The Lion of Sodor

> This is the finest statue I've ever seen!"
> "And the cleanest!
>
> The Mayor and Sir Topham Hatt

**The Lion of Sodor** is the second episode of the thirteenth series.

## Plot

Thomas is given the job of transporting a crate consisting of a very special statue called The Lion of Sodor. However, he thinks his cargo is a real lion, so he decides to take extra care of it. On route to Knapford, Thomas decides to make sure the lion is well fed and comfortable, so he collects syrup from Henry, fish from Edward and straw from Toby, which are all put inside the crate. When Thomas arrives at Knapford station, the crate is opened up and everyone is shocked to see the Lion of Sodor in a terrible mess. Thomas feels very silly and owns up to what he thought of his cargo. The Fat Controller and Henry explain that the Lion of Sodor was a special statue which got broken. Thomas' cargo was the new statue of the Lion. Feeling silly, Thomas agrees to get the statue clean. Taking advice from Henry and Edward, he gets it cleaned at the wash-down and then polished at the Sodor Steamworks. Once the Lion of Sodor looks very clean, Thomas takes Toby's advice to a short-cut via the windmill to get back to Knapford station, where the Mayor of Sodor is overjoyed to see the new statue.

## Characters

* Thomas
* Edward
* Henry
* Gordon
* James
* Percy
* Toby
* Cranky
* Sir Topham Hatt
* The Mayor of Sodor
* Emily Template:Cameo
* Sir Topham Hatt's Assistants Template:Cameos
* The Teacher Template:Cameo
* The Bird Watcher Template:Cameo
* The Ginger-haired Boy Template:Cameo
* The Blond-haired Boy Template:Cameo
* The Schoolchildren Template:Cameo
* The Welsh Bird Watcher Template:Cameo
* The Lady with the Big Hat Template:Cameo
* Barrow Football Fan Template:Cameo
* The Female Puppet Show Entertainer Template:Cameo
* Big Mickey Template:Note
* Victor Template:Mentioned

## Locations

* The Viaduct
* The Coal Hopper
* Brendam Docks
	+ Sodor Shipping Company
* Maron
* Knapford
	+ MC BUNN
* Sodor Steamworks
	+ Victor's Shed
* The Windmill
* Maithwaite
* Crosby Washdown
* Kirk Ronan Junction

## Cast

### UK

* Ben Small as Thomas and Toby
* Keith Wickham as Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, the Fat Controller, and the Mayor of Sodor
* Matt Wilkinson as Cranky

### US

* Martin Sherman as Thomas and Percy
* William Hope as Edward and Toby
* Kerry Shale as Henry, Gordon, James and Sir Topham Hatt
* Glenn Wrage as Cranky
* David Bedella as the Mayor of Sodor

## Trivia

* This episode marked the first of a few things:
	+ The Mayor of Sodor's first speaking role.
	+ The first appearance of the Viaduct since the sixth series and its first appearance in CGI.
* This episode was shown in select US theatres in October 2010.
* Buster's theme from the Jack and the Sodor Construction Company episode, Thomas and the Moles when he flattens the molehills is heard here.
* This episode was used for TV advert of Google Home in Japan.
* The ending of the episode was shown on BBC News on 18th July 2010 when the BBC was discussing the subject of Thomas CGI take during their topic of Thomas' 65th anniversary of The Railway Series in that exact same year the episode was released.

## Goofs

* When Thomas arrives at the docks, the flatbed is missing its axles. Also, when he first arrives, it is lighter in colour.
* In the scenes when the signal turns green and Thomas leaves, the mountain looks different.
* Toby said he only has straw *in* his trucks, but he had flatbeds.
* As Toby is trying to tell Thomas the Lion of Sodor is not an actual lion, steam comes out of Thomas' cab instead of his funnel.
* The narrator said Thomas' engineer (driver) put the syrup in the lion's crate, but it is really his fireman (identified by his moustache).
* When Thomas leaves the washdown, the statue already looks shiny.