Edward the Very Useful Engine

This article is about 'the episode'. You may be looking for 'the book or the DVD'.

“Duck should play with other ducks,
'coz he's no good at pulling trucks! Quack! Quack! Quack! Quack! Hold back! Hold back!”

― The Troublesome Trucks

Edward the Very Useful Engine, retitled Edward the Really Useful Engine in some American and British releases, is the twenty-third episode of the sixth season.

Plot

Gordon thinks that Edward is old and should be retired, and the other big engines agree with him, but Percy is concerned about this. He tells his driver and the Fat Controller about what Gordon said about Edward, who attends to the matter immediately.

The Fat Controller arranges for Edward to teach Stepney to run a new loop line, while Duck does Edward's work, but it makes no difference to Gordon. Edward enjoys working with Stepney, but Duck does not enjoy working with the trucks, especially when they hold him back on Gordon's Hill. Duck is stuck on Gordon's line, and it is too late to switch him to the middle line, so the guard tries to flag him down, but Gordon passes by and tries to push Duck up, but it is no good.

Gordon's crew sends for Edward to help both engines, and as the strange train sets off and pulls into the station, Gordon feels rather embarrassed and is told off by The Fat Controller for saying rude things about Edward, who has proven to be responsible, reliable and very helpful. The next day, Gordon apologises to Edward and says that he really is a useful engine. Now there is no more talk about Edward retiring.

Characters

Thomas
Edward
Henry
Gordon
Percy
Sir Topham Hatt
Stephen Hatt (not named)
James (does not speak)
Duck (does not speak)
Stepney (does not speak)
Farmer Trotter (cameo)
The Storyteller (cameo)
Oliver (deleted scene)

Locations

Trivia

This was the final episode to be written by David Mitton.
This is one of the few episodes of the sixth season to be later re-narrated by Michael Brandon in the US and Michael Angelis in the UK with music composed by Robert Hartshorne and Ed Welch.
In Michael Angelis' 2005 re-narration, the term "freight cars" is used at the beginning.
Three posters at Knapford read "Alicia Botti in concert tonight at the castle".
During the production of the episode, fellow wikia user and Thomas fan Elliot K. Ward visited Shepperton Studios on Friday May 15th, 2002, with Phil Fehrle as his tour guide.

Goofs

In the American narration, after Alec Baldwin says, "Sir Topham Hatt spoke severely to Gordon", a voice can be faintly heard saying "Take six".
Stepney has Skarloey's whistle sound.
When Gordon is seen coming up the hill to push Duck, the guard is seen waving a red flag, but in the very next shot, he is in the brakevan.
When Edward buffers up to Gordon a white wire is visible in the windows of the express coach.
Duck has Oliver's whistle sound at the beginning.
Some of the trucks that Duck is pulling have their face on the back end.

Merchandise

Books - Edward, the Very Useful Engine and Help the Little Edward (Germany only)

In Other Languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Norwegian	Edward, det nyttige lokomotivet	Edward the Useful Engine
Danish	Edward det gamle lokomotiv	Edward the Old Engine
Japanese	やくにたつきかんしゃエドワード	Edward the Useful Engine
Welsh	Cymorth i Edward	Assistance to Edward
Spanish	Edward, la locomotora muy útil	Edward the Very Useful Engine
Swedish	Edward, det nyttiga loket	Edward the Useful Engine
Slovenian	Edvard, Zelo Koristna Lokomotiva	Edward the Very Useful Engine
Italian	La Locomotiva di Spinta	The Back Engine
Romanian	Edward Locomotiva Foarte Utilă	Edward the Very Helpful Locomotive
Slovak	Eduard je veľmi užitočná lokomotíva	Edward is a Very Useful Locomotive
Hungarian	Edward Nagyon Hasznos Mozdony	Edward's Locomotive Very Useful
Polish	Bardzo Użyteczny Edek	Very Useful Edward
Chinese	爱德华非常有用的小火车	Edward the Useful Train
Korean	꼭 필요한 기관차	Necassary Engines
Thai	เอ็ดเวิร์ดแรงไม่ตก	Edward Did Not Fall Hard