Lady Hatt’s Birthday Party

**Lady Hatt's Birthday Party** is the fourth episode of the fifth season and the 113th episode overall.

## Plot

One Sunny day, Bertie asks Thomas and Percy if they have noticed something different about the Fat Controller. Percy tells Bertie that he saw the Fat Controller staring into the clouds this morning and he wonders why. It is Lady Hatt's birthday and the Fat Controller has a brand new outfit to wear especially for the party. Lady Hatt tells him not to be late and he tells her that he will be spic and span and right on time.

The Fat Controller is leaving work early to attend the party at Kirk Ronan. He changes into his smart suit at home. He tells his butler that he will be taking his car as the engines are busy. He thinks it is reliable, but it is not. His mood soon changes when his car becomes stuck in a pothole with a flat tyre. He decides not to risk changing it because it will cause his suit to get dirty for the sake of his wife's party.

The Fat Controller then sees Caroline approaching. He explains the situation and hitches a lift in her, but Caroline does not like going fast and her engine overheats, causing her to break down. George the Steamroller then arrives and insults Caroline, but his driver is more polite to the Fat Controller, who he offers a ride to Thomas, who is just down the line. The Fat Controller agrees, promising Caroline that he will send for help. As George enjoys rolling along the road, the Fat Controller becomes covered in oil, thus ruining his suit. To make matters worse, George suddenly slips out of control due to a malfunction and falls roller first into a muddy ditch not too far where Thomas is taking on water and the Fat Controller catapults off and sinks chest-deep in the mud.

The Fat Controller asks Thomas' driver for a ride, but Thomas' fireman had taken ill, so the Fat Controller offers to be Thomas' relief fireman. It is hard work, and coal dust and smut fly all over the Fat Controller, but both he and Thomas arrive at Kirk Ronan just in time. The Fat Controller quickly buys a large bouquet of flowers for the party and as the clock strikes 3:00, he triumphantly arrives in the banquet room, despite feeling tired and dirty, and gives his wife the flowers. She is most grateful and states that she knew it was a special birthday party, but not that it was "fancy dress," much to the guests' amusement.

## Characters

* Thomas
* Percy
* Bertie
* George
* Caroline
* The Fat Controller
* Lady Hatt
* James *(cameo)*

## Locations

* Ffarquhar
	+ Ffarquhar Yards
* Topham Hall
* Wellsworth
* Kirk Ronan

## Trivia

* A shot of Thomas looking at the Fat Controller became an internet meme, using the caption "Thomas had never seen such a mess" as opposed to the actual line in the episode, "Thomas had never seen the Fat Controller in such a mess."
* When the Fat Controller arrives at Lady Hatt's party, an instrumental version of the song "Happy Birthday to You" is heard playing in the background.
* When the Fat Controller arrives at his wife's birthday party, as the doors open, pictures of famed railway engineers Robert Stephenson (left) and Isambard Kingdom Brunel (right) can be seen in the background.