ThomasNATION Classic Reviews - Bill, Ben and Fergus
July 26, 2025
If you should travel along the Kirk Ronan Branch Line and find yourself at the Sodor Cement Works, then you may just find a little blue railway traction engine by the name of Fergus. And man, it doesn't take long to know what this guy is like. While an engine like Duck will talk endlessly about the Great Western Way, anyone who does know that it's about common sense. An engine like Fergus on the other hand knows the railway rulebook by heart, and he makes sure that the others follow them with his catchphrase "do it right". His insistence on doing everything absolutely according to the rules can annoy the other engines, and I can kind of see where they are all coming from since it does come across as dangerous perfectionism where he never approves of anyone's work but his own. But under all that dust and his chronic cough, Fergus is still a decent engine at heart and will not hesitate to help other engines in trouble while also being friendly to nearly everyone he meets albeit being suspicious of diesels whom he considers as "new-fangled" according to the Thomas and Friends Writers' Bible. But in this week's review which comes from the final classic season, let's see if Fergus can keep the most mischievous engines working on the North Western Railway in line on the day he came to help out at the quarry as we recount the tale of "Bill, Ben and Fergus".
BILL, BEN AND FERGUS: A new railway traction engine named Fergus is given a job of working at the quarry, but he wants everyone to do things right, much to Bill and Ben's annoyance.
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For the episode that marks the final of many things ranging from this being Bill and Ben's final appearances and final leading roles in an episode during the classic era of Thomas & Friends before they returned in the HIT Era and eventually in the CGI era, "Bill, Ben and Fergus" is a nice episode despite having Fergus saying his "do it right" catchphrase so many times which I know was done in order to make the audience sympathize with Bill and Ben's frustration even if it does come off as Fergus being introduced just to give Bill and Ben something to work with and another pawn to play their tricks on. But hey, at least it wasn't as repetitive as Ferdinand's "that's right" catchphrase in "Misty Island Rescue". I do like the moral of the story however since Fergus is pretty wise in this episode and is dedicated to do things right. And when you add in Bill and Ben's cheekiness, it works even if it can feel like your generic "Bill and Ben causing trouble" type of story. It especially works when you're judging by the respective basis the engines have. If we are to look at specifics, Fergus is really the elder engine of the twins with his basis; that being 'The Blue Circle' which was built in 1926 and Bill and Ben being 'Alfred and Judy' being built in 1937 and 1953. But hey, that's just me saying that stuff as an adult fan of Thomas.
Also, it really is a shame that the model prop used for Fergus was damaged in the landslide scene even knowing the fact that they had planned to give him a dented funnel to use for his damage which sadly ended up going unused when production started. Now, the model can thankfully still run, but the flywheel no longer turned after this which may be why the character was sadly dropped after Season 7 even though it looked like he was considered to make a return in the HiT Era going off of reference sheet photos. Heck, the former series railway consultant Sam Wilkinson did say in a 2015 interview with Sodor Island Fansite had expressed his interest to reintroduce Fergus into the CGI Series. However, this never came to fruition thus making the little railway traction engine one of the many characters who fell into the void and are honestly forgotten about by the general public these days, and I guess it's up to the fandom to make that switch to CGI for Fergus possible in their own online content now. To whoever the new owners are of Fergus' Gauge 1 model with his ten faces used or unused as well as his close-up model from the results of this year's Propstore online charity auction done to celebrate the eightieth anniversary of Thomas & Friends, I congratulate you guys on winning them and hope you take very good care of these pieces of television history.
So, overall, as the episode that introduced the world to Fergus even if we don't get a proper backstory for him, I think that "Bill, Ben and Fergus" is a pretty decent episode that really puts all three of our titular characters through their paces with not only each other but the rocky situation they all found themselves in. It may not be the most memorable episode from Season 7 and while Fergus may not be the most memorable new character from the franchise's history, only when we "do it right" together can we make the world a better place to live and work and for that earns this episode a rating of a 3.5/5.
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