Bulls Eyes

Bulls Eyes is the twenty-first episode of the fourth series. It is based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book Branch Line Engines.

Plot

Toby's cowcatchers and sideplates are designed to prevent animals from getting hurt if they stray onto the line but Daisy thinks they look ridiculous and believes that Toby is simply afraid of getting hurt himself. She tells Toby that any animals, even bulls, will always run away if she toots her horn and looks them in the eye, despite Toby's insistence that they will not.

Later that day, Daisy is asked by a policeman to guide a stray bull back to his farmer. She sets off, eager to prove to Toby that she can handle bulls, despite the fact she has never actually encountered one before.

Although not usually very fierce, the bull, named Champion, had been cross that morning. He had strayed from his field, crashed through a fence, slid down a slope and become disoriented. Upon regaining composure, he finds himself just next to the railway line and begins to eat the trackside grass. Daisy arrives and toots to get him to move. Despite several attempts, Champion ignores her and continues eating. Eventually, he notices Daisy and advances curiously towards her. Daisy becomes unnerved, as the bull is not running away as she had expected. Her driver assures her that Champion is harmless but Daisy is worried that she might get hurt by his horns, though she tries to hide this. Champion sniffs at Daisy, which proves to be the final straw as Daisy retreats back to the station.

Toby soon learns about the incident and goes to shoo Champion away himself, although not without reminding a now silent and embarrassed Daisy that a bull should always run away if an engine toots and looks him in the eye. When Toby arrives, his bell and whistle prove ineffective against the still grazing bull but Champion eventually retreats after Toby blows steam at him. The bull and the farmer are soon reunited further down the line.

Later that evening, Daisy feels exhausted but glad that her day's work is over. Some boys at the platform then tease her with some "bulls-eyes" sweets. An annoyed Daisy shrugs off the joke and leaves to rest in her shed.

Characters

• Toby
• Daisy
• Champion
• The Crovan's Gate Policeman
• The Cart Horse Rider (does not speak)
  • Stephen Hatt (cameo)
• James (cameo)
• Percy (cameo)
• Jem Cole (cameo)

Locations

• Elsbridge
• Hackenbeck
  • Hackenbeck Shed
  • Hackenbeck Tunnel

Trivia

• Going by production order, this is the twenty-second episode of the fourth series and, thus, the 100th episode of the show.
• Despite its placement in the fourth series, this episode takes place between the second series episodes Daisy and Percy's Predicament, which is where it was set in the Railway Series, as the narrator says that Daisy had never met a bull.
• A photograph from this episode was released as a Royal Mail stamp in 2011 to mark the Reverend Awdry's Centenary.
• Bulls-eyes are a popular candy treat from Baltimore, Maryland; they are caramel with a vanilla centre. In this episode, the sweets appear to be black and white beads.
• This episode marks several things for Daisy:
  • Her first speaking role since the second series episode Percy's Predicament.
  • Her only speaking role in the fourth series, not counting when her model was used as one of the diesels in Rusty to the Rescue.
  • The only Daisy-centric episode featured on Shining Time Station, albeit on the spin-off Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales as Rick Siggelkow had no involvement in the spin-off.
  • Her last episode with a leading role and her last speaking role in an episode until the twentieth series episode Ryan and Daisy.
  • Her last appearance until the 2005 special Calling All Engines!.
  • Her last speaking role until the 2015 special Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure.
  • Her last appearance in an episode until the nineteenth series episode Thomas the Babysitter.
  • Her last speaking role in the model series.
  • Her only speaking role to be narrated by both Michael Angelis and George Carlin.
• This marks the first time Toby's whistle is heard, which is Percy's but two steps lower-pitched, reusing Percy's whistle from the previous series.
• Not counting the theme music, this is the last episode to reuse music from the Clearwater Features era with the Roland Jupiter 6 synthesiser. This only happens during Daisy's theme.
• The horse and cart rider are based on an illustration from The Railway Series book The Little Old Engine. A large scale figure was also made but went unused in this episode. The large scale body was reused for the Mid Sodor Railway Manager in Bye George! and the Photographer's seated figure from the seventh to tenth series.
• This episode aired alongside the second series episode Percy's Predicament on Storytime with Thomas.
• A clip from this episode was shown on Sir Topham Hatt's Scrapbook bonus feature on the Salty's Secret, New Friends for Thomas, Thomas and the Special Letter, Henry and the Elephant and Engine Friends US/Canadian DVDs. The full episode was finally released digitally as part of Thomas & Friends Classic Volume 4 on Amazon Prime Video in 2016, although the full US dub of this episode was never released on DVD.

Goofs

• James puffs past Toby with red express coaches but, in his next close-up after Daisy's close-up for about five seconds, James is suddenly out of sight.
• Daisy's eyes are slightly misaligned after she passes the level crossing.
• When the policeman warns Daisy about Champion, the man next to the policeman does not have a mouth.
• Daisy's eye mechanism is visible in several shots:
  • After the policeman tells Daisy about Champion.
  • When Champion sniffs at her.
• When Champion looks around, a small box can be seen at the entrance of the tunnel.
• Daisy's face is loose when Toby meets her in her shed.
• When Toby comes out of the tunnel, his eyes are misaligned.
• Daisy turns at the points twice when she heads to her shed at the end of the episode.

In Other Languages

Merchandise

Book

Daisy (2005 My Thomas Story Library book)

Magazine Story

Daisy and the Bull (2005 De Agostini magazine story)

Miscellaneous

Daisy (2011 Royal Mail stamp)

Home Video Releases

Episode

Reference