New Crane on the Dock

*“There you go, shipmates. Communication. It's a wonderful thing.”*
―Salty
**New Crane on the Dock** is the ninth episode of the twenty-first series.

## Plot

Although Cranky has started to warm up to Carly the new crane, he becomes annoyed at how she is so keen to work that she does it all for him and leaving him with nothing to do. This ends up with him working harder and faster in a bid to keep up with her. But as the two cranes frantically try to outdo one another, their hooks become entangled and they find themselves stuck fast and unable to move.

The two begin bickering about whose fault it is that they're in this mess and attempt to free themselves, only to almost lead to them breaking. Eventually Salty tells a story of a two-headed monster that kept bickering with each other and because of this, they couldn't get what they wanted. They eventually decided that it was a better idea to work together, which they were successful at doing and have done so ever since. Cranky and Carly own up at their mistakes and decide to work together to untie the knot, which they successfully do.

After they free themselves, Salty congratulates them for working together and that the two can work in harmony. A voice however says that are actually three cranes working together. The voice is revealed to be that of Big Mickey. This surprises the others who didn't know he actually speaks. All the same, they welcome him to the team.

## Characters

* Thomas
* Edward
* Percy
* Emily
* Porter
* Salty
* Cranky
* Carly
* Big Mickey
* Some Dock Workers
* The Sea Serpents
* The Dock Manager (*cameo*)

## Locations

* Brendam Docks
* Sodor Shipping Company
* Sodor Steamworks (*mentioned*)

## Cast

### UK

* John Hasler as Thomas
* Keith Wickham as Edward, Salty and Some Workmen
* Nigel Pilkington as Percy
* Teresa Gallagher as Emily
* Steven Kynman as Porter
* Matt Wilkinson as Cranky
* Lucy Montgomery as Carly
* Rob Rackstraw as Big Mickey and the Red Sea Serpent
* Ian McCue as the Blue Sea Serpent

### US

* Joseph May as Thomas
* William Hope as Edward
* Christopher Ragland as Percy
* Jules de Jongh as Emily
* David Menkin as Porter
* Keith Wickham as Salty and Some Workmen
* Glenn Wrage as Cranky
* Lucy Montgomery as Carly
* Rob Rackstraw as Big Mickey and the Red Sea Serpent
* Ian McCue as the Blue Sea Serpent

## Trivia

* Going by production order, this is the fourteenth episode of the twenty-first series. Because of this, it, its predecessor, A Shed for Edward, all of which feature Carly, and the latter's predecessor are after Emily in the Middle and The Big Freeze, which are the seventh and eighth episodes in production order, respectively. As Carly is absent from her gantry rails at Brendam Docks in those two episodes, and Big Mickey is missing his face in the former, these four episodes take place after them.
* This episode marks the first of a few things for Big Mickey:
	+ The first time his face is visible on screen, as he was always seen facing away from the camera in certain twenty-first series episodes prior to this one.
	+ The first time he speaks and is referred to by name in Thomas & Friends.
* Ian McCue joins the voice cast.
* The name of the episode is a play on the old expression "new kid on the block".
* The fish net on Salty is in the same position on him as the other one was in Diesel's Ghostly Christmas. It is possible that the animators reused Salty's model with the net on him from that episode in this episode.
* During Salty's story, the sea serpent is named Mildred: this is an in-joke to Carly's original name. Salty is unsure as to what the serpent's name actually was, saying it could also have been Monstro, which is a reference to the Walt Disney animated film Pinocchio.
* This episode marks the very first reference to TUGS; in this case, Big Mickey is now a character in both TUGS and Thomas & Friends.
* There is a reference to The Three Musketeers at the end of the episode.
* A shortened version of the episode, narrated by Joseph May as Thomas, can be found on the official YouTube channel.
* This marks Big Mickey's only speaking role until Big World! Big Adventures! and his only speaking role prior to the reboot.
* This episode marks the second time an engine is seen with an item in their mouth after the fifth series episode, Something in the Air; here, Salty caught a fish in his mouth.

## Goofs

* In one of the shots of Big Mickey rotating towards Cranky, Carly and Thomas, Salty and Carly are not fully on their respective rails.
* Big Mickey has been shown throughout the series as a crane without a face, however in this episode, he suddenly has gained a face.

## In Other Languages

 **Spanish** | La Nueva Grúa en los Muelles

## Home Media Releases

### UK

* Danger at the Docks
* The Complete Series 21