Thomas the Tank Engine "The Missing Coach" (partially found footage from cancelled British children's TV series episode; 1986)

File:Thomas missing coach 1.jpg

One of six released screenshots from the episode (taken from the 1989 Thomas annual).

Status: Lost

Partially shot and later scrapped in 1986 was an episode of Thomas the Tank Engine titled "The Missing Coach" (now aptly-named, in an ironic turn of events); the episode was based on the 1960 Railway Series story of the same name. The episode (which was intended to be Season 2's opener) saw the arrival of twin engines Donald and Douglas, having been ordered from Scotland by the Fat Controller; the twins soon discover that only one engine was sent for and that the other would not be needed (and would likely be scrapped). Not wanting to abandon one another, Donald and Douglas hatch a plan to swap tenders and, effectively, identities, so that the Fat Controller could not be sure which was which, in the hopes that he would keep them both (which he ultimately does, after uncovering their charade).

Halfway through the episode's production, it was decided that it was somewhat lacking in action and that the plot was a bit too complex for children to comprehend; as such, the episode was cancelled outright, instead being replaced by an entirely different episode, "Thomas, Percy and the Coal". Donald and Douglas' official series debut took place in the later Season 2 episode "Brake Van", in which they were hurriedly introduced through a short piece of opening dialogue; it has been speculated that the opening scene from the episode may have been retooled footage originally shot for "The Missing Coach".

In a 2008 interview with the late David Mitton (who co-wrote, co-produced and co-directed the show up until his retirement in 2003), he confirmed that he was still in possession of the scrapped footage, although, as of his death in the same year, the fate of the footage has not been revealed (though it has likely been passed down to his heirs); it seems unlikely that the footage will ever receive a release of any kind.