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“Ghosts don't work day shifts.”
― Toby's driver

Toby's Discovery is the fourteenth episode of the fifth series. In the US, it aired with Toby and the Flood in an episode of Storytime with Thomas.

Plot

The Fat Controller and his family are on Holiday and ask Toby to take them around Sodor. While stopping at the beach near Norramby Church Station Stephen and Bridget made a sandcastle modelled on a castle in the heart of Sodor and the intrigued Fat Controller asks Toby to take them to find it.

They approach a signalman, who instructs them to switch the points when they reach a junction. They do just that, and Toby puffs and pushes past branches and bushes, and finds another split junction, with one track leading to the castle and the other to a mine. They visit the castle first and then the run-down mine. Everything on the mine has been left rusty and overgrown since it was closed. The Fat Controller decides to re-open the mines and the castle for visitors, but Toby is not sure about that.

When the plans to re-open the castle and mine start with construction, Toby is convinced that the mines were haunted and is spooked by Thomas' cheeky tale of the "Old Warrior" who haunts the mines during the night. Once night falls, Toby is horrified to be put on guard duty at the mines. Then he hears a strange chuffing and wheezing sound and gets scared, believing The Old Warrior has come to hunt him down. After his driver and fireman return from investigating, they tell Toby that The Old Warrior wants to meet him. Toby is, at first, reluctant to, but he bravely chuffs forward to discovers that the ghost is really a narrow gauge engine named Bertram, who was given the nickname "Old Warrior" because of his bravery and left abandoned in the mine for several years. The two become friends, Bertram is restored and when the castle and the mine reopen, and both engines bring visitors to the area.

Characters

Locations

Trivia

  • According to the film state:
    • The Fishing Village was filmed on the 21st of January 1998.
    • The Church Station and Beach set was filmed on the 23rd of January 1998.
    • The Castle set was filmed on the 3rd on February 1998.
    • The scene where Toby was chuffing on the countryside was filmed on the 10th of February 1998.
    • Any close-up shots of human characters at the above locations were filmed on the 11th of February 1998.
    • The scenes of Toby exploring and him at his shed were filmed from the 13th to 16th of February 1998.
    • Any remaining close-up shots at the above locations were filmed on the 17th of February 1998.
    • The Old Mine set was filmed on the 1st and 2nd of April 1998. Close-up shots of human characters at this location were filmed on the 3rd.
    • This episode was originally meant to be the twenty-second episode of the fifth series during filming.
  • Toad's scrap model from the third series episode Escape, scrap piece of the Märklin Engine and rusty models of Thomas and Donald/Douglas can be seen at the mine. A scrapped Lynton and Barnstaple van can be seen when the mine's restoration starts.
  • This episode marks the first time Henrietta is mentioned by name since the third series episode, Thomas and Percy's Christmas Adventure.
  • The set of Bertram's old mine is the same set of Boulder Quarry.
  • Duke's old shed can be seen next to Bertram when he is discovered.
  • According to Britt Allcroft, Bertram was supposed to be a tank engine, but budget constraints forced the model crew to repaint Duke's model and use Smudger's happy face.
  • This episode marks the first and only occurrence of a few things:
    • The first and only appearance of Bertram.
    • The first and only episode of the fifth series in which a landmark from the Mid Sodor Railway is seen, and the last episode that railway is mentioned.
    • The first appearance of Toby's Shed since the first series and its only appearance of the fifth series.
  • The map of Sodor appears to actually be a map of North Wales.
  • Perhaps coincidentally, the real-world Ffestiniog and Welsh Highlighland Railways split at the town of Porthmadog. The FR goes to "the mine" at Blaenau Ffestiniog, while the WHR goes to "the castle" in Caernarfon.
  • The Munitions Factory, a station and the outer frame of the steel rig from TUGS appear as some of the old mine buildings.
  • The Workmen's Hut, the Anopha Quarry sheds, part of the Skarloey Engine Sheds, a building from Rheneas station and a barn appear as some of the mine buildings.
  • This episode marks Caroline's last appearance until the eighth series episode Thomas and the Circus.
  • This episode is titled Toby Meets an Old Warrior on The Roku Channel.
  • During the adventure to the castle and the mine, a combination of Toby and Oliver's themes can be heard.
  • In the Korean dub of this episode, when it was aired on television, there were some scenes cut, but it was original cut on VHS and DVD.

Goofs

  • When Toby is at the fishing village, Henrietta's roof is lifted up.
  • At the end of Toby's first-person view travelling along, the rails stop at a dead end.
  • The signalman's appearance changes between the time Toby first meets him and the time Toby finds Bertram.
  • The old map shows that the way to get to the castle and the mine beyond the signal box is to take the right track at the junction, but Toby takes the left track at that junction.
  • When Toby stops at the junction, some of his steam disappears, indicating a film cut.
  • In the scenes where the mine is reopened, the track Rheneas is on has no buffers.
  • When Toby comes to the junction, the lever to the points only appears when the fireman switches them.
  • When the Fat Controller says "We'll go check castle first," his close-up outside the signal box is used again.
  • When the narrator says "His name's really Bertram" and "Bertram and Toby are now friends," Bertram's tubes are missing.

Quotes

Toby: It's the ghost!
Driver: What ghost?
Toby: The Old Warrior. He's come to hunt me down.

Fireman: The Old Warrior wants to meet you.
Toby: Can't it wait until morning?
Driver: Ghosts don't work day shifts.

Toby: Well, bless my bell!
Signalman: This is your ghost, Toby. His name's really Bertram, but we call him "The Old Warrior," because he's so brave.

In Other Languages

View content
Language Title
Albanian Zbulimi i Tobit
Brazilian Portuguese A Descoberta De Toby
Chinese Mandarin 托比的发现
Czech Tobyho objev
Danish Med Toby på Oppdagelse
Dutch Toby's Ontdekking
Finnish Topin löytö
German Toby und der alte Krieger
Greek Η ανακάλυψη του Τόμπι
Hungarian Toby a Felfedező
Italian La Scoperta di Toby
Japanese トビーのたんけん
Korean 용감한 전사
Latin American Spanish El Descubrimiento de Toby
Norwegian Tobys Oppdagelse
Polish Odkrycie Toby'ego (TVP3)
Odkrycie Tobika (JimJam)
Romanian Descoperirea lui Toby
Russian Открытие Тоби
Serbian Tobijevo Otkriće
Slovenian Tobijevo Odkritje
Swedish Tobys Upptäckt
Welsh Hen Injan Fach

Home Media Releases

UK

DVD Boxsets

US

CAN

  • Spills and Chills and Other Thomas Thrills
  • Thomas' Halloween Adventures

DVD Boxsets

AUS

  • Spooks and Surprises
  • The Complete Series 5

DVD Packs

NZ

  • Spooks and Surprises

JPN

KOR

PHL

ITA

GRC

NOR

  • The Old Coach

DK

GER

DVD Boxsets

MYS

SWE

WAL

HK

THA

TWN


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