The Afternoon Tea Express

> The visitors will wait a long time for their afternoon tea if Stephen is given the job!"
> "I'll have you know they used to call me the Rocket, because I was so speedy!"
> "Ha! Compared to a horse and cart, maybe!
>
> Spencer and Stephen

**The Afternoon Tea Express** is the twenty-third episode of the seventeenth series.

## Plot

Stephen becomes very excited when the Earl gives him the special job of collecting the ingredients for the afternoon teas at the Castle. But Spencer teases him about being too old and slow. Stephen is cross but is soon steaming around Sodor picking up all the ingredients. But soon, Gordon puffs up behind him and tells him to hurry up. He then pushes Stephen quickly along the rails up to the junction to Ulfstead Castle. Spencer is surprised to see Stephen back so soon.

Stephen pretends to have been really fast. Over the next few days, Stephen is pushed by, Thomas, James and Emily making him super fast. But when he is collecting jam for the Earl, Lady Hatt, and the Fat Controller, none of the engines is there to help push him. However, he finds Spencer, who pushes him the fastest up to the castle. But he goes so fast, he cannot stop and biffs into the buffers at Ulfstead Castle, making the four barrels of jam fly all over the Earl, Lady Hatt and the Fat Controller.

After he apologises, he takes the visitors to the castle on a tour of Sodor whilst getting more jam, and realises that going slow is not that bad after all.

## Characters

* Gordon
* Spencer
* Stephen
* Sir Topham Hatt
* Lady Hatt
* Sir Robert Norramby
* Thomas Template:Does not speak
* James Template:Does not speak
* Emily Template:Does not speak
* The Duke and Duchess of Boxford Template:Do not speak
* Millie Template:Cameo
* Annie and Clarabel Template:Cameo
* Cranky Template:Cameo
* Sir Topham Hatt's Assistants Template:Cameo
* The Dairy Manager Template:Cameo
* The Dairy Employees Template:Cameo
* The Bakers Template:Cameo
* The Teacher Template:Cameo
* The Bird Watcher Template:Cameo
* Dowager Hatt's Friends Template:Cameo
* The Blond-haired Boy Template:Cameo
* The Welsh Bird Watcher Template:Cameo
* Barrow Football Fan Template:Cameo
* The Great Railway Show Judge Template:Cameo
* The Female Puppet Show Entertainer Template:Cameo
* A Schoolgirl Template:Cameo
* Big Mickey Template:Note

## Locations

* Ulfstead Castle
* Sodor Dairy
* Sodor Bakery
* Wellsworth
* Gordon's Hill
* West Maron Junction
* Brendam Docks
	+ Sodor Shipping Company
	+ Brendam Warehouse
* Sodor Animal Park
* Coastal Cliffs

## Cast

### UK

* Keith Wickham as Gordon and the Fat Controller
* Matt Wilkinson as Spencer
* Bob Golding as Stephen
* Teresa Gallagher as Lady Hatt
* Mike Grady as Sir Robert Norramby

### US

* Kerry Shale as Gordon and Sir Topham Hatt
* Glenn Wrage as Spencer
* Bob Golding as Stephen
* Teresa Gallagher as Lady Hatt
* Mike Grady as Sir Robert Norramby

## Trivia

* Going by production order, this is the fourteenth episode of the seventeenth series.
* This episode marks Spencer's only appearance in the seventeenth series.
* This episode marks the last of two things:
	+ Lady Hatt's last speaking role until the twentieth series episode, Engine of the Future.
	+ The last appearance of the Sodor Bakery until the episode, All in Vain.
* Teresa Gallagher takes over the role as Lady Hatt from Jules De Jongh in the US dub.

## Goofs

* Stephen has his old, black funnel. Although, a rare picture shows him with his correct white funnel.
* The open-topped carriage constantly changes height throughout the episode.
* Stephen's trucks swap places during his journey.
* When Stephen and Gordon go over the camera, Gordon seems to be pulling less than six carriages when in the next few shots he has six carriages.
* When the narrator is talking about Stephen getting pushed by other engines, he says "The next day" even though Stephen's runs are weekly.
* When the barrels of jam fly onto the platform at Ulfstead Castle, the narrator says that the barrels "smashed to the ground." However, the barrels never broke, they remained completely intact.
* There is a scene where Lady Hatt is not covered in jam.