The Flying Kipper (episode)

Template:Youmay

Template:Infobox Episode
***The Flying Kipper*** is the nineteenth episode of the first series. It is based on the story of the same name from the Railway Series book Henry the Green Engine.

## Plot

One winter evening, Henry is told by his driver that they will be leaving early tomorrow morning to pull the Flying Kipper, a special goods train that carries fish from the harbour to the Mainland. He also says that they might be allowed to take the express if they pull the Kipper nicely, which makes Henry excited.

Early the next morning at 5:00 AM, Henry enters the harbour as he couples up to the heavily loaded vans and carefully starts. Although it is difficult at first, the journey goes very smoothly, and Henry enjoys running through the snow-covered countryside as the sun rises. Soon, they near a yellow signal, indicating "Caution" and prepare to stop until they notice the home signal is down and displaying lunar for "Diverging". Assuming that the line ahead is clear, Henry’s crew increase his speed. Little do they know however that ahead of them, the points that lead to the main line have frozen towards a siding, and the home signal, which is supposed to set at "Danger" has been forced down by the snow.

In the siding is a goods train, waiting to let Henry pass. The engine's crew are enjoying hot cocoa with the guard in the brake van when they learn that the Flying Kipper is due, so they decide to head back to their engine. Their exit comes just in time as Henry rushes onto the siding and, unable to stop, crashes straight into the back of the train, destroying the brake van and landing on his side, while his crew manage to jump clear before the collision.

When daylight comes, the Breakdown Train is brought in to clean up the mess. The Fat Controller comes up to a distraught Henry and kindly reassures him that the accident was not his fault, it was due to the weather. He then tells Henry that he is arranging for him to be sent to Crewe, where he will be given a brand-new shape and a larger firebox, and he will no longer need Welsh Coal.

Henry is doubtful at first, but when spring arrives, he returns from Crewe feeling better than ever. Everyone is delighted to see Henry in his new shape, and he looks so splendid and strong that the crowd gives him three cheers. Even the children wait to see Henry in his new shape, making them late for school. Before long, Henry even gets to pull the Express, which he does so well that Gordon becomes jealous.

## Characters

* Henry
* Troublesome Vans
* Sir Topham Hatt
* Gordon (*does not speak*)
* Edward Template:Cameo
* James Template:Cameo
* Märklin Engine Template:Cameo
* One Little Boy Template:Cameo
* The Stone-dropping Boys Template:Cameos

## Locations

* Tidmouth Sheds
* Knapford Harbour
* Knapford Bus Yard
* The Woodland Runby
* The Pond Runby
* Wellsworth
* The Viaduct
* Maron
* Elsbridge
* Knapford Template:Deleted scene
* Crewe Template:Mentioned

## Trivia

* Henry's accident was loosely inspired by the Abbots Ripton rail accident that occurred on the East Coast Main Line at Abbots Ripton in what was then Huntingdonshire on the evening of the 21st January 1876.
* One of the workmen at the harbour just before Henry sets off resembles Ringo Starr.
* While the narrator talks about the harbour, there is an engine seen moving in the background; this is the unmodified Märklin Engine.
* The Brake Van that Henry collides with has additional side windows.
* The events were later mentioned by Gordon in the next episode and Thomas in the twenty-fourth series episode, Thomas and the Royal Engine.
* The two shots where the narrator says, "The Fat Controller came to see him," and when the Fat Controller said, "won't that be nice?" are both freeze frames.
* Thanks to the increased clarity of the restored footage, it shows the engine at the front of the goods train to be James. It is confirmed that James was pulling the goods train that Henry crashed into the brake van of at the time, since he is nowhere to be seen at the sheds at the beginning of the episode. The shape of his cab windows just as Henry approaches the goods train from behind also gives this away. This is also coupled with the fact that he can be seen pushing some trucks at the scene of Henry's accident.
* This was the only episode to keep its two yellow splits transitioning from the intro when it was aired individually.
* Henry loses his wheel splashers after his rebuild, but he later regains them in the second series.
* In the restored version, most of the nighttime footage from when Henry passes Knapford Sheds to when he lands on his side during the accident is framed lower than on the original print. While thought to be due to film deterioration, it would not make sense as the camera recorded vertically and any damage to the tops of the frame would show on the bottom of the next one. It was likely done to hide the top of the set backdrop which is visible as Henry passes through a station in the original print. The rest of the footage was possibly left lower by accident when trying to correct the framing of this one scene.
* This was one of the few episodes in the US dubs where the word "caboose" was used instead of brake van.
* When Henry flies off the rails, his impact with the ground very obviously jars the surrounding trucks and crates; this effect was not simulated but was instead a direct result of his very heavy Märklin chassis slamming onto the set.
* Two deleted scenes from the previous episode are used.
* This and the next episode were the last two episodes of the first series repeated in 1987 on Children's ITV until Thomas' Christmas Party on Wednesday 30th December.
* This is the first episode to feature an on-screen derailment.
* This is also the first episode where Henry derails and/or gets into an accident.
* This episode and the next episode are the first episodes being introduced by Matthew Kelly from 2nd December 1984. Kelly also introduced the following two episodes before his departure from Children’s ITV as the remaining two episodes were used as standalone episodes on Christmas Day of that year. Due to this, Children’s ITV briefly ended until 7th January 1985 with constituent programmes all introduced by Roland Rat, who introduced the final episodes on 8th January, thus finally ending the series since its debut.
* The JEI TV version of the Korean dub added subtitles to inform viewers what a yellow signal is.
* The sound effect when Henry crashed into the brake van was heard in the 1983 film *The Wind in the Willows*.
* This episode marks the last appearance of Henry's surprised and ill faces until the third and fifth series episodes, Henry's Forest and Something in the Air.

## Goofs

* Henry's eyes jitter in the close-up of him in the shed.
* When Henry is waiting at the Harbour, one of his eyes are misaligned.
* Henry arrives at and departs from the Harbour with a "pick-up goods" lamp instead of the "perishables" ones. He then gains the correct lamps as he begins to pass the bus depot.
* In two scenes, Henry's lamps are obviously small light bulbs as they stick out. Some blue wires can also be seen attached to the lights.
* Henry's lamps are removed for the crash and then put back on after he derailed.
* The track besides the goods train disappears and reappears several times.
* In the two last close-ups of Henry, he is in his old shape. In the previous episode, there was a nearly identical close-up of Henry in his new one. From this, it can be judged that the episodes were filmed concurrently, and the editors mixed up the footage. In the same shot, a small gap can also be seen between Henry's eyes and his face mask and some sticker lining on his cylinder is also peeling off.
* The arrangement of the trucks in the Flying Kipper changes when Henry is diverted onto the siding.
* Henry is partially in his new shape with his top feed when he crashes.
* As Henry approaches the green light, the edge of the set can be seen ahead.
* A crew member's hand can be seen pushing Henry by the tender when he crashes into the goods train. This is immediately visible in both the original and restored footage.
* In both US dubs, the term "guard" is used at one point when Henry's train with the Flying Kipper was ready to go, marking this the first time in the US dub a conductor is called by its original British and international term.
* In the original version, when the Fat Controller says to Henry "Won't that be nice?", James can be seen behind them, but then in the very next shot, he is nowhere to be seen.
* The edge of the set can be seen in the top left corner when Henry goes back over the viaduct.
* During Henry's crash, the transition from his impact with the goods train to him leaping off the rails is very delayed. As a result, he appears to suddenly jump off the rails whilst stationary.

## Merchandise

* Pop-Up Books - The Flying Kipper and Henry the Green Engine

## In Other Languages

Template:Collapse 1
Template:Other Languages
Template:Collapse 2