Thomas the Tank Engine Wikia
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For other uses, see Thomas and Bertie (disambiguation).

“Hello, who are you?"
"I'm Bertie. Who are you?"
"I'm Thomas. I run this branch line."
"So
you're Thomas, eh? I remember now. You got stuck in the snow. I took your passengers, and Terence the Tractor pulled you out. I've come to help you with your passengers today."
"Help me? I can go faster than you."
"You can't!"
"I can!"
"I'll race you!”
― Thomas and Bertie

Thomas and Bertie, lengthened to Thomas and Bertie's Great Race on North American releases, is the fourteenth episode of the first series. It is based on the story of the same name from the Railway Series book Tank Engine Thomas Again.

Plot

One day, Thomas is waiting at a junction where a bus drives up alongside him. The bus introduces himself as Bertie, who remembers Thomas from the time he took his passengers home after Thomas ended up in a snowdrift and tells him that he has come to help his passengers today. Thomas claims that he can go faster than Bertie, who challenges Thomas to a race. Their drivers agree and Thomas and Bertie begin their race.

ThomasandBertie14

"Goodbye, Bertie!"

As it takes Thomas a while to build up speed, Bertie takes a head start at the beginning. However, he reaches the level crossing where Thomas passes him and takes the lead. After that, the road leaves the railway and Thomas stops at the next station to collect passengers. He tells them to get in quickly and as he starts off again, he sees Bertie zooming over the bridge and retaking the lead. Thomas tries to catch up, but he has to stop at Elsbridge because the signal is up. Bertie continues on gleefully while Thomas feels sure that he will lose the race, but he feels better after a drink and is ready to continue just as the signal drops.

While crossing the bridge, Thomas finds that he still has a chance to win, seeing Bertie waiting on a traffic light. As Bertie starts again, Thomas reaches full speed and takes the lead as he passes Bertie at the tunnel. He then makes it to the last station, winning the race. Everyone cheers for Thomas, but they also give Bertie a big cheer. Bertie congratulates Thomas for the victory and remarks that he would have had to be an aeroplane to beat him over the tunnel hill.

The two friends now work together and often talk about their race, but the passengers do not like to be bounced around, and the Fat Controller warns Thomas about running at dangerous speeds. Although it does not seem likely, the two still hope for a chance to race again.

Characters

Locations

Trivia

Goofs

  • Thomas' boiler has a chip in it when he meets Bertie.
  • During the first met of the two, the narrator says Thomas was waiting at the junction, but he is actually on a bus depot. This is because the narration was taken from the book, where Knapford is the junction with the Main Line and Thomas' branch, while Knapford in the television series is the big station instead of Tidmouth.
  • In the bottom left corner of the screen when Thomas and Bertie are about to start their race, a camera shadow can be seen.
  • When Thomas puffs into Elsbridge, he has Percy's tired face mask on when he puffs into Elsbridge.
  • Due to portions of the script being taken verbatim from the original book, the narrator says "After that, the road left the railway so they couldn't see Bertie," but there is a road right next to Thomas.
  • The plane that is seen taking off as Thomas and his coaches leave Dryaw suddenly stops moving before they have passed the camera.
  • In a close-up of Bertie, he has no driver.
  • In the shot of Thomas racing past Lower Arlesburgh, the end of the set is visible in the background.
  • In the top left corner, studio equipment can be seen as Thomas enters the tunnel.
  • Annie and Clarabel keep changing positions throughout the race.
  • In the restored version, studio equipment can be seen when Thomas pulls into Ffarquhar after the race.
  • In a close-up of Thomas, a camera capture can be seen on his coupling.
  • The narrator says Bertie was fuming at the gates, but Bertie is smiling. This is because his cross face had not yet been made until the third series; Bertie was given only one face in the first series.
  • Because stock footage is used, sometimes Annie and Clarabel are not behind Thomas.
  • When Thomas stops at Elsbridge, he passes the end of the platform. But when he is taking on water, he has moved backward.
  • As Bertie congratulates Thomas, the number of people near Bertie differs between shots.
  • In the final scene, studio equipment can be seen in the top left corner.

In Other Languages

View content
Language Title
Brazilian Portuguese A corrida
Chinese Mandarin 托马斯和柏蒂巴士
Croatian Tomica i Bero
Czech Tomáš a Berty
Danish Thomas og Bertie
Dutch Thomas en Bertie
Finnish Tuomas-veturi ja Lassi
French Thomas et Bertrand
German Bertie, der Bus
Greek Ο Τόμας και ο Μπέρτι
Hebrew תומס וברטי
Hungarian Thomas és Bertie
Icelandic Tommi og Bertie
Italian Il trenino e la corriera
Japanese トーマスとバーティーのきょうそう
Korean 토마스와 버티의 경주
Latin American Spanish La gran carrera de Thomas y Bertie
Norwegian Thomas og Bertie
Polish Tomek i Bercia
Romanian Thomas şi Bertie
Romansh Tumasch e Berta
Russian Томас и Берти
Serbian Tomas i Berti
Slovak Thomas a Bertie
Slovenian Tomaž in Berti
Swedish Thomas och Bertie
Turkish Thomas ve Bertie
Ukrainian Томас і Берті
Welsh Tomos a Berti

Home Video Releases

UK

UK VHS/DVD Boxsets

WAL

  • Troublesome Trucks and 8 Other Stories

US

CAN

  • James Learns a Lesson and Other Stories (Ringo Starr's US dub)
  • 10 Years of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends
  • The Early Years (UK dub)
  • Engine Friends (Ringo Starr's US dub)

US/CAN VHS/DVD Packs

AUS

AUS DVD Packs

NZ

ZA

IND

MYS

PHL

LATAM

ITA

FRA

ROM

ROM DVD Pack

NL

NL DVD Boxsets

GER

GER DVD Boxset

NOR

DK

SWE/FIN

ICE

  • Thomas the Tank Engine 2

SVN

HRV

SRP

GRC

GRC DVD Boxset

TUR

THA

JPN

JPN VHS/DVD Boxsets

CHN

HK

Episode


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