If anyone comments that the episode is confusing because The special coach doesn't appear again after This episode. If thats the case then the episode daisy is confusing as The the scene were we find out that thomas pulls a milk van on his branchline, after the daisy arc. THAT IS IT its never seen again. The same goes for many things in the TV series and The Railway seires. If you say an episode is confusing do to something only being seen once. Your basically saying that for every episode that has something or someone who only appears in that paticular episode
This is a very good explanation! This situation just adds to the fact that the twins are in a high-stake situation (one of them may face the cutter's torch if not kept), which enchances the story in my opinion.
This was a surprisingly well explained analysis of the Missing Coach and its importance. The lesson about someone owning up to his/her mistakes is the best thing is well presented in the episode itself in the books, and I must say, I really hate the fact that the Twins' introduction was rushed and the said episode was replaced by a Thomas-centric episode.
Excalty, this episode is very important, atleast they actully begun filming this which makes me happy, until the silly choice to shelve it came in, and its just soo hard to enjoy break van with the terrible intro in the tv seires, at not only does the missing coach give a better intro but the cliffhanger left from the story is what makes break van so good
I have a better theory on what the twins' plan was. It goes like this with in-universe logic. Donald was rostered to take a goods train, Duck and Douglas was allocated to yard shunting at the time of the incident. The Coach is put in the carriage siding, the passengers don't know who did it. The twins swap tenders, leaving Douglas with the No. 9 tender. This is the crucial fact that is completely overlooked, as it was _intentionally_ left uncoupled. Douglas feigns as Donald suffering a defect with his tender, making him unable to take the goods. Donald with Douglas' takes the goods as expected. Now it looks like Douglas couldn't have shunted the Express has he would've been preparing to cover for Donald's goods train; preparing a locomotive for a run takes time. Donald couldn't have done it because of the uncoupled tender. This means only Duck could have shunted the Express with the Special Coach.
This is the other popular interpretation that I’ve seen around, and I think both are pretty valid. The other key point of the tender switch in the “plausible deniability” plan is that Douglas stays behind rather than taking the goods himself since he knows what happened and thus can better explain his “situation”. The story leaving so much to interpretation is probably why people consider it confusing though, since it’s rare for a Railway Series story to leave such an important plot point for the reader to figure out. Usually it’s smaller connections that can make for great eureka moments while not being so prominent, such as the arguments about “London station” in Gordon Goes Foreign.
Speaking of Gordon Goes Foreign, that episode should not have been cancelled, either. There was never really a necessity to build St. Pancras station, they could have just kept filming Gordon travelling there, and maybe have him pass a sign saying that London was just ahead.
Originally, I agreed with the unlucky tug when he said he thinks The Missing Coach was one of the dumbest stories. But after watching this video, I don’t anymore
Usual Bloke Luke also believed it to be Wilbert Awdry's most flawed story, but after listening to this, maybe it isn't as flawed as he originally thought. Not much different from human twins swapping clothing (more so between twin brothers or twin sisters than between a twin brother and twin sister, but I digress) or other things whenever the situation calls for it.
@grahamdamberger7130 well. Because it has the representation of being flawed, it it. The bottom of the list os up to you but in general what is percieved as being confusing is confusing. So it is the worst. All of the boring stories should have been rewritten. And so should this one. Each story is like 4 pages. I just mean, more internal dialogue.
One of my favourite episodes of Sodor Retold is the one in which TFC contradicts the narrator by saying something like "Why would I send one back? I got two for the price of one".
Oh my God, Thank You! I've been saying this for years. Of Course the plan wouldn't have worked, it was thought out when they were scared. You don't think straight when you're scared.
One funny little thing about this is that as a kid I never heard this story but I in a way made my own version of this plot with my toys. I can’t imagine it being that confusing for that reason. It seems like an obvious plot to make when you have identical twin characters
When the concept of panic is explained with this story, it makes so much more sense! Like outsiders would think it’s a really silly idea, but when you get insight on the twins it makes sense, like if they said: ”We didn’t know what we were thinking, we were so worried we thought the worst of the situation, an apology felt like it would just get us into more trouble”
Unfortunately I think it’s a case where Britt was just more considerate of the series during its early baby days at Clearwater Studios. Once the show became extremely popular in America and Japan, that’s where I feel the fame started to go to her head with being extremely loose and careless with a lot of Awdry’s stories by season 3 (I could understand completely why he was frustrated there, though I do think his views on “Henry’s Forest” are a bit hypocritical as well)….. and yeah, look where it eventually led her with that movie.
@LittleJerryFan92 Tbf in a way I feel britt got excalty what she deserved in a way when Magic railroad flopped, and i agree with awdrys complaints about them adopting non railway stories, aswell as his complaints with henrys forest as after all, the show is meant to be taken as realisticly as possible. This is why i prefer season 1 and 2 more than the other classic seasons.
I have no idea on who though it was a good decision to have the episode almost completely film, than cancel it last minute, have to adapt another story, restart production, and ends up being just as confusing as The Missing Coach. It be one thing if it was film a little bit and didn’t make it far into production like Gordon Goes Foreign another Season 2 cancel episode, but this was pretty much done so I see your point and agree with it.
The most confusing thing about TMC is why it was cancelled to begin with, not the episode story itself, and you make a great point about other episodes having no action...
I guess for the intended age demographic the story might be confusing? Though the story is pretty straightforward in its explanation. Regardless, I feel the best way to follow the story if you don't understand it is to get whatever toy trains you have lying around (we'll say TnP Edward and Gordon). Pretend the Edward toy is Donald, and Gordon toy is Douglas. Reenact the story, tender-swaps and all and BOOM, it all comes together. It might be easier to understand when the two characters look different.
The best explanation I've seen (and modified) is as follows: Douglas is naturally going to be a nervous wreck, and just seeing the Fat Controller will likely cause him to give away a tell that he was at fault. An involuntary action. The two swapped tenders, so that Donald would pretend to be No. 10. Douglas, pretending to be No. 9, would take the goods train. With No. 9 suffering his tender disconnecting unexpectedly ("Some sort of defect, no doubt."), and No. 10 waiting and suddenly leaving with a goods train ("Perhaps he saw you coming and thought he was late."), neither twin could have been responsible for the mistake. They both had tight alibis. Donald, having done nothing wrong, would have no reason to be panicking (unlike Douglas), and thus would not give any tells. The fat controller seemed to buy the story, and told the passengers to "draw their own conclusions". But once they had left, he made it very clear that he had *not* been fooled. Somehow, someway, he had seen through the ruse, and had only played along to get the passengers to calm down. Of course by the time Douglas returned, his nerves would have been settled. And even if he did give any tells, it would be assumed to be in relation to playing musical tenders with his twin. ...of course, this is all assuming the fat controller hadn't already figured out the whole story as to _why_ it happened in the first place...
While I can see Britt's point of wanting to cancel The Missing Coach due to it being difficult for younger audiences to understand, I don't agree with the decision. Let's not forget that over a decade later she would produce Thomas and the Magic Railroad, which might as well have been a total flop and in the end lead to Britt selling the franchise to HIT Entertainment. I'm not sure the argument of The Missing Coach being difficult for younger audiences to understand holds up when compared to that...
As someone who has liked the plot of the missing coach since I was like 9, it’s rlly not confusing They just swapped tenders It’s like twins swapping classes or something
Good explanation. I never found it confusing, and to me, its an Awdry humour thing. The twins in the moment of panic just do the first thing that comes to mind! It could be genius, it could be moronic depending on interpretation, but it just ends up screwing over everybody involved in this comedy of lunacy, except for Duck, because Duck always wins!
Why complete an episode then not release it? I would still release the episode especially if i spent hours or weeks shooting it. Just make it a lost episode or add it to a dvd special.
My opinion is that the twins did the last part wrong. Donald should’ve stayed and Douglas should’ve taken Donald’s train. EDIT: alright, your explanation that the twins weren’t thinking clearly, like a child who thinks they did something bad, makes a lot of sense.
I dont think its a good creative choice to just use another brown coach for this special coach. On top of it being impractical for a branch line coach like the one shown to be used on the express, it also just looks funny.
Actually trading places is understandable…this trick was actually used in an Arthur episode where the brat twins swap bandanas …the one tricks his brother into it so his brother winds up sitting in 2 time outs instead of both taking one I’m sure many kids who are identical twins have tried this and even adults so two twin engines trying to pull off the exact same trick makes total sense and would be a good lesson for kids…they might fool some people but parents will always know the truth
It was probably done because Alcroft wanted more Thomas stories. As she said, "I love having the number 1 engine." Which caused a rift between her and the author.
What’s really confusing is Four Little Engines airing as the first in the Four Little Engines saga when it’s obviously set at the end, or in the case of this season, Thomas, Percy and the Coal (which has Percy working on Thomas’s branch line) airing before Duck Takes Charge.
@joshuaW5621 thomas percy and the coal was rumoured to be the replacement episode for TMC but i won't 100% believe it as there is no confirmation but also thomas percy and the coal was made just to have a thomas focused episode. It's a shame they did this, that early in the series
@@joshuaW5621 excalty! I'd say it should be set around near the end of the season to close all the Quarrelling between thomas and percy. Or the last book of More about thomas the tank could havs done that depicted in the railway series
The reason why allcroft canceled the episode in my opinion is kind of bad that part of the episode wasn’t confusing the actual coach is. This would be the only episode where Thomas has a third coach. If I watched the episode for the first time I would be used to Thomas pulling two coaches and I would be like,” wait what Thomas has three coaches I didn’t see it in season one ?!” When he is back to pulling two coaches I would be confused because it would be the only time that Thomas’ special coach is mentioned. So the tender swapping isn’t too confusing but Thomas mysteriously having a third coach and not ever again would be confusing.but, I would still like the episode and I think canceling it especially that late was a bad idea.
@brooks9661 fair enough but there have been a few times in the railway series where someone or something is introduced after the intro, they are never mentioned again
So your explanation for why the episode isn't confusing... is that the twins and their crews weren't thinking straight and made a decision that nobody in their right mind would make? The logic not tracking tracks I suppose, but I still feel that there's a large leap between "if someone feels worried and rushed, they will make potentially strange decisions" and "let's swap the tenders of two steam locomotives, and then send one of them out with a goods train, and have the one that made a mistake play dumb when being talked to by the authority figure". It could work, since Douglas is known to have nerves of steel, ala the Oliver saga, but even still they could have done a number of other simpler things. Good video overall, but could do with some more convincing as to why *that* plan of all plans was chosen.
I think the honest problem with what the finalized episode adaption was going to be ended up being potentially “confusing” for children is just the simple fact that unfortunately, the two stories “Hullo, Twins!” and “The Missing Coach” were both gonna be crammed together in one big 4:30 episode. So many details had to be stripped and removed and may not translate well on the TV screen. I do overall think with this in mind, there was a lot of poor planning with this episode story adaption, and alas wasn’t taken into consideration until halfway being filmed. At that, I feel the episode should have been finished regardless because that’s a lot of time and filming completely wasted there, and the opening to “Break Van” with that rushed opening monologue was just terrible.
Never mind about the story being confusing. This was supposed to be the first episode of season 2. With no explanation on duck existing. It makes no sense.
They swap tenders because each engine needs an alibi. Douglas (10) needs to be out yard so he couldn't have done it, but Donald (9) doesn't know that the coach got stowed. This means that no. 10 needs to not be around, but Douglas does to explain the situation. Hence the tender switch. Donald leaves as no. 10 to give 10 an alibi, and Douglas stays as no. 9 to explain the situation to Topham Hatt.
Personally about the missing coach honestly it's not that confusing to me it's just a couple of plots just put into one and I can get that there's no action but I really like the missing coach
I 100% agree! I don’t find the story confusing at all, and it, along with Super Rescue and Gordon Goes Foreign have always stuck out to me since they are the only stories written by Wilbert (not counting the stories from Mountain Engines and Little Old Engines) that weren’t adapted to the TVS (that and the three mentioned are extremely good!!). Donald & Douglas are also two of my favourite characters, so it has always sucked that they never had a proper introduction…
I'm with you here. One of my thoughts as to why the twins swapped their tenders is because they fooled The Fat Controller in _Hullo Twins,_ so they thought they could get away with it again. I also think it's funny how the coach itself only acts as a plot device for this story only. It's never mentioned again and not even seen in any illustration, which is odd, given that a lot of Christopher Awdry's books are focused on Thomas.
Agreed, considering how Christopher wrote alot about thomas its odd how he brings up how thomas pulls milk to the diary but no mentions about him pulling the 3rd coach, i guess not every thomas story can be set at 3:30pm when the coach arrives for thomas
Two things on this. 1) It depends on the age of the kids. 4-7 year-olds might not get the story. But 8-10 probably would understand what happened. 2) When did Thomas start getting a third coach when he already had Annie and Clarabel? And why was that coach never seen again (even if the episode didn't air?) That would be the only confusing thing? Not what Donald and Douglas did. Other than that, it's definitely a missed episode.
People may say the episode is pointless as the special coach is only used in this episode, if thats the case the same should be said about thomas suddenly pulling milk vans on his branchline found in the story 'daisy' and after the daisy arc, the milkvans on thomas' branchline is rarely mentioned again
The missing coach is probably easier to understand once I read The Railway Series story. I actually bought the complete collection and it arrived today! I’m excited to start reading it so I can actually understand videos easier😂
He’s not wrong the story is just about Douglas be worried he’d be sent away an screws up the special coach with the other coaches the twins crew’s come up with a plan but it fails
What a lovely video! Another good point is that Donald is the one who was meant to stay, so if the Fat Controller finds out that Douglas makes the mistake and that he wasn't the one he ordered in the first place, he would have sent Douglas away for sure. So Donald pretending to take the blow for his brother was more out of brotherly love.
It’s confusing because couldn’t Douglas have taken the train with his own tender and Donald stay behind? Since they were trying to act like that’s what was happening anyway? And then Duck could bring up that Douglas was the one who shunted the coaches there for they still get in trouble at the end?
There's one thing confusing about the story: who on God's green Earth decided to put a 2 axle coach on the express! Also I've seen the bit about how TFC finds out the mascarading with the tenders pointed to as the cause of the confusion? (Edit: nevermind, numbers are numbers and a disconnected tender is something else entirely
@robertbalazslorincz8218 god knows, i don't know why they couldn't have used one of the red express coaches as the special coach as shown in The Railway series
You showed me the moral of The Missing Coach, which I had never thought about until this video. Thank you for that. The real confusing part of The Missing Coach is the actual coach itself and why it exists. We never see this coach again after Twin Engines, so what was the point of it?
@gkingGabe72 if the coach is confusing then doesn't that make dasiy confusing because after during her arc we find out thomas pulls a milk tank on his branchline. And after preys Predicament in the show we never hear of it again
Fair point there. I didn't think about the milk service being added out of nowhere because the milk service makes sense to me. The special coach service on the other hand does not. I'd like to think that service was deemed unsuccessful which explains why we don't see the special coach after Twin Engines.
I don't know tho I still think the Deputation is a better episode than this. It was an episode that proved that yes it's the fat controller's railway. But the engines stood up for what was right. I don't believe they should have put it on Percy tho. But glad they all stood by the twins in the end.
Personally I think they should have kept this story in the TV series, especially since they were at the last hurdle in getting it completed. Alcroft's decision to cancel because the story lacked action to keep children entertained disregards the important takeaway lessons that children can learn for the real world. For example, The Deputation shows the engines challenging The Fat Controller's authority by putting forward an argument to not send away Donald and Douglas in a civil and respectful manner. The engines don't all gang up on TFC. I do think moral learning points are important in children's stories rather than just creating action packed things for no good reason. What do children learn from stories about runaways or derailments? I hope the T&F head honchos have the episode archived somewhere and have not disposed of it. It would be a good release for the 40th anniversary of the TV series. That's just my opinion anyway. I very much doubt it would happen though.
The only really confusing part about The Missing Coach to me is probably the fact that Thomas suddenly has this special coach to begin with, and that it's coupled to Gordon's express first before being shunted to Thomas's train with people still inside. I mean, it makes more sense if you think about it, but I can easily see why it might come off confusing to children.
@Noobul8r9000 if its confusing because thomas suddenly appears to have a 3rd coach then the part in the episode 'daisy' where we find out thomas now suddenly pulls a milk van on his branchline
@Joey15811 but im sure a kid would be confused on what a Predicament is in 'Percy's Predicament' or what a Deputation is in 'Deputation' and where they cancelled?
The Deputation has no action. Percy and the Signal has no action. Dirty Work has no action. Another reason this episode isn't confusing is because The Diseasel had Bill and Ben have their nameplates removed to confuse Boco out of revenge for taking their trucks. So how did Britt think The Missing Coach would confuse children, but not think The Diseasel would confuse children?
To be honest, my issue isn’t that it’s confusing but rather it’s pointless, because the missing coach wasn’t brought up again nor did in the second story said that it was found later on (which I kinda wish it was). Another issue with the concept was no context of why the coach was even for Thomas, something I wish we got an episode on so at least it’s justified.
@ScorchZane if thats the case then then shouldn't people have a very similar issue with the episodes 'daisy' and 'percys Predicament' due to us being told that thomas pulls a milk tank on his branchline. Its only mentioned in those episodes and after that. Nothing from it again
@@MutePenguin1155exactly it’s it’s that, that simplys just bug me the wrong way, any thing that was mentioned but never shown again or got brought up again should’ve gotten some context (or at least an episode to themselves) to justify it them selves. (I’m not ignoring that season 2 has it’s downs, but since we’re on the topic of a missing coach, I might as well write this.)
@ScorchZane lets not forget that the context of thomas pulling milk on his branchline when introduced is said by this rushed and poor explained line "The passengers waited for daisy to start, but she didn't she saw that a milk van was about to be coupled to her and was most Indignant". That line introduced the milk on the branchline, its poor, not even an explanation to why she is coupled to the van so its almost as if the episode is trying to justify that daisy is pulling the van just because... Now that is something confusing if you take the detailed explanation out of context
@@MutePenguin1155 I don’t see how (other than for the story) I wish we got more of the special coach and even a backstory behind it (and also why it was on Sodor, kinda like what DavisZDirector did). I feel (at least personally) in order for something to be justified something needs to either have an explanation or a complete backstory.
"This episode is too confusing" was something I didn't understand from the get-go outside one of the showrunners saying it. Maybe I'm an outlier but I think changing tenders wouldn't have been complicated for child me to understand. I had toys, I could change the tenders on them and seeing it happen in the show would have me go "Oh they do it there!" The arc needed the Missing Coach to explain the Fat Controller is suspicious of the two engines and as critical of Donald as he is in Break Van, no, having "Oh two engines arrived and I'm suspicious which one it is" vaguely explained does not help, without having the TFC's first confrontation of "Which one is the one I ordered" hurt the targeted audience's chance to empathize or sympathize to Donald & Douglas as characters in what they do, even if most of what happens lacks action.
When i first heared "the missing coach" i thought something was wrong but how you sayed it was perfect i didnt get it but how you sayed it i finaly understand
I honestly agree that Britt should’ve kept this episode, confusing or not. It’s especially odd that Britt thought it was confusing, given some of her original material could be confusing as well, but I’m not going to judge her. I love her regardless.
I simply can't defend her for cancelling this as she says its too confusing yet she then goes and produces thomas and the magic railroad (i Don't hate her am just saying)
@2TCHOLMES there are a lot of one ofd things in the classic series that we released such as thomas pulling a milk van on his branchline in the episode daisy, after that its never spoke about again.
@@MutePenguin1155 ‘Daisy’ never really established the fact that Thomas ever took the milk van with his coaches. It just showed the milk van being coupled up to Daisy and that’s it. Why did Awdry introduce so many one-off aspects in his books?
Yeah, it's really not that complicated. Donald tells Douglas to take his train and then covers for him, stating 'his' tender has a problem. Sir Topham doesn't fall for it, leaving the episode on a cliff-hanger. 'Break van" then starts with a scene explaining that the twins are on 'thin ice" with Sir Topham, with the episode then playing out as it does. it's said that Wilbert wasn't entirely happy with the story so I think a few minor changes like that would have been okay. They basically cancelled a story that Wilbert wasn't quite happy with but was needed (Break van) for one that Christopher thought was rather dull and didn't particulary want to do (Better Late than Never). imagine if they'd done the same with the Duck and Diesel Trilogy.
@genevieve53fan30 the Twins story how it was adapted for TV is just a bit like having dirty work and a close shave without the context of pop goes the Diesel
@chavopatyfanstudios2005 i don't hate her for the Decision But its one of the dummest things she's done, not the metion she would soon make Magic railroad and now for the uk audience that is confusing as we never grew up with shining time station and mr conductor. Also if she thinks tender swapping is confusing then does she really think words in the series such as, 'Predicament' in the episode Percy's Predicament or the word 'Deputation' used in the episode Deputation. Does she think kids will understand those words
@@NORTH_WESTERN simply put, They swapped tenders because they were panicking over getting into trouble due to one of them potentially facing the cutters torch if not kept.
If anyone comments that the episode is confusing because The special coach doesn't appear again after This episode. If thats the case then the episode daisy is confusing as The the scene were we find out that thomas pulls a milk van on his branchline, after the daisy arc. THAT IS IT its never seen again.
The same goes for many things in the TV series and The Railway seires.
If you say an episode is confusing do to something only being seen once. Your basically saying that for every episode that has something or someone who only appears in that paticular episode
Yeah
We needed that episode to be seen by the public in full completion to get the full story arc the Scottish twins were meant to have.
Tell me about it, The Missing coach is such an important story!
This is a very good explanation! This situation just adds to the fact that the twins are in a high-stake situation (one of them may face the cutter's torch if not kept), which enchances the story in my opinion.
This was a surprisingly well explained analysis of the Missing Coach and its importance. The lesson about someone owning up to his/her mistakes is the best thing is well presented in the episode itself in the books, and I must say, I really hate the fact that the Twins' introduction was rushed and the said episode was replaced by a Thomas-centric episode.
Excalty, this episode is very important, atleast they actully begun filming this which makes me happy, until the silly choice to shelve it came in, and its just soo hard to enjoy break van with the terrible intro in the tv seires, at not only does the missing coach give a better intro but the cliffhanger left from the story is what makes break van so good
I have a better theory on what the twins' plan was. It goes like this with in-universe logic. Donald was rostered to take a goods train, Duck and Douglas was allocated to yard shunting at the time of the incident. The Coach is put in the carriage siding, the passengers don't know who did it. The twins swap tenders, leaving Douglas with the No. 9 tender. This is the crucial fact that is completely overlooked, as it was _intentionally_ left uncoupled. Douglas feigns as Donald suffering a defect with his tender, making him unable to take the goods. Donald with Douglas' takes the goods as expected. Now it looks like Douglas couldn't have shunted the Express has he would've been preparing to cover for Donald's goods train; preparing a locomotive for a run takes time. Donald couldn't have done it because of the uncoupled tender. This means only Duck could have shunted the Express with the Special Coach.
They were framing him!
This is the other popular interpretation that I’ve seen around, and I think both are pretty valid. The other key point of the tender switch in the “plausible deniability” plan is that Douglas stays behind rather than taking the goods himself since he knows what happened and thus can better explain his “situation”.
The story leaving so much to interpretation is probably why people consider it confusing though, since it’s rare for a Railway Series story to leave such an important plot point for the reader to figure out. Usually it’s smaller connections that can make for great eureka moments while not being so prominent, such as the arguments about “London station” in Gordon Goes Foreign.
Speaking of Gordon Goes Foreign, that episode should not have been cancelled, either. There was never really a necessity to build St. Pancras station, they could have just kept filming Gordon travelling there, and maybe have him pass a sign saying that London was just ahead.
Originally, I agreed with the unlucky tug when he said he thinks The Missing Coach was one of the dumbest stories. But after watching this video, I don’t anymore
The only reason Donald and Douglas came up with this stupid plan was because they panicked and didn’t think straight
Usual Bloke Luke also believed it to be Wilbert Awdry's most flawed story, but after listening to this, maybe it isn't as flawed as he originally thought. Not much different from human twins swapping clothing (more so between twin brothers or twin sisters than between a twin brother and twin sister, but I digress) or other things whenever the situation calls for it.
@grahamdamberger7130 well. Because it has the representation of being flawed, it it. The bottom of the list os up to you but in general what is percieved as being confusing is confusing. So it is the worst. All of the boring stories should have been rewritten. And so should this one. Each story is like 4 pages. I just mean, more internal dialogue.
One of my favourite episodes of Sodor Retold is the one in which TFC contradicts the narrator by saying something like "Why would I send one back? I got two for the price of one".
@@AxelWedstar411 oh ive heard of it, its hilarious 😅
Yeah, I sometimes wondered about that, it just seemed like he was being very irrational.
??? Because he legally does not Douglas.
This is why STH specifically points out "Oliver will soon be ours" in Little Western.
TBH, I never did find this story confusing myself. I was kind of baffled by how people thought it was. Nice explanation, BTW.
Same
"Daisy has no action" 😂
Oh my God, Thank You! I've been saying this for years.
Of Course the plan wouldn't have worked, it was thought out when they were scared. You don't think straight when you're scared.
The fact Britt canceled an episode because it was "confusing" despite later on creating Tragic Failroad is just stupid
@@Tyler2K7 word, she though she understood thomas
One funny little thing about this is that as a kid I never heard this story but I in a way made my own version of this plot with my toys. I can’t imagine it being that confusing for that reason. It seems like an obvious plot to make when you have identical twin characters
When the concept of panic is explained with this story, it makes so much more sense! Like outsiders would think it’s a really silly idea, but when you get insight on the twins it makes sense, like if they said:
”We didn’t know what we were thinking, we were so worried we thought the worst of the situation, an apology felt like it would just get us into more trouble”
BRITT ALCROFT: "The Missing Coach" is too confusing for children.
ALSO BRITT ALCROFT: (proceeds to make "Thomas and the Magic Railroad")
@@supermariof0521 excalty!!
@@MutePenguin1155 I'm sure Britt is a total sweetheart, but goddamn her mindset is the ultimate form of confusion and delay on its worst days.
@@supermariof0521 Innit! 😅thats what i think
Unfortunately I think it’s a case where Britt was just more considerate of the series during its early baby days at Clearwater Studios.
Once the show became extremely popular in America and Japan, that’s where I feel the fame started to go to her head with being extremely loose and careless with a lot of Awdry’s stories by season 3 (I could understand completely why he was frustrated there, though I do think his views on “Henry’s Forest” are a bit hypocritical as well)….. and yeah, look where it eventually led her with that movie.
@LittleJerryFan92 Tbf in a way I feel britt got excalty what she deserved in a way when Magic railroad flopped, and i agree with awdrys complaints about them adopting non railway stories, aswell as his complaints with henrys forest as after all, the show is meant to be taken as realisticly as possible. This is why i prefer season 1 and 2 more than the other classic seasons.
I have no idea on who though it was a good decision to have the episode almost completely film, than cancel it last minute, have to adapt another story, restart production, and ends up being just as confusing as The Missing Coach. It be one thing if it was film a little bit and didn’t make it far into production like Gordon Goes Foreign another Season 2 cancel episode, but this was pretty much done so I see your point and agree with it.
The most confusing thing about TMC is why it was cancelled to begin with, not the episode story itself, and you make a great point about other episodes having no action...
@@TheEerieMaster yep
I guess for the intended age demographic the story might be confusing? Though the story is pretty straightforward in its explanation. Regardless, I feel the best way to follow the story if you don't understand it is to get whatever toy trains you have lying around (we'll say TnP Edward and Gordon). Pretend the Edward toy is Donald, and Gordon toy is Douglas. Reenact the story, tender-swaps and all and BOOM, it all comes together. It might be easier to understand when the two characters look different.
The best explanation I've seen (and modified) is as follows:
Douglas is naturally going to be a nervous wreck, and just seeing the Fat Controller will likely cause him to give away a tell that he was at fault. An involuntary action. The two swapped tenders, so that Donald would pretend to be No. 10. Douglas, pretending to be No. 9, would take the goods train. With No. 9 suffering his tender disconnecting unexpectedly ("Some sort of defect, no doubt."), and No. 10 waiting and suddenly leaving with a goods train ("Perhaps he saw you coming and thought he was late."), neither twin could have been responsible for the mistake. They both had tight alibis. Donald, having done nothing wrong, would have no reason to be panicking (unlike Douglas), and thus would not give any tells.
The fat controller seemed to buy the story, and told the passengers to "draw their own conclusions".
But once they had left, he made it very clear that he had *not* been fooled. Somehow, someway, he had seen through the ruse, and had only played along to get the passengers to calm down.
Of course by the time Douglas returned, his nerves would have been settled. And even if he did give any tells, it would be assumed to be in relation to playing musical tenders with his twin.
...of course, this is all assuming the fat controller hadn't already figured out the whole story as to _why_ it happened in the first place...
Bro spit out facts through those 11 minutes
I really agree with you such a shame the story was canceled
While I can see Britt's point of wanting to cancel The Missing Coach due to it being difficult for younger audiences to understand, I don't agree with the decision. Let's not forget that over a decade later she would produce Thomas and the Magic Railroad, which might as well have been a total flop and in the end lead to Britt selling the franchise to HIT Entertainment. I'm not sure the argument of The Missing Coach being difficult for younger audiences to understand holds up when compared to that...
@PlowBenderStudios and does Britt also think a kid would know the word 'Deputation' or what a 'Predicament ' is used in there perspective episodes
this is what I've been thinking for years
As someone who has liked the plot of the missing coach since I was like 9, it’s rlly not confusing
They just swapped tenders
It’s like twins swapping classes or something
I personally think that they swapped tenders because if Douglas took the train and they didn't swap tenders,donald would have unfairly got the blame.
Gordon and Henry swapped Tenders in It’s Good to be Gordon.
I don’t think the story would’ve been that confusing. So long as you remember that Donald and Douglas have swapped tenders, you can’t go wrong.
I wasn't too confused of the episode either.
Same
Good explanation. I never found it confusing, and to me, its an Awdry humour thing. The twins in the moment of panic just do the first thing that comes to mind! It could be genius, it could be moronic depending on interpretation, but it just ends up screwing over everybody involved in this comedy of lunacy, except for Duck, because Duck always wins!
Why complete an episode then not release it? I would still release the episode especially if i spent hours or weeks shooting it. Just make it a lost episode or add it to a dvd special.
@@ItzAtrain2905 word!
You earned yourself a subscriber I would’ve rather have seen this over Better Late Than Never.
@ScottMalkinsonisW thankyou for subscribing 🥳
My opinion is that the twins did the last part wrong. Donald should’ve stayed and Douglas should’ve taken Donald’s train.
EDIT: alright, your explanation that the twins weren’t thinking clearly, like a child who thinks they did something bad, makes a lot of sense.
I dont think its a good creative choice to just use another brown coach for this special coach.
On top of it being impractical for a branch line coach like the one shown to be used on the express, it also just looks funny.
@sidneyadnopoz3427 oh trust me, there are a lot of erros in the show 😅
Actually trading places is understandable…this trick was actually used in an Arthur episode where the brat twins swap bandanas …the one tricks his brother into it so his brother winds up sitting in 2 time outs instead of both taking one
I’m sure many kids who are identical twins have tried this and even adults so two twin engines trying to pull off the exact same trick makes total sense and would be a good lesson for kids…they might fool some people but parents will always know the truth
Finally someone has said it.
It was probably done because Alcroft wanted more Thomas stories. As she said, "I love having the number 1 engine." Which caused a rift between her and the author.
What’s really confusing is Four Little Engines airing as the first in the Four Little Engines saga when it’s obviously set at the end, or in the case of this season, Thomas, Percy and the Coal (which has Percy working on Thomas’s branch line) airing before Duck Takes Charge.
@joshuaW5621 thomas percy and the coal was rumoured to be the replacement episode for TMC but i won't 100% believe it as there is no confirmation but also thomas percy and the coal was made just to have a thomas focused episode. It's a shame they did this, that early in the series
@@MutePenguin1155 it is very weird that it became the first episode of the season when it’s clearly meant to be set later.
@@joshuaW5621 excalty! I'd say it should be set around near the end of the season to close all the Quarrelling between thomas and percy. Or the last book of More about thomas the tank could havs done that depicted in the railway series
@@MutePenguin1155 you misspelled have.
@@joshuaW5621 i noticed
Very good explanation, in my opinion would’ve been a great moral for kids to learn back then.
The reason why allcroft canceled the episode in my opinion is kind of bad that part of the episode wasn’t confusing the actual coach is. This would be the only episode where Thomas has a third coach. If I watched the episode for the first time I would be used to Thomas pulling two coaches and I would be like,” wait what Thomas has three coaches I didn’t see it in season one ?!” When he is back to pulling two coaches I would be confused because it would be the only time that Thomas’ special coach is mentioned. So the tender swapping isn’t too confusing but Thomas mysteriously having a third coach and not ever again would be confusing.but, I would still like the episode and I think canceling it especially that late was a bad idea.
@brooks9661 fair enough but there have been a few times in the railway series where someone or something is introduced after the intro, they are never mentioned again
So your explanation for why the episode isn't confusing... is that the twins and their crews weren't thinking straight and made a decision that nobody in their right mind would make? The logic not tracking tracks I suppose, but I still feel that there's a large leap between "if someone feels worried and rushed, they will make potentially strange decisions" and "let's swap the tenders of two steam locomotives, and then send one of them out with a goods train, and have the one that made a mistake play dumb when being talked to by the authority figure". It could work, since Douglas is known to have nerves of steel, ala the Oliver saga, but even still they could have done a number of other simpler things. Good video overall, but could do with some more convincing as to why *that* plan of all plans was chosen.
@@theisraelilocomotive70414 fair enough, hope you enjoyed the video though
@@MutePenguin1155 it indeed was enjoyable, just mentioning what I thought might be useful to know for this video
@@theisraelilocomotive70414 no probs, cheers mate!
I owned up a few times but I still got punished... I never understood why but thats why I lied more than I owned up
I think the honest problem with what the finalized episode adaption was going to be ended up being potentially “confusing” for children is just the simple fact that unfortunately, the two stories “Hullo, Twins!” and “The Missing Coach” were both gonna be crammed together in one big 4:30 episode. So many details had to be stripped and removed and may not translate well on the TV screen.
I do overall think with this in mind, there was a lot of poor planning with this episode story adaption, and alas wasn’t taken into consideration until halfway being filmed. At that, I feel the episode should have been finished regardless because that’s a lot of time and filming completely wasted there, and the opening to “Break Van” with that rushed opening monologue was just terrible.
Another proof of why Britt Allcroft also misunderstood Thomas
@elmasterdezoologia6641 the biggest example is Thomas and the magic railroad
Never mind about the story being confusing. This was supposed to be the first episode of season 2. With no explanation on duck existing. It makes no sense.
They swap tenders because each engine needs an alibi. Douglas (10) needs to be out yard so he couldn't have done it, but Donald (9) doesn't know that the coach got stowed. This means that no. 10 needs to not be around, but Douglas does to explain the situation. Hence the tender switch. Donald leaves as no. 10 to give 10 an alibi, and Douglas stays as no. 9 to explain the situation to Topham Hatt.
I don't think that the Missing Coach is confusing.
Personally about the missing coach honestly it's not that confusing to me it's just a couple of plots just put into one and I can get that there's no action but I really like the missing coach
I 100% agree! I don’t find the story confusing at all, and it, along with Super Rescue and Gordon Goes Foreign have always stuck out to me since they are the only stories written by Wilbert (not counting the stories from Mountain Engines and Little Old Engines) that weren’t adapted to the TVS (that and the three mentioned are extremely good!!). Donald & Douglas are also two of my favourite characters, so it has always sucked that they never had a proper introduction…
Very Old Engines, not Little Old Engines.
@@ciarangleeson2880 sorry that’s what I meant…. The two titles are so similar lol, little old engine is a book though, right?
I'm with you here. One of my thoughts as to why the twins swapped their tenders is because they fooled The Fat Controller in _Hullo Twins,_ so they thought they could get away with it again.
I also think it's funny how the coach itself only acts as a plot device for this story only. It's never mentioned again and not even seen in any illustration, which is odd, given that a lot of Christopher Awdry's books are focused on Thomas.
Agreed, considering how Christopher wrote alot about thomas its odd how he brings up how thomas pulls milk to the diary but no mentions about him pulling the 3rd coach, i guess not every thomas story can be set at 3:30pm when the coach arrives for thomas
Two things on this.
1) It depends on the age of the kids. 4-7 year-olds might not get the story. But 8-10 probably would understand what happened.
2) When did Thomas start getting a third coach when he already had Annie and Clarabel? And why was that coach never seen again (even if the episode didn't air?) That would be the only confusing thing? Not what Donald and Douglas did.
Other than that, it's definitely a missed episode.
People may say the episode is pointless as the special coach is only used in this episode, if thats the case the same should be said about thomas suddenly pulling milk vans on his branchline found in the story 'daisy' and after the daisy arc, the milkvans on thomas' branchline is rarely mentioned again
The missing coach is probably easier to understand once I read The Railway Series story. I actually bought the complete collection and it arrived today! I’m excited to start reading it so I can actually understand videos easier😂
@@DukLoverEKT when u say collection pack, do you mean the complete collection on TRS
@@MutePenguin1155 Yeaahhhh. I forgot what it was called for a second😭
@@DukLoverEKT it’s fine no worries
He’s not wrong the story is just about Douglas be worried he’d be sent away an screws up the special coach with the other coaches the twins crew’s come up with a plan but it fails
You could probably do a great Ringo Starr sounding voiceover if you tried.
@@2Degeneracy tyou really think that? And thanks :)))
I COMPETELY AGREE
Imagine being a Railway Series story trying to get a TV adaptation and you're more boring compared to *COWS*
I've always been able to understand it
It took me like half an hour to reed the missing coach story😢
What a lovely video! Another good point is that Donald is the one who was meant to stay, so if the Fat Controller finds out that Douglas makes the mistake and that he wasn't the one he ordered in the first place, he would have sent Douglas away for sure. So Donald pretending to take the blow for his brother was more out of brotherly love.
“Combineded” - not a word.
@@chrisbouloux6108 looks like i made one up 😅
@@MutePenguin1155 in this day and age, anything is permissible.
So, touché.
@@chrisbouloux6108 lol
It’s confusing because couldn’t Douglas have taken the train with his own tender and Donald stay behind? Since they were trying to act like that’s what was happening anyway? And then Duck could bring up that Douglas was the one who shunted the coaches there for they still get in trouble at the end?
@@Enterprisingexpress02 they weren’t thinking straight, that’s why there plan was so awkward.
Thomas and Friends honestly missed an opportunity to have the Missing Coach (and maybe other cancelled episodes) during the CGI series
Ok this makes so much scene
Never mind WHY they swapped tenders: HOW did they swap tenders? How would they be able to move without them?
Only a short distance before overheating.
Okay, but if it were up to me, I would have their crews use some pump trolleys to move around the tenders.
Great explanation
@@kevin-2.1 cheers mate!
There's one thing confusing about the story: who on God's green Earth decided to put a 2 axle coach on the express!
Also I've seen the bit about how TFC finds out the mascarading with the tenders pointed to as the cause of the confusion?
(Edit: nevermind, numbers are numbers and a disconnected tender is something else entirely
@robertbalazslorincz8218 god knows, i don't know why they couldn't have used one of the red express coaches as the special coach as shown in The Railway series
Great video and explanation!
@@danielboone3770 thanks! 👍
I agree.
The tender swapping part was dumb.
They might have thought it was confusing because the Scottish twins don't have nameplates
@@YeomasBros.2008 the numbers identify who is who
Confusing or not, I’d have preferred seeing a more proper introduction to Donald and Douglas instead rushing them in a single monologue.
@@toymaster1431 word
You showed me the moral of The Missing Coach, which I had never thought about until this video. Thank you for that.
The real confusing part of The Missing Coach is the actual coach itself and why it exists. We never see this coach again after Twin Engines, so what was the point of it?
@gkingGabe72 if the coach is confusing then doesn't that make dasiy confusing because after during her arc we find out thomas pulls a milk tank on his branchline. And after preys Predicament in the show we never hear of it again
Fair point there.
I didn't think about the milk service being added out of nowhere because the milk service makes sense to me. The special coach service on the other hand does not.
I'd like to think that service was deemed unsuccessful which explains why we don't see the special coach after Twin Engines.
I don't know tho I still think the Deputation is a better episode than this. It was an episode that proved that yes it's the fat controller's railway. But the engines stood up for what was right. I don't believe they should have put it on Percy tho. But glad they all stood by the twins in the end.
Awesome video i like it 🧡
@@_Dr_Pig thankyou Bro, appreciate it! 🩵
I love your accent.
@@bobingabout thanks 😅
Personally I think they should have kept this story in the TV series, especially since they were at the last hurdle in getting it completed. Alcroft's decision to cancel because the story lacked action to keep children entertained disregards the important takeaway lessons that children can learn for the real world.
For example, The Deputation shows the engines challenging The Fat Controller's authority by putting forward an argument to not send away Donald and Douglas in a civil and respectful manner. The engines don't all gang up on TFC. I do think moral learning points are important in children's stories rather than just creating action packed things for no good reason. What do children learn from stories about runaways or derailments?
I hope the T&F head honchos have the episode archived somewhere and have not disposed of it. It would be a good release for the 40th anniversary of the TV series. That's just my opinion anyway. I very much doubt it would happen though.
@@AgenoriaModelTrains 100% agreed mate!
The only really confusing part about The Missing Coach to me is probably the fact that Thomas suddenly has this special coach to begin with, and that it's coupled to Gordon's express first before being shunted to Thomas's train with people still inside. I mean, it makes more sense if you think about it, but I can easily see why it might come off confusing to children.
@Noobul8r9000 if its confusing because thomas suddenly appears to have a 3rd coach then the part in the episode 'daisy' where we find out thomas now suddenly pulls a milk van on his branchline
As an adult its not but as a kid i think it would have been
@Joey15811 but im sure a kid would be confused on what a Predicament is in 'Percy's Predicament' or what a Deputation is in 'Deputation' and where they cancelled?
The Deputation has no action. Percy and the Signal has no action. Dirty Work has no action.
Another reason this episode isn't confusing is because The Diseasel had Bill and Ben have their nameplates removed to confuse Boco out of revenge for taking their trucks. So how did Britt think The Missing Coach would confuse children, but not think The Diseasel would confuse children?
@@arthurengine excalty
Its such a shame
To be honest, my issue isn’t that it’s confusing but rather it’s pointless, because the missing coach wasn’t brought up again nor did in the second story said that it was found later on (which I kinda wish it was).
Another issue with the concept was no context of why the coach was even for Thomas, something I wish we got an episode on so at least it’s justified.
@ScorchZane if thats the case then then shouldn't people have a very similar issue with the episodes 'daisy' and 'percys Predicament' due to us being told that thomas pulls a milk tank on his branchline. Its only mentioned in those episodes and after that. Nothing from it again
@@MutePenguin1155exactly it’s it’s that, that simplys just bug me the wrong way, any thing that was mentioned but never shown again or got brought up again should’ve gotten some context (or at least an episode to themselves) to justify it them selves.
(I’m not ignoring that season 2 has it’s downs, but since we’re on the topic of a missing coach, I might as well write this.)
@ScorchZane lets not forget that the context of thomas pulling milk on his branchline when introduced is said by this rushed and poor explained line "The passengers waited for daisy to start, but she didn't she saw that a milk van was about to be coupled to her and was most Indignant". That line introduced the milk on the branchline, its poor, not even an explanation to why she is coupled to the van so its almost as if the episode is trying to justify that daisy is pulling the van just because...
Now that is something confusing if you take the detailed explanation out of context
@ScorchZane plus the missing coach is justified what its for in the books
@@MutePenguin1155 I don’t see how (other than for the story) I wish we got more of the special coach and even a backstory behind it (and also why it was on Sodor, kinda like what DavisZDirector did).
I feel (at least personally) in order for something to be justified something needs to either have an explanation or a complete backstory.
"This episode is too confusing" was something I didn't understand from the get-go outside one of the showrunners saying it. Maybe I'm an outlier but I think changing tenders wouldn't have been complicated for child me to understand. I had toys, I could change the tenders on them and seeing it happen in the show would have me go "Oh they do it there!" The arc needed the Missing Coach to explain the Fat Controller is suspicious of the two engines and as critical of Donald as he is in Break Van, no, having "Oh two engines arrived and I'm suspicious which one it is" vaguely explained does not help, without having the TFC's first confrontation of "Which one is the one I ordered" hurt the targeted audience's chance to empathize or sympathize to Donald & Douglas as characters in what they do, even if most of what happens lacks action.
Excalty
When i first heared "the missing coach" i thought something was wrong but how you sayed it was perfect i didnt get it but how you sayed it i finaly understand
I honestly agree that Britt should’ve kept this episode, confusing or not. It’s especially odd that Britt thought it was confusing, given some of her original material could be confusing as well, but I’m not going to judge her. I love her regardless.
I simply can't defend her for cancelling this as she says its too confusing yet she then goes and produces thomas and the magic railroad (i Don't hate her am just saying)
@@MutePenguin1155 Well, it’s also contrived: I mean, the whole ‘special coach’ thing is entirely one-off.
@2TCHOLMES there are a lot of one ofd things in the classic series that we released such as thomas pulling a milk van on his branchline in the episode daisy, after that its never spoke about again.
@@MutePenguin1155 ‘Daisy’ never really established the fact that Thomas ever took the milk van with his coaches. It just showed the milk van being coupled up to Daisy and that’s it.
Why did Awdry introduce so many one-off aspects in his books?
@@2TCHOLMES ikr, but i didn't mind it, as it never really butchered anything in the books and the story those aspects were introduced in worked.
Yeah, it's really not that complicated. Donald tells Douglas to take his train and then covers for him, stating 'his' tender has a problem. Sir Topham doesn't fall for it, leaving the episode on a cliff-hanger. 'Break van" then starts with a scene explaining that the twins are on 'thin ice" with Sir Topham, with the episode then playing out as it does. it's said that Wilbert wasn't entirely happy with the story so I think a few minor changes like that would have been okay. They basically cancelled a story that Wilbert wasn't quite happy with but was needed (Break van) for one that Christopher thought was rather dull and didn't particulary want to do (Better Late than Never). imagine if they'd done the same with the Duck and Diesel Trilogy.
@genevieve53fan30 the Twins story how it was adapted for TV is just a bit like having dirty work and a close shave without the context of pop goes the Diesel
@@MutePenguin1155 I'd say they'd more likely cut down Dirty work and add it to Pop Goes the diesel.
Also, I find the whole idea of shaping tenders to be rather idiotic and makes no sense.
Britt is just hypocrital becasue she made episodes that would confuse kids
@chavopatyfanstudios2005 i don't hate her for the Decision But its one of the dummest things she's done, not the metion she would soon make Magic railroad and now for the uk audience that is confusing as we never grew up with shining time station and mr conductor. Also if she thinks tender swapping is confusing then does she really think words in the series such as, 'Predicament' in the episode Percy's Predicament or the word 'Deputation' used in the episode Deputation. Does she think kids will understand those words
You sound like David Platt off Corrie
@@Just_Jaxx gone and just watched a few clips of him after reading this and you do have a point 😂😂
@@MutePenguin1155 Haha lol
How did i watch this and get more confused
@@NORTH_WESTERN simply put, They swapped tenders because they were panicking over getting into trouble due to one of them potentially facing the cutters torch if not kept.
@@MutePenguin1155 ok
@@NORTH_WESTERN are you no longer confused
@@MutePenguin1155 yes
@@NORTH_WESTERN that's good, but honestly dk how people are still confused about it. Now thats something confusing
Ehh we didn’t really need it
@@Killdane we didn't need better late than never, thomas percy and the coal or the runaway
W