Duck Takes Charge

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Template:Infobox Episode ***Duck Takes Charge*** is the eighth episode of the second series. It is based on the story of the same name from the Railway Series book Percy the Small Engine.

## Plot

One day in the sheds, Percy is eager to tell a disinterested Gordon and James some news. He tells them that because the work in the yard is getting too hard for him, the Fat Controller is planning to bring a new bigger engine in to help. James scoffs and tells Percy that if he spent more time working and less time talking, the yard would be a happier place. Percy, unfazed, leaves to do his work.

As he works, Percy is grumbling to himself about how the larger engines see him as a "silly little engine" ever since he accidentally reversed at a signal and often order him about. Percy wants to teach them a lesson but does not know how to do it. He works very hard all day and by the afternoon he is worn out. After bringing some express coaches to the station, he sees the Fat Controller on the platform who notes that Percy looks very tired, which Percy confirms. The Fat Controller consoles Percy by telling him the new engine is bigger than him and can probably manage the work alone. He then asks Percy if he would like to help Thomas and Toby build his new harbour, to which Percy happily agrees.

The next morning, the new engine arrives. The Fat Controller asks the engine his name and the engine introduces himself as Montague but tells the Fat Controller he is often called "Duck" due to his supposed waddle. Although he does not believe that he does, he admits to liking Duck better than Montague. With that, the Fat Controller agrees that the new engine will be known as Duck. Percy arrives and the Fat Controller asks Percy to show Duck around.

 File:DuckTakesCharge27.png  Duck does his work quietly as he brings some coaches to the station, leading Gordon, James and Henry to decide to order him about like they do to Percy. Gordon and Henry then start to leave the station on either side of Duck, quacking and blowing steam at him. As Percy sees everything and is cross, Duck takes no notice and just wants to wait until the larger engines get tired. Duck then asks Percy if the larger engines boss him about and Percy confirms they do. Duck decides to take charge and put a stop to it and tells Percy what they will do.

That afternoon, the Fat Controller is sitting at his desk looking forward to having toast for tea when he suddenly hears a horrible commotion coming from the yard. Looking out his window, he sees Percy blocking the turntable and preventing an enraged Gordon, James and Henry from entering the sheds. The Fat Controller grabs his hat and rushes to the yard.

At the sheds, Gordon, James and Henry are furiously wheeshing and whistling loudly when the Fat Controller arrives and orders them to stop the noise before demanding Duck to explain his and Percy's behaviour. Duck politely explains to the Fat Controller that, as a Great Western engine, he prefers to do his work without any fuss but wants the other engines to know that he and Percy will only take orders from the Fat Controller himself. As the three larger engines start whistling angrily again, the Fat Controller silences them. He then tells Duck and Percy that he is pleased with their work that day but not with their behaviour that night, as they have caused a disturbance. Gordon, Henry and James snicker at Percy and Duck's dilemma, but the Fat Controller turns back to face them and reprimands them too, as their actions have been much worse. He declares that they *made* the disturbance by ordering the two tank engines around and that Duck is right; this is *his* railway and *he* is the one to give the orders, not them. With that, the three engines quickly fall back into line.

When Percy is sent to work at the new harbour, Duck is left to do the work by himself, which he manages to do with ease.

## Characters

* Henry
* Gordon
* James
* Percy
* Duck
* Sir Topham Hatt
* Thomas (*does not speak*)
* Troublesome Trucks Template:Cameos
* Toby Template:Mentioned

## Locations

* Tidmouth Sheds
	+ The Works
	+ Goods Station
	+ Sir Topham Hatt's Office
* Knapford
	+ Yards
		- Sodor Shipping Company
		- Knapford Carriage Shed
	+ New Harbour Template:Mentioned

## Trivia

* This marks the first episode of a few things:
	+ The first appearance of Duck.
	+ The first episode where a character reads the first line instead of the narrator.
	+ The first time Thomas pulls the red coaches.
* A Ladybird book featuring images from this episode was released in June 1986, over 4 months before its television premiere.
* A Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus poster is seen at Knapford.
* Inside the Fat Controller's office, there is a picture of an LMS Jubilee locomotive.
* A first series-style truck can be seen when Duck leaves the yard with Percy. It is also the final time in which these trucks are seen like this.
* This marks the only time with a few things:
	+ The only time that Duck is referred to as Montague until the seventeenth series episode The Thomas Way.
	+ The only episode of the second series to feature Duck's sad face as well as his shocked face (without eyebrows) and his surprised face. His sad face would be used in the third series, while his shocked face would only be used next in the fifth series.
	+ The only episode where Percy wears two cross faces each with different eyebrows. The alternate face might have been made for his debut in the first series but never might have been used due to no scene of him requiring an angry look needed.
* A reference was later mentioned by the big engines in Dirty Work.
* In a picture, Henry is not pulling any coaches while Gordon is also uncoupled from his train as they leave the station to taunt and blow steam at Duck.
* Thomas' special coach is seen as Percy leaves the yard.
* When this episode aired on Cartoon Network, the music and sound effects overlapped the original audio.
* The close-up of the Fat Controller folding his hands at Knapford was used for the "Next Story Coming Up Soon!" card in between episodes during the original broadcasts of Series 2 as well as many US/Canadian VHS/DVD releases.
* The final frame of this episode was used as the credits backdrop on all the odd-numbered episodes in the second series.
* In the US and Canada, this episode aired before Percy and the Signal, meaning that US and Canadian viewers would not understand Percy's mention of the signal.
* When George Carlin's dub aired on the Shining Time Station episode, Stacy Says No, a small portion of the opening was cut.
* When George Carlin's dub aired on Fox Family in 1998, it featured a different title card from the UK dub despite not having a different title.
* This episode was never released on home video in South Korea.

## Goofs

* Gordon's eyes are misaligned in several scenes.
* In the panning shot of Percy, Gordon and James, the Breakdown Train on the far left is derailed.
* In the first close-up of Gordon, he has red paint on his brake pipe and coupling.
* In the original version, when Percy puffs away to get the coaches, studio equipment is slightly visible at the top of the screen.
* In the Norwegian dub, the narrator says Percy was getting some trucks, when he was in fact getting some coaches into Knapford station.
* When Duck backs up to introduce himself to the Fat Controller, the latter is standing on the ground. But when Percy arrives after the introduction, he's suddenly standing on top of a barrel.
* When Percy and Duck first puff away, a crew member's shadow briefly passes in front of them.
* When Duck brings the coaches into Knapford, James' eyes are misaligned.
* Henry's front right break pipe is tilted before he and Gordon leave Knapford.
* When the engines "wheesh" him:
	+ Duck's eyebrows are missing.
	+ Henry also has a different whistle sound, which is Duck's five steps higher in pitch. In the George Carlin dub, Henry's whistle can be faintly heard.
* When Duck says to Percy "We'll do it later," Percy's roof is lifted up.
* In the shot of the Fat Controller sitting in his office hearing the engines outside, his legs are missing.
* When the Fat Controller leaves his office, a brick wall can be seen behind the door frame.
* During the Tidmouth Sheds scene, Duck's handrails are gold instead of silver.
* Due to portions of the script being taken verbatim from the original book, the narrator says that Duck and Percy sat on the points outside the shed, despite the fact that Percy is standing on the turntable and Duck is on a line outside a berth.
* When the narrator says "Gordon, James and Henry were furious,":
	+ The three engines are facing away from the sheds.
	+ Gordon is also missing his tender.
	+ In the close-up of Henry at Tidmouth Sheds, James disappears, and his eyes also slightly jitter.
* When the Fat Controller yells "Stop that noise!", the two men standing in front of Percy are out of scale, as they are half his height.
* In the close-up shots of the Fat Controller at Tidmouth Sheds, his left eyebrow appears to be loose.

## Quotes

**Percy:** Do you know what?
**Gordon:** What?
**Percy:** Do you know *what?*
**Gordon:** Silly. Of course I don't know what, if you don't tell what "what" is.
**Percy:** The Fat Controller/Sir Topham Hatt says that the work in the yard is too heavy for me. He's getting a bigger engine to help me.
**James:** Rubbish! Any engine could do it! If you worked more and chattered less, this yard would be a sweeter, a better and a happier place.

**Sir Topham Hatt:** Hello, Percy. You look tired.
**Percy:** Yes, Sir. I am, Sir. I don't know if I'm standing on my dome or on my wheels.
**Sir Topham Hatt:** You look the right way up to me. Cheer up. The new engine is bigger than you and can probably do the work alone. Would you like to help build my new harbo(u)r? Thomas and Toby will help.
**Percy:** Oh, yes, Sir! Thank you, Sir!

**Sir Topham Hatt:** *(to the bigger engines, who are whistling impatiently)* STOP THAT NOISE!
**Gordon:** They won't let us in!
**Sir Topham Hatt:** Duck, explain this behavio(u)r.
**Duck:** Beg pardon, Sir, but I'm a Great Western Engine. We do our work without fuss. But, begging your pardon, Sir, Percy and I would be glad if you would inform these, um, engines that we only take orders from you.
*(the big engines furiously blow their whistles again)*
**Sir Topham Hatt: SILENCE!!!/QUIET!!!** *(to Percy and Duck)* Percy and Duck, I'm pleased with your work today, but not with your behavio(u)r tonight. You have caused a disturbance. *(turns his attention to the big engines)* As for you, you've been worse! You *made* the disturbance! Duck is quite right. This is *my* railway and *I* give the orders!
## In Other Languages

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

## Merchandise

* Ladybird book - Thomas and Trevor and Duck Takes Charge
* Buzz Book - Duck Takes Charge
* My Thomas Story Library book - Duck
* Magazine story - Duck Takes Charge

## Episode

Duck Takes Charge - UKUK NarrationDuck Takes Charge - US (George Carlin)US Re-dub
## Reference

Template:Reflist

Template:Series 2

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