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 five 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 saw the arrival of twin engines Donald and Douglas, having been ordered from Scotland by the Fat Controller, only to discover that only one engine was sent for and that the other would not be needed. Not wanting to leave the others' side, Donald and Douglas hatch a contrived plan to switch 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 lacking in action and that the plot was likely too complex for children to comprehend and as such, it was cancelled, instead being replaced with an entirely different episode, "Thomas, Percy and the Coal".

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).

5 screenshots that have appeared in various books/merchandise over the years are the only publicly available content from the episode.

• Thomas Take-Along card.jpg

  Screenshot of Douglas from the episode; seen on Douglas' "Take-Along" card and various other sources.

• TheMissingCoach.jpg

  Another screenshot of Douglas; source unspecified.

• Thomas unknown.jpg

  Screenshot of Duck and one of the twins; source unspecified.

• TheMissingCoach7.png

  Another screenshot of one of the twins; source unspecified.

• Thomas japanese book.jpg

  Donald and Douglas approaching Gordon and Henry; found in a Japanese book (title unspecified).

• ''The Missing Coach'' (US Narration - Read Description)

  A fan's recreation of the episode.