| Donald and Douglas | |
|---|---|
 Original UK title card | |
| No. of season: | 2 |
| No. of epsiode: | 16 |
| No. of series: | 42 |
| Director: | David Mitton |
| Producer: | David Mitton Robert D. Cardona |
| Writer: | Reverend W. Awdry (original) Britt Allcroft David Mitton (adapted) |
| Narrator: | George Carlin (US) |
| Original air date: | November 22nd, 1991 (US) |
| Previous: | Better Late Than Never |
| Next: | The Deputation |
Break Van (retitled Donald and Douglas in American releases) is the 16th episode of the 2nd season and the 42nd episode of the series. It is based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book, The Twin Engines. It aired in the US on the Shining Time Station episode, Sweet and Sour in 1991. In this episode, a spiteful brakevan causes grief for Donald and Douglas.
Plot[]
Donald and Douglas are twin engines from Scotland who arrive on the Island of Sodor to help out, however the Fat Controller had only sent for 1 engine. While the twins mean well, their identical appearance causes confusion and the Fat Controller has numbers painted on them; Donald is 9, while Douglas is 10. However the Fat Controller still intends to send 1 of the engines back home.
In the yard, a Spiteful Brakevan takes a dislike to Douglas and does his best to make things go wrong whenever Douglas takes it out. As a result, Douglas' trains are late causing him to get a bad reputation. Donald is angry at his twin's unfair treatment and bumps the brakevan hard before threatening it. The brakevan starts behaving better after that.
However things start to go wrong when Donald travels along some slippery lines and crashes into a signalbox. The Fat Controller is very angry at Donald and informs him that he had decided to keep him and send Douglas back before this incident. Now Donald needs to have his tender mended and James will have to do his work, which the Fat Controller knows James won't like.
The Fat Controller is right and James is very grumpy about the extra work. Douglas jokes about James' incident with the tar wagons, making him angrier. He takes a train of trucks which includes the spiteful brakevan, who decides to make life difficult for James and has the trucks hold back, quickly tiring James out.
Meeting Douglas, James asks for help climbing Gordon's Hill and the Scottish engine agrees. Douglas and James work as hard as they can to climb the hill, however Douglas pushes too hard and accidentally destroys the spiteful brakevan.
The Fat Controller arrives with Edward and is angry that Douglas has caused even more trouble. Edward stands up for Douglas, having heard what happened and tells the Fat Controller of all the hard work Douglas did. The Fat Controller feels that Douglas went too far, but understands Douglas had good intentions and was only trying his best. The Fat Controller is left unsure about what to do with Donald and Douglas.
Characters[]
- Edward
- James
- Donald and Douglas
- Troublesome Trucks
- The Spiteful Brake Van
- Sir Topham Hatt
- Thomas (cameo)
- Henry (cameo)
- Gordon (cameo)
Locations[]
Notes[]
- A Lego brick can be seen beside the tracks when James and Douglas leave the station.
- In Norway, this episode is called "Den Trassige Godsvogna". The Italian tile is "Le Locomotive Gemelle". In Dutch this episode is called "De Remwagen". In Japan, this episode is called "ふたごのきかんしゃ". The Croatian title is "Slomljeni teretnih vagona". The German title is "Der Bremswagen". It is called "Jarruvaunu" in Finland. The Spanish title is "Donald y Douglas". The Brazilian title is "Os Gêmeos Escoceses".
- When originally broadcasted, compiled with Better Late Than Never, the end credits mentioned Christopher Awdry's episode, though later separate versions (most notably on VHS and Cartoon Network) still had the episode listed in the end credits.
- The 1st season episode, Dirty Objects was referenced.
US Home Video Releases[]
Transcript[]
Gallery[]
