Hello everyone! 🙂
Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!
It’s Day 1 of ‘Bradley’s Basement’s Advent Calendar 2025.
Let’s check out the first two episodes in Season 1 of ‘Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends’!
‘THOMAS AND GORDON’
The first time I saw ‘Thomas and Gordon’ as an episode was on its own and as part of a children’s VHS tape containing a variety of episodes of different TV shows as well as ‘Thomas’. I later saw this episode along with the next seven of Season 1 on a VHS tape. 🙂
‘Thomas and Gordon’ is based on the story of the same name from ‘The Railway Series’ book ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’. In fact, it was the first story of the second book of ‘The Railway Series’. It’s interesting for Season 1 of ‘Thomas’ to start off with this specific story.
Mind you, it makes sense, considering you don’t start off the ‘Thomas’ TV series with ‘Edward and Gordon’ like the first ‘Railway Series’ book did. This episode sets up Thomas the Tank Engine very well as well as setting up Gordon the Big Blue Engine in the TV series. 🙂
Ringo Starr reads the story quite well, and I didn’t know, as a kid, that he was one of the Beatles. 😀 Thomas, as a character, is cheeky, especially when he taunts Gordon, who pulls the Express train on the Island of Sodor, compared to him being a tank engine. 😐
The episode concludes with Gordon getting his own back on Thomas by pulling the Express with Thomas coupled at the end of the train. I like how the episode ended with Thomas journeying back on the viaduct bridge and it’s when the sun is about to set. 🙂
‘EDWARD AND GORDON’
I recall seeing ‘Edward and Gordon’ immediately after seeing ‘Thomas and Gordon’ on a VHS tape containing the first eight episodes of Season 1 of ‘Thomas’. It was exciting to see this episode, especially since it introduces Edward the Blue Engine in the TV show. 🙂
This episode is an adaptation of the first two stories in the first ‘Railway Series’ book ‘The Three Railway Engines’, including ‘Edward’s Day Out’ and ‘Edward and Gordon’. I’ve read ‘The Three Railway Engines’ to know what was omitted in the ‘Edward’s Day Out’ section.
Edward comes across as a friendly and kind character, especially since he treats the coaches well when taking them out on the railway lines. This does contrast with Gordon, who’s very proud and thinks highly of himself when he talks about pulling the Express.
It’s amusing when Gordon finds himself pulling ‘a goods’ train’ instead, which he finds utterly appalling. This episode introduces the Troublesome Trucks, as Edward gets to shunt them in the train yard. Edward is rather rough with the trucks than with the coaches. 😀
Edward ends up helping Gordon by pushing him and his goods’ train up a huge hill, which ends up being given the name ‘Gordon’s Hill’. Gordon does get up to the top of the hill and he pulls the train easily without ever thanking Edward. Edward gets his reward by his driver.
Thanks for reading and watching!
Check out what Day 1 of my ‘Bradley’s Basement’s Advent Calendars for 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 were about!
Bye for now!
Tim 🙂
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