Oliver

Oliver

Background information

**First episode**
"Thumper Saves the Day"

Character information

**Full name**
Oliver the Great Western Engine

**Other names**
* Little Western
* Ollie (*by S.C. Ruffey and the Trucks*)
* Great Western (*by Harold*)

**Age**
Unknown (*Engine*)

**Home**
Island of SodorEngland (*formerly*)

**Friends**
* Thomas
* Gordon
* James
* Percy
* Emily
* Marion
* Ryan
* Skiff
* Duck
* Donald and Douglas
* Toad

**Quote**
"Amazing!""Oliver, has resource!""And sagacity. He is an example to us all."

**Oliver** is a green Great Western tank engine who works on the North Western Railway and is the railway's number 11 engine.
After being saved from scrap by Douglas, he runs the Little Western with Duck and his brake van, Toad.

Personality
Despite his heroism and daring feats of escape, Oliver is an engine who is willing to admit every day is a learning curve. When he was still new to Sodor, he let the other engines' responses to his courage, resource and sagacity from his amazing recounts of daring escapes and adventures get to his smokebox and he became conceited. However, when the Troublesome Trucks pushed him into the turntable well, he grew into a much humbler, settled engine and was far warier of trucks. But later, with some help from his brake van Toad, he did gain much respect and authority among the trucks when he showed his strength with the ringleader of the trucks, S.C. Ruffey, a little more than he had perhaps been intending. Oliver still has gumption but is now a more obedient, sensible engine. He feels his responsibility on the railway deeply, is ever thankful for being aided in his escape from scrap by Douglas and is a trustworthy, tenacious, plucky engine. However, he can still be occasionally boastful or temperamental; despite this setback, Oliver is still one of the more really useful and well-behaved engines on Sodor.

Technical Details
Basis
Oliver is based on a Great Western Railway (GWR) 14xx Class 0-4-2T. These engines were fitted with a mechanical system allowing the driver to control the locomotive remotely from the cab of an 'Autocoach'. They were originally assigned numbers in the 48xx series but were renumbered into the 14xx series in 1946. Four engines of this class survive in preservation.

Oliver's basis
Livery
In the television series, Oliver's paint had faded by the time he was rescued, leaving him in a rusty red colour. After his rescue, he was painted in NWR unlined apple green with the 1934 GWR crest painted on the sides of his tanks and his number (11) painted on the sides of his cab in yellow. In between the sixth and twelfth series, he was painted in a slightly lighter shade of NWR unlined apple green. From *Tale of the Brave* to the twenty-fourth series, he is painted in a slightly darker shade of green from his former green livery in between the third and fifth series. Unlike *The Railway Series*, Oliver's wheels were green in *Thomas & Friends*, presumably to distinguish him from Duck.

Appearances
Television Series* **Season 1** - Thumper Saves the Day and Wilbert and Tiger Moth
* **Season 2** - Save Sir Topham Hatt, Thomas Helps a Friend, The Daring Duel and Disaster on Sodor
* **Season 3** - Hideous Henry and Canky's Delivery (cameo)
* **Season 4** - Slippery Rails
* **Season 5** - Duck-Duck-Spooked
* **Season 6** - Gordon's Flying Kipper and Boulder's Express Route
* **Season 7** - Toby's Adventure, Wilbert's Tragic Day and Terence's Train
* **Season 8** - Tick-Tock-Jock, The New Controller and Runaway At The Runway
* **Season 9** - Help for Bertie, Tender Bender (not named, does not speak) and Arthur and the Fights of the Brown Turntable
* **Season 10** - Coal Crisis (cameo), Bee Yourself, James, Toad the Brakevan: Missing in Actipn and Groundhog Gordon
* **Season 11** - Stepney and the Bluebell Branchline (cameo), The Great Western Way, Just Duck's Luck, Spencer Goes Too Far (cameo), Holly Jolly Molly (cameo) and BoCo and the Cocoa
* **Season 12** - Greetings, Montague!, Scottish Blues, The Importance of Being Billy (cameo), Truckus Ruckus (does not speak), Percy Gets a Promotion (cameo), The Mystery Train (mentioned) and Vicarstown Takedown
* **Season 13** - Bert's Arlesdale Fail, Who Stole The Coal?, Sam I Am (cameo), Toad Gets Towed, Hector and Logan's Hot Pursuit (cameo) and How Gator Stole Christmas (cameo)
* **Season 14** - Double-Decker-Wrecker, Hiro and the Heat Wave (cameo), James in a Jam and Hatt Trick
* **Season 15** - Roundhouse Roulette (cameo), Harvey's Happy Accident (does not speak), Tyrannical Rex (cameo), For Whom The Belle Tolls and The Island of Misfit Engines (cameo)
* **Season 16** - Henry's Hill (cameo), Bye Bye Bertie (not named; does not speak), Painting the Rosie's Red (does not speak), Paxman Pulls Through (cameo), Throw Topham from the Train and Finding Lorry
* **Season 17** - Unidentified Flying Scotsman (cameo), Bold Slow Coach (mentioned), Big Trouble on the Little Western, Oliver Confusion, James and the Giant Screech (cameo), Thomas' Crown Affair (cameo), Rocked by a Hurricane (cameo) and Para-Norman Activity (cameo)
* **Season 18** - Santa Claws (cameo)

Specials* The Battle of the Branchlines
* Claw of the Law
* Oliver's Eleven
* Saving Pirate Ryan

Trivia* Oliver's theme first heard in the third series is a musical variation on the theme from the 1963 film, *The Great Escape*. It is also reminiscent to a portion of the TUGS Danger theme. Some fans have also considered it similar to John Williams' theme for *Indiana Jones* as well.
* Some of Oliver's earlier merchandise had black wheels, indicating he was based off of how he looked in *The Railway Series*.
* In some international dubs, Oliver's name was changed:
	+ In the French dub from the third to seventh series, Oliver was called *Olivier*.
	+ In the second Polish dub, narrated by Stefan Knothe, he is called 'Olek', which is a Polish diminutive for Alexander.
* Oliver has been portrayed with different accents through the years:
	+ George Carlin gave him a Brooklyn accent in the US dub of the third series.
	+ Alec Baldwin gave him a British accent in the US dub of the fifth series.
	+ Michael Brandon gave him a Southern accent in the US dub of the seventh series.
	+ Joe Mills gave him a Cornish accent in both the UK and US dubs from the eighteenth series to the twentieth series.
* Oliver was the first character not to have a model made out of perspex. His model was made of brass, which would be used more extensively in the following series.
* The official Thomas & Friends Twitter page made a post on November 11th, 2011 where they mistakenly pointed out that there was no #11 engine on the Island of Sodor. This was likely due to Oliver not being present in the show when the post was made as he did not appear in the fifteenth series.
* Oliver is one of the four engines to be saved from scrap. The others being Stepney, Hiro and Glynn.