Jitters and Japes

> Shake! Shake! Make me quake!"
> "Make me quake until I shake!
>
> Thomas and Dowager Hatt crossing the Shake Shake Bridge

**Jitters and Japes** is the eighteenth episode of the fourteenth series.

## Plot

Dowager Hatt is visiting Sodor. Thomas puffs into Knapford Station and Sir Topham Hatt tells him to collect his mother from Maithwaite Station and take her on a tour of Misty Island. Thomas guarantees that Dowager Hatt will have fun which prompts Sir Topham to warn Thomas that his mother is an elderly woman. Thomas then asks Toby, one of the oldest engines, what she would want to do. Toby tells Thomas that she would want to go slow and then rest to smile at the beautiful views.

So Thomas sets off to Maithwaite to collect the Dowager. Thomas tells Dowager Hatt that he has a plan for their day and Dowager Hatt tells Thomas that she has a few plans herself, but Thomas does not listen and sets off through the Misty Island Tunnel. Unfortunately, the mist is down over Misty Island which rather upsets Dowager Hatt. Thomas then remembers Toby's idea of fun and stops to let Dowager Hatt admire the view, but she is not happy. She does not consider the view very fun at all. Thomas assures her that the next stop will be fun and they soon stop at the Misty Island Seashore. Dowager Hatt waits and waits, but she does not smile. Finally, the mist lifts and Thomas sets off again to have more "fun." Thomas, remembering Toby's advice, puffs slowly and steadily up and down hills. But Dowager Hatt is getting more and more annoyed until, finally, she demands Thomas to stop. He does and Dowager Hatt orders Thomas to take her home. Thomas tells her that he was only trying to be fun for her, but Dowager Hatt tells Thomas that she wanted thrills and spills, jokes and japes, jitters and flitters. Thomas does not know what those are so he agrees to the Dowager's orders and decides to go home the quickest way possible.

Thomas chuffs through the Hollow Tree Tunnel, and to his surprise Dowager Hatt is clapping and laughing. This gives Thomas an idea. He races faster and faster towards the Shake Shake Bridge. Dowager Hatt loves the bridge. Next, it is Ol' Wheezy's turn to impress. He throws logs all over the place - much to the Dowager's content. All too soon, it is teatime and Dowager Hatt has to go back to Sodor. Dowager Hatt tells her son all about the fun she has had and the Fat Controller praises Thomas, who now realises that different people have different ideas of fun - regardless of their age.

## Characters

* Thomas
* Toby
* Dowager Hatt
* Sir Topham Hatt
* Ol' Wheezy Template:Does not speak
* Hee-Haw Template:Does not speak
* Gordon Template:Cameo
* James Template:Cameo
* Diesel Template:Cameo
* Annie and Clarabel Template:Cameo
* Harold Template:Cameo
* Lady Hatt Template:Cameo
* Mr. Percival Template:Cameo
* Jem Cole Template:Cameo
* Sir Topham Hatt's Assistants Template:Cameos
* The Bird Watcher Template:Cameo
* The Welsh Bird Watcher Template:Cameo
* Pansy Template:Note
* Henry Template:Note
* Emily Template:Note

## Locations

* Island of Sodor
	+ Island Record Office
	+ Topham Hall
	+ Knapford
		- Sir Topham Hatt's Office
	+ Maithwaite
	+ Sodor Search and Rescue Centre
		- The High Bridge
	+ Great Waterton Template:Note
* Misty Island
	+ Misty Island Tunnel
	+ Shake Shake Bridge
	+ Hollow Tree Tunnel
	+ Misty Island Seashore

## Cast

### UK

* Ben Small as Thomas and Toby
* Keith Wickham as the Fat Controller and Dowager Hatt

### US

* Martin Sherman as Thomas
* William Hope as Toby
* Kerry Shale as Sir Topham Hatt
* Keith Wickham as Dowager Hatt

## Trivia

* Going by production order, this is the nineteenth episode of the fourteenth series.
* This episode marks the first for several things:
	+ The first episode to feature the road entrance of Knapford.
	+ The first time Sir Topham Hatt's mother is addressed as "Dowager Hatt" in the US script of an episode.
	+ Jem Cole's first appearance since the eleventh series episode, Thomas and the Runaway Car and his first appearance in full CGI.
	+ The first episode where Misty Island has appeared without the Logging Locos.
	+ The first appearance of a taxi in CGI.
* Part of Dowager Hatt's portrait from the episode Percy's Parcel is framed on the Fat Controller's mantle-piece along with a painting of himself from the live-action Engine Driver Segments and one of his granddaughter, Bridget.
* Photographs of James from James Goes Too Far, Toby's Afternoon Off and one of Henry can be seen on the wall of the stationmaster's office at Knapford. A portrait of Pansy Percival can also be seen at the beginning of the episode along with one of Emily from Emily's New Route at Maithwaite. In the pictures of James, Henry and Emily, their faces have been removed.
* The Norwegian title is directly translated to a Norwegian term old people use to describe young people.
* This is the last appearance of Topham Hall until Thomas and the Royal Engine.

## Goofs

* The narrator says that Dowager Hatt climbed aboard Annie and Clarabel, but she can only be in one or the other.
* In some shots, the backs of both Annie and Clarabel are completely black.