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“What are you doing here?"
"Your worthy Fat— uh, Sir Topham Hatt sent me. I hope you are pleased to see me again. I am to shunt some dreadfully tiresome trucks."
"Shunt where?"
"Where? Why from here to there! And again from there to here! Easy, isn't it?”
― Duck, Diesel and Percy

Diesel Does It Again is the eighth episode of the third series. It is based on the magazine stories Trouble in the Harbour Yard and Bumps written by Andrew Brenner.

Plot

Duck and Percy enjoy their work at the harbour yards moving trucks to and from the quay but the engines feel very exhausted one morning because the harbour is becoming busier than usual. The Fat Controller understands this and promises that another engine will come and help out. Percy and Duck are very glad to hear this and wait but their relief turns to shock when the engine sent to help turns out to be Diesel. The two engines ask him what he is doing at the harbour, to which Diesel tells them that he was called back by the Fat Controller and to shunt some dreadfully tiresome trucks. To make himself clear, he bumps some trucks hard.

Percy and Duck do not trust Diesel and refuse to work with him, not leaving the harbour shed. The Fat Controller is in his office enjoying his iced bun and tea when he gets a call on the telephone from the harbourmaster saying that there is trouble at the harbour yard. Diesel is working alone and, as a result, the work starts to pile up as the cargo and passengers are delayed on the quay. People soon start complaining about the railway.

DieselDoesItAgain17

"Your worthy Fat- uh... Sir Topham Hatt sent me."

The Fat Controller arrives and demands an explanation from Percy and Duck and they explain that they will not work with Diesel. Duck adds that he thought Diesel was sent packing after the lies he told. The Fat Controller tells the two that he has to give Diesel a second chance as he was the only engine available and is trying to help Percy and Duck out by bringing him to the harbour, demanding that the two go back to work. Percy and Duck sadly do as they are told.

Things are no better next morning. Diesel's driver did not properly put his brakes on the previous night and he bumps straight into Percy, frightening him and does not apologise. Later, Diesel bumps some trucks so hard that the loads spill everywhere. Percy and Duck are worried as to what the Fat Controller will say but they do not tell him after Diesel threatens to brand them as "tell-tales" if they do.

Thinking he can get away with anything, Diesel becomes increasingly rude while he shunts some China Clay Trucks the next day. He accidentally shunts the trucks through a set of unsecured buffers, pushing them into the sea. Although the harbour workers safely recover the trucks from the sea that night, the china clay is gone and the Fat Controller is furious with Diesel upon hearing the news. He tells Diesel that he will be expelled from the harbour before telling Duck and Percy that they will have to handle all the work by themselves again. Knowing that extra work is preferable to working with Diesel, Percy and Duck gladly go back to work as Diesel slinks slowly away in disgrace.

Characters

Locations

Trivia

  • A CGI series flashback of the scene where Diesel pushes the trucks into the water was later made for Diesel's Ghostly Christmas and the events were also later mentioned by Salty.
  • A tractor prop, S.S. Vienna, Big Mickey's models, the steel company, steel rig, the Fuel Depot Manager's office building, the coal hopper, various boats and cranes and the Fire station from TUGS are visible.
  • This is Diesel's last episode with a leading role until the sixth series episode, The World's Strongest Engine.
  • In the restored version:
    • The last few seconds of the scene of Diesel passing Duck and Percy before he bumped the trucks are cut off.
    • The Fat Controller's head is turned different when he said "What's all this?".
    • Percy stops rolling his eyes after Diesel bumps into him.
    • Diesel's eye movement is different when he calls Duck and Percy tell-tales (or tattle-tales) compared to the original version.
  • This episode aired alongside Escape on Storytime with Thomas.
  • In some releases of the US dub, as Duck tells the Fat Controller that they will not work with Diesel, the Thomas theme is faintly heard for about two seconds.
  • On the week this episode and Henry's Forest made their television debut, TV Times held a competition with the deadline of 1 May 1992. Fans had to write the correct names of three engines as pictured in a scene from Woolly Bear and send in their answers. Seven winners would receive an array of various assorted Thomas goods as their prize.
  • This episode marks the last appearance of Thomas' tired face until the sixth series episode, Elizabeth the Vintage Lorry.
  • This is one of the two episodes to feature Duck's unused second series tired face with the other being the fourth series episode, Bowled Out as well as the return of his second series surprised one.
  • This episode marks the first time Diesel's unused second series shocked face is used.
  • In a few promotional images:
    • When Diesel bumps into Percy, he is wearing his snarling face instead of his usual angry face, thus marking the first time his said face is used. It was also used when Diesel bumps a Troublesome Truck instead of his devious face. However, it would not appear on-screen until the sixth series episode The World's Strongest Engine.
    • Percy has his correct tired face in the scene of both him and Duck exhausted from the hard work.
    • A deleted scene showed Duck and Percy in different spots when the Fat Controller questions their refusal to work with Diesel.
  • Though the trucks that Diesel pushes into the sea are not shown to have faces and were stated to be rescued in the English dubs and the other international ones, the German dub states that the trucks drowned. This is the first time death has been explicitly mentioned in the television series, even though it was not until Toad and the Whale that the English narrations did so.
  • This and No Joke for James are the only episodes in the whole series where Sir Topham Hatt's English name was used in the Finnish dub to address him by his real name.

Goofs

  • In the first shot, steam can be seen emitting from the track before Percy runs over it and when he does it goes off too late.
  • Percy has Thomas' tired face in one scene. Interestingly, in a promotional image of this episode, Percy wears his own tired face.
  • When Thomas is seen leaving the station, he blows off steam but it suddenly disappears as another train comes in, thus indicating a film cut.
  • Diesel's wheels do not stop moving after he spills the loads. This is because the trucks he shoved actually hit the end of the set.
  • Diesel's eyes are misaligned when he bumps into Percy.
  • When Percy leaves at the end, steam can be seen coming from the track after he has gone.
  • In the original UK dub, Michael Angelis mispronounces "arrive" when Duck and Percy are waiting for Diesel and "harbor" when the Fat Controller answers the phone.
  • The Fat Controller is missing his eyebrows when he scolds Diesel.
  • Percy's piston appears to be broken right before he gets bumped by Diesel.
  • A couple of expression mentioning errors include:
    • When Diesel says "Wake up, Percy!" the narrator says he was scowling but he is smiling.
    • When Percy says, "What will the Fat Controller say?!" the narrator mentions him gasping but he looks cross.
  • In some scenes throughout the episode, Percy's roof is lifted.
  • Percy's eyes are misaligned before the Fat Controller arrives about the disturbance.
  • When the narrator says that Diesel was working loud and alone, he jolts a bit to the side.
  • When Diesel calls Duck and Percy tattletales, his right eye (viewers' left) moves slightly.

Quotes

Diesel: [approaches the shed] Good morning.
Duck: What are you doing here?!
Diesel: Your worthy Fat- uh, Sir Topham Hatt sent me. I hope you are pleased to see me again. I am to shunt some dreadfully tiresome trucks.
Percy: Shunt where?
Diesel: Where? Why from here to there. And then again, from there to here. Easy, isn't it?
(he punctuates his point by bumping some trucks hard)
Narrator: With that, Diesel, as if to make himself quite clear, bumped some trucks hard.
Trucks: OOH!!!
Diesel: Grrrr!!!

[after Diesel bumps a line of trucks hard, causing the loads to spill]
Percy: What will the Fat Controller say?
Duck: He won't like it.
Diesel: So who's going to tell him I wonder? Two goody-goody tattletales like you, I suppose?
Narrator: Percy and Duck did not want to be tattletales, so they said nothing.

The Fat Controller: [to Diesel, after his mishap with the trucks earlier] The harbourmaster has told me everything. Things worked much better here before you arrived. I shall not be inviting you back! Now, Duck and Percy, I hope you won't mind having to handle the work by yourselves again.
Percy: Oh, no, sir.
Duck: Yes, please, sir.

In Other Languages

View content
Language Title
Brazilian Portuguese Desastre á vista
Chinese Mandarin 再来一次
Czech Diesel znova zlobí
Danish Diesel gør det igen
Dutch Diesel doet het weer
Finnish Diesel iskee jälleen
German Schon wieder Diesel
Greek Η επιστροφή της Ντίζη
Hungarian Dízel újabb hibája
Italian Diesel ci riprova
Japanese ディーゼルがかえってきた
Korean 다시 만난 디젤
Latin American Spanish Diesel lo hace de nuevo
Norwegian Diesel gjør det igjen
Polish Powrót Diesla
Romanian Diesel o face din nou
Russian Дизель снова это делает
Serbian Dizel opet ne sluša
Slovenian Poredna dizelska lokomotiva
Swedish Diesel gör det igen
Turkish Diesel Yeniden Yaptı
Ukrainian Дизель знову за своє
Welsh O... Disl!

Merchandise

Home Video Releases

UK

UK DVD Boxset

WAL

US

CAN

  • Thomas Gets Bumped and Other Stories (Direct-to Home-Video)

US/CAN VHS/DVD Packs

AUS

AUS DVD Boxsets

NZ

ZA

IND

MYS

PHL

ITA

NL

GER

NOR

DK

SWE

FIN

  • Thomas, Percy and the Dragon

SVN

SRP

GRC

GRC DVD Boxset

TUR

THA

JPN

JPN DVD Boxset

KOR

CHN

HK

Episode

References



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