Heroes

Heroes is the twenty-fourth episode of the third series. It is based on the magazine stories In a Muddle and the story of the same name written by Andrew Brenner.

Plot

Bill and Ben are working at the quarry and are bored of doing the same thing. Ben asks Bill if he can hear something different, to which Bill replies that he cannot. Ben then states that it is because everything sounds and looks the same and that they need a surprise. Bill is puzzled but, before Ben can say more, the quarrymaster comes with a message from the Fat Controller that they are to go to the harbour.

Bill and Ben hurry to the harbour, worried that they did something wrong. When they arrive, the Fat Controller instructs them to shunt trucks at the station while Edward is taking the children on a trip. Next, Bill and Ben meet Gordon, who tells them to behave since they are on the main line. Ben jokingly says the sight of Gordon made them think that the harbour was the scrapyard. Gordon is furious and orders the twins to make sure that the Express is ready on time that night.

The twins start shunting, thinking they know all about trucks, when they really do not. The trucks claim that they want to help Bill and Ben in organising the yard; the twins accept the offer, unaware that the trucks are playing a trick on them. As a result, by nightfall, the yard has become a mess, causing the twins to be late in bringing Gordon's coaches to the station.

The next day, the twins are back in the quarry when they hear a rumble. Ben's driver realises that it is a rockslide. The alarm is raised and the quarrymaster alerts everyone to evacuate. Bill and Ben wait as the workmen board their trucks. As Bill leaves with his load, the quarrymaster shouts for help, having been left behind. Ben waits until he is safely aboard his train and then quickly evacuates the quarry yard before the rockslide fills the entire quarry. Seeing the wreckage shortly afterward, Bill and Ben hope that the Fat Controller will understand that it was not their fault. The next day, the Fat Controller arrives aboard Edward and leads the quarry workers in giving the twins three cheers as heroes for saving them. Bill and Ben think that being called "heroes" is quite a nice surprise.

Characters

• Gordon
• Bill and Ben
• Troublesome Trucks
• Troublesome Vans
• Sir Topham Hatt
• The Sodor China Clay Company Manager
• Edward (does not speak)
• Jem Cole (cameo)
• Farmer Trotter (cameo)
• The New Signalman (cameo)
• The Father (cameo)

Locations

• Sodor China Clay Company
• Brendam
  • Brendam Docks
    • Sodor Trading Co.
    • Brendam Drawbridge
    • Brendam Canal
• Two-Track Stone Bridge (deleted scene)
• The Main Line (mentioned)
• The Scrapyard (mentioned)

Trivia

• This episode marks:
  • Bill and Ben's last episode with leading roles until the fifth series episode Double Teething Troubles.
  • The first time Gordon is seen pulling the red express coaches, excluding promotional images from Gordon and the Famous Visitor and Thomas, Percy and the Dragon.
  • The last episode where Miyuki Hara voices Ben in the Japanese dub. Although Tomoko Naka continued to voice Bill until the end of the classic era, Hiromi Nishida took over the role, starting with the fifth series until the end of said era.
  • The last appearance of the Sodor China Clay Company, as well as Bill and Ben's last episode with a leading role until the fifth series episode Double Teething Troubles.
  • The last appearance of Brendam, not counting being mentioned on the timetable in Toby Had a Little Lamb and a mentioned appearance in Thomas and the Royal Engine.
• A reference to the second series episode Wrong Road is made.
• In the original magazine story, In a Muddle, only the Fat Controller telling Bill and Ben what to do took place at Brendam. For unknown reasons, the episode adaptation has the rest of that portion of the story still take place at Brendam, despite Gordon saying that they are on the main line.
• A fishing boat, the large brown building, a double berth garage, a scrap steam shovel, the three-berth garage, the steel rig, a small factory, some gears and the coal hopper from Tugs appear at both the harbour and the quarry.
• The roof of one of the buildings is made of cardboard, as seen when it absorbs the water from the water tower.
• In the UK dub, Michael Angelis' lines, "Gordon was cross. 'Just make sure that my coaches are ready for the evening train,' and he fumed away," are a different audio quality in comparison to the rest of the episode.
• On CITV, a day before this episode aired, presenter Tommy Boyd mentioned that Thomas would be having trouble with the trucks, when the main characters were actually Bill and Ben.

Goofs

• The quarrymaster's coat changes colour between small scale and large scale models.
• When Gordon tells the twins to get his express coaches ready for his evening train, his buffers are crooked.
• Most of the trucks have crooked faces.
• In the second shot of Bill and Ben shunting trucks at the harbour, a truck with half a load of coal is visible. When the twins shunt this truck the load shifts, revealing it to be a solid prop made to look like coal.
• One of the trucks has its face fitted on its back end and its eyes are also scratched.
• The narrator says Ben waited for the last workman, when it was actually Bill.
• When one shed gets destroyed during the rock slide, the entire set bounces up, even the hillside behind it.
• At the end of the episode, when everyone cheers for Bill and Ben, both the quarrymaster's right arm and the Fat Controller's left arm are weakly connected to their bodies.
• The restored Japanese version from The Engine Twins DVD reveals Thomas in the English end credits before swiping into the character gallery.

In Other Languages

Merchandise

Bill and Ben (2011 My Thomas Story Library book)

Home Video Releases

Episode

English

Other Languages

References