magic.

There has been an alarming lack of knowledge, some very dangerous and imitable stunts depicted, and a severe lack of common sense adhered to throughout the writing.

The problem lay directly in the overall writing format and missing the point of Thomas & Friends. It's about the railway and the people it serves first and foremost, and the engines are there to facilitate that on a day to day basis. It's about the history of the books, the rivalries between the big three engines, and the smaller shunting engines, and above all, it's about a little blue tank engine, who once wanted to go out, and see the world, and be more than the sum of his parts.

If we could see more of the brilliance of Percy & The Calliope, and less of the absolute mess of the rest of the CGI – Misty Island Rescue and Day of the Diesels specials included – then we might see Thomas & Friends hit its highest level for well over a decade.

Individual Episode Score: 1/10 - Fiery Flynn 3/10 – Ol’ Wheezy Wobbles 7/10 - Express Coming Through 3/10 - Percy & The Monster of Brendam 2/10 - Ho Ho Snowman 8/10 - Flash Bang Wallop! 2/10 - Thomas & The Rubbish Train 1/10 - Thomas Toots The Crows 1/10 - Bust My Buffers 9/10 - Percy & The Calliope 2/10 – Thomas & The Sounds of Sodor 5/10 – Salty’s Surprise 1/10 - Sodor Surprise Day 1/10 - Emily's Winter Holiday Special 2/10 – Muddy Matters 4/10 – Whiff’s Wish 4/10 – Welcome Stafford 2/10 – Don’t Bother Victor 2/10 – Happy Birthday, Sir

Total Season Score So Far: 60/190

Average Season Score So Far: 3.1/10

Quick Character Stats

Speaking Roles:

Thomas, Winston, Edward, Salty

Cameos:

Gordon, Rosie, Henry, James, Emily, Cranky