Thomas and Friends: The Adventure Begins

The Adventure Begins is a fourty-four minute special based on the first two books of the Railway Series. It was released as a Walmart exclusive in the US and later as an ASDA exclusive in the UK.

Adaptation
The Adventure Begins is a re-telling of the first two Railway Series books, The Three Railway Engines and Thomas the Tank Engine, which were previously adapted in the first season of the television series in 1984. It contains elements from both the orignal stories and television version, along with new characters and a different narrative.

Plot
Many years ago on the North Western Railway, Gordon, the largest engine on the Island of Sodor is unhappy about having to pull goods trains and tells Edward one morning that he won't have to pull them for much longer since Sir Topham Hatt has brought another engine. Later, Gordon becomes stuck at the foot of the steep hill on the main line; with no other engines available, Edward was sent and helps Gordon up the hill pushing the train from behind.

Later, Edward was shunting at Knapford Station when he hears James talking to another engine; the other engine turns out to be Thomas, the new tank engine Sir Topham Hatt ordered. On meeting Thomas, Gordon is rather derisive of his size which upsets the smaller engine. Sir Topham Hatt arrives, and after meeting Thomas tells Edward to teach him how to work in the yard. Initially Thomas manages to occasionally get in the way, and sometimes causes minor accidents, which Gordon and James seem to sometimes find funny. He also cheekily whistles at Gordon one day while the bigger engine is resting and wakes him up, much to Gordon's displeasure.

One night at Tidmouth Sheds, Edward tells Thomas about Henry and how he once stayed in a tunnel because of his fear of rain. The following day, Thomas is sent to the Steamworks at Crovan's Gate where he is repainted blue and given the number 1; on returning to Knapford, Gordon tells Thomas that the previous engine to carry the number 1 was a vertical-boilered engine, and orders Thomas to fetch his express coaches. Thomas accidentally tries to take two four-wheeled coaches called Annie and Clarabel, who belong to James. James later returns Annie and Clarabel to the yard, causing Thomas to notice a burning smell before later seeing Henry at the water tower and asking about his fear of rain.

The following day, Thomas takes longer to start than usual and arrives at Knapford with Gordon's coaches later than usual. Still angry with Thomas for waking him up, Gordon starts sooner than expected and before Thomas can be uncoupled. By the time Gordon reaches Vicarstown, Thomas was worn out and is uncoupled. Back at Knapford the following day, Thomas meets Jerome and Judy, the breakdown train while shunting in the yard. James arrives with a goods train and prepares to take Annie and Clarabel, while Thomas notices the strange burning smell is coming from James' brake blocks, which are wooden.

The next morning, Henry isn't able to leave Tidmouth Sheds and Thomas was instead asked to pull his train. Unfortunately Thomas starts too soon and leaves the coaches behind, much to the dismay of Sir Topham Hatt. Thomas returns and is coupled to the train, but Gordon, James, and Henry tease him about it at Tidmouth Sheds later that night. Edward kindly offers to let Thomas take a goods train for him the next day; Thomas is too excited to take Edward's advice about the Troublesome Trucks which leads him to almost have an accident. Sir Topham Hatt, disappointed with Thomas and Edward, orders the two engines to stay in the yard at Knapford until Thomas knows enough about trucks as Edward does. During this time, Thomas manages to help Henry overcome his fear of rain.

A few days later, Thomas and Edward are in the yard when James rushes through with a goods train. Thomas puffs after James, now unable to stop since his wooden brake blocks have caught fire, and attempts to couple up behind James' train to slow him down. The trucks' speed and weight cause James to derail on a bend before Thomas can couple up; Thomas returns to Knapford and fetches Jerome and Judy to rescue James. Sir Topham Hatt, impressed with Thomas's bravery, awards him his own branch line, the Ffarquhar Branch Line, that night at Tidmouth.

James returns a few days later with new brakes and a fresh coat of red paint, while Thomas had given Annie and Clarabel to run his branch line. Arriving at Ffarquhar Station, he meets the former number 1 engine, a vertical-boilered engine called Glynn who asks him to look after the branch line and wear the number one with pride. Thomas promises to do so, and happily puffs away.

Characters
A station worker at Knapford also speaks, he is voiced by Keith Wickham in the US dub. Some passengers and workmen also speak; some of them are also voiced by Keith Wickham.
 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Glynn
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Jerome and Judy
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Gordon's Driver
 * James' Guard
 * Two Signalmen
 * Wellsworth Station Speaker
 * Knapford Station Speaker
 * Farmer McColl (cameo)
 * The Teacher (cameo)
 * Jem Cole (cameo)

UK

 * Mark Moraghan as the narrator
 * John Hasler as Thomas
 * Keith Wickham as Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Glynn, Sir Topham Hatt and the other human characters
 * Teresa Gallagher as Annie, Clarabel and Judy
 * Tim Whitnall as Jerome

US

 * Mark Moraghan as the narrator
 * Christopher Ragland as Thomas
 * Kerry Shale as Henry and Gordon
 * William Hope as Edward
 * Teresa Gallagher as Annie, Clarabel and Judy
 * Joseph May
 * Rob Rackstraw as James
 * Tim Whitnall as Jerome
 * Keith Wickham as Glynn, Sir Topham Hatt, and the other human characters

Locations

 * The Watermill
 * Kellsthorpe Road
 * Gordon's Hill
 * Wellsworth
 * Knapford
 * Maron
 * Ffarquhar
 * The Fishing Village
 * Sodor Suspension Bridge
 * Sodor Steamworks
 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Henry's Tunnel
 * Vicarstown (mentioned)

US

 * Really Useful Engine
 * Troublesome Trucks
 * Old Reliable Edward (bonus episode)

Errors

 * In a close up of Gordon as James goes past him, James' tender is in his red livery.
 * When James moves away from blocking Gordon's line at the beginning, his pony truck doesn't turn.
 * When Henry approaches Tidmouth Sheds for the first time, there appears to be no one in his cab.
 * The carriage shed in Knapford Yard changes from a double track shed to a single track shed between scenes.
 * When Edward says "It's not as easy as you think, Thomas!" the points he was going over are against him.
 * A brakevan should've been added to Thomas' train.
 * When Gordon says "The last one he got, with the wooden brake blocks" he passes a signal, but in the next shot he passes it again. Also the light of the signal changes from red to green between shots.
 * At the Steamworks there are some narrow gauge buffers that don't have tracks.
 * The brake van on James' train changes during the runaway scene.
 * The branch that Thomas hits while chasing James seems to appears out of nowhere.
 * Jerome and Judy shouldn't seem to have lifted James with his tender still attached.
 * When Thomas arrives at Ffarquhar he wasn't coupled to his coaches, and Annie's wheels are missing.