Unscheduled Stops

*“Bulgy! But... I thought you'd been turned into a henhouse."*
"Pwah! Only for a while. Then I was a mobile vegetable stand, but now I am back in service, hah, hah, hah! And if you don't mind my saying so, we'd all be better off if everyone simply used roads instead of railways.”

―Thomas and Bulgy
**Unscheduled Stops** is the tenth episode of the twenty-first series.

## Plot

When Bertie breaks down while they are racing, Thomas takes on his passengers. An elderly man says that Bertie always drops him off between stops. Soon Thomas is getting requests for lots of other unscheduled stops, which makes him run late and upsets his own passengers as well as the Fat Controller, who recruits Bulgy to take them so that Thomas can run on time.

## Characters

* Thomas
* Annie and Clarabel
* Bertie
* Bulgy
* Sir Topham Hatt
* Albert's Wife
* Thomas the Baby
* Bertie's Driver
* Farmer McColl (*does not speak*)
* Gordon (*cameo*)
* Philip (*cameo*)
* The Teacher (*cameo*)
* The Bird Watcher (*cameo*)
* The Ginger-haired Boy (*cameo*)
* The Blond-haired Boy (*cameo*)
* Dowager Hatt's Friends (*cameo*)
* The Ffarquhar Stationmaster (*cameo*)
* Farmer Trotter (*mentioned*)

## Locations

* Dryaw
* Road and Rail Runby and Road Bridge
* Crowe's Farm
* McColl Farm
* Maithwaite
* Tower Windmill
* Farmer Trotter's Pig Farm
* Ffarquhar
* Knapford

## Cast

### UK

* John Hasler as Thomas
* Teresa Gallagher as Annie, Clarabel and Albert's Wife
* Keith Wickham as Bertie, Sir Topham Hatt and Some Passengers
* Colin McFarlane as Bulgy and Bertie's Driver
* William Hope as a Passenger
* Nigel Pilkington as a Passenger

### US

* Joseph May as Thomas
* Teresa Gallagher as Annie, Clarabel and Albert's Wife
* Keith Wickham as Bertie, Sir Topham Hatt and Some Passengers
* Colin McFarlane as Bulgy and Bertie's Driver
* William Hope as a Passenger
* Nigel Pilkington as a Passenger

## Trivia

* Going by production order, this is the fifteenth episode of the twenty-first series.
* This episode marks the first of a few things for Bulgy:
	+ His first full appearance in CGI.
	+ His first appearance in the series since the twelfth series episode Excellent Emily.
	+ His first speaking role since the seventh series episode Bulgy Rides Again.
	+ His only appearance in the twenty-first series.
	+ His only appearance without the looks he gains in Series 23.
* This episode marks the first of a few other things:
	+ The first time Bertie's driver has spoken since the second series episode Bertie's Chase.
	+ The first time Nigel Pilkington is part of the US voice cast.
	+ The first time Colin McFarlane is part of the show's cast.
* Thomas references the time when Bulgy was turned into a henhouse in the third series episode Bulgy, and Bulgy references the time when he was turned into a mobile vegetable stand in the Series 7 episode Bulgy Rides Again.
* In the Nick Jr USA broadcast of this episode, it is paired with Springtime for Diesel.
* A shortened version of the episode, narrated by Joseph May as Thomas, can be found on the official YouTube channel and the Nick Jr. website.
* An old man passenger's CGI rig would later be modified into a CGI version of Cyril the Fogman.
* Sir Topham's spying montage uses several classic cartoon gags.

## Home Media Releases

### UK

* On the Go with Thomas
* The Complete Series 21