ThomasNATION Classic Reviews - Toby's Discovery

It’s clear that the scariest thing to come out of Thomas and Friends in recent years is whatever the hell that god awful 2D “reboot” is but there have been some great scary stories over the many years - None more than in Season 5 - containing such classic spooky episodes like Haunted Henry, Stepney Gets Lost, and the subject of this review - Toby’s Discovery.

I love this story despite every fibre in my being telling me I shouldn’t. It’s very flawed with some big plot holes (stick around till the end to see what I would change with this story) but it’s a classic! Season 5 will always be the best season of all time in my opinion and I can’t help but love it at its highest and it’s lowest. And hey - let's talk about it.

The story starts with Sir Topham Hatt asking Toby to take him “to seaside” with his grandchildren. While there they build a sandcastle, they point out that it looks like one they’ve seen on a map. This is the first plot hole, it’s never explained where this map came from or why Sir Topham Hatt doesn’t seem to know this whole section of his railway. But honestly, it’s easy to overlook, so it doesn't exactly matter.

When they meet up with Toby, they head down the line to go exploring, meeting a signal man who points them in the right direction and…that’s all he does. I’d say this is definitely the “filler” portion of the episode and could have very easily have been cut or even better, have the first mention of the old warrior tell us the mine is haunted and make Sir Topham Hatt and his family excited to go and see and give Toby more of a reason to be scared later on. They reach another junction and decide to go “t’castle”, When they reach it, they look at it… and head back. The second plot hole is how they are so excited they are to see the castle but how little time the characters actually spend there, like the previous scene this really could have been used to mention the ghost.

They finally reach the mine and this is as good a time as any to mention how amazing the sets look. The old line looks spooky and overgrown and all the scrap set dressing really makes the scene look more eerie. This accounts for the whole episode and is one of its best aspects. The scene is again short but this time I feel it works, though the only thing I would have change is have Toby catch a glimpse of Bertram to establish why he feels scared, but it works without it. Toby then returns to his shed and Sir Topham Hatt tells him of the plans to do up the castle. We’re told Toby is scared but I’d much rather have something show us why, but the scene's decent enough and fits Toby's character here fine.

Toby returns to the mine where he’s still scared and Thomas finally tells us, ¾ of the way through the episode “oh yeah, there's a ghost”. This would have been better if Toby explains he was scared and Thomas either doesn't believe him or goes along in a cheeky way. The next scene looks incredible, thanks to the amazing sets and brilliant night setting, making everything look really spooky. Toby then hears a wheeze and blurts out about the ghost, which his driver doesn’t believe but offers to go investigate for him. They return telling him they’ve found the ghost and he wants to meet Toby. Toby reluctantly complies and he pulls forward to meet not a ghost, but Bertram.

I won’t go too much into Bertram as there really isn’t much to say with the guy. He’s far more developed by fans than what we get in the show, heck, he doesn’t even get a line and we never see him after this. People may complain modern characters are terrible but honestly I found them to be a little better than Bertram (I mean, at least they actually have stuff to do). I won’t touch on his model, as to be fair they did try originally to plan to go for something different but money wouldn’t let them. Reusing a model is fine for me, but if Bertram was ever a proper character I would be a little less forgiving. Finally the episode ends showing us the finished castle and mine and talking about Toby and Bertram. It’s sweet and it's certainly a nice conclusion.

I mentioned earlier that I had some ideas on what I would do differently in this story:

l It’s starts very similar but Sir Topham Hatt asks Toby to take him to see the Narrow Gauge engines. Toby does and arrives at Crovan’s Gate, and while Sir Topham Hatt and his family leave Toby talks to Duke about his days on the Mid-Sodor.

l Duke mentions how some of it is still abandoned to this day, and Sir Handel brings up that the castle will most likely be haunted. Toby and Duke scoff at the idea of ghosts but Bridget and Stephen overhear and get intrigued and excited.

l Sir Topham Hatt is intrigued too and agrees to go investigate the line with them and Toby.

l The episode continues as Toby reaches the junction where he can go to the castle or the mine. They choose the castle first and go have a look. Toby is excited as it reminds him of the one on his old line.

l They meet an old signalman who is surprised to see them but gladly tells them about the castle and the ghost that haunts the mine. Toby hears the story of an old warrior that hides around the mine, scaring the old tram.

l Toby, STH and the family arrive at the mine and have a look around. While he’s alone Toby notices a small shape behind a building. He’s seen his ghost and wants to go as soon as possible.

l At the sheds, STH tells Toby that he has plans for the mine and castle and wants him to help. Toby doesn’t want to let STH down so he reluctantly agrees.

l The next scene continues like the episode but Thomas is a lot more annoyed with Toby when he brings up being so scared.

l The scene continues as Toby’s crew looks for the ghost and brings Toby to meet him, but instead of Bertram, it’s Smudger!

l He introduces himself and explains how he was made into a generator for misbehaving, but he’s now changed and promises to be a brave engine.

l The episode ends in the same way but with Smudger, Duke, Peter Sam and Sir Handel in place of Bertram, Skarloey and Rheneas.

I feel bringing back Smudger would be a better move as it would mean not introducing a fairly pointless character. While it would involve repainting Rheneas, we know that they would later repaint Bertram back into Duke so I feel it’s fair they could have done the same to Rheneas.

Like I mentioned in the beginning, despite this story having it’s many flaws I really love it, it's fun, spooky, looks amazing and the music (like always) is fantastic, I’d rate it a 4/5.

A perfect story for this spooky season, though I’d say the scariest thing of the episode? Toby’s driver.

He's gonna haunt me more than any ghost.

Final Score: 4/5