Analysis:

 The first episode of the series, and the one which we had the most fun on. Generally, as this is the earliest episode, and was the 'pilot' episode, there are many problems with the episode itself. For instance, in no particular order: the backgrounds (there were none), the lighting (was bad), the sound quality (terrible!!!), in the titles, locomotives with the wrong faces (Sir Ralph is seen wearing Scott's face several times), the script (fun but unrealistic), and lastly – the use of lots of stock footage from the previous five trailers that appeared before its début. These come in several forms, the aforementioned faces problem, then some original stock footage of Allen in the black and white sequence (minus his face).

This story was necessary to introduce to the audience the characters of Allen, Stephen, and Sir Ralph. No other characters are mentioned, though there is of course, the old Western engine – a member of the 43xx class that was known by the BRWS team (but never mentioned in the series) as “Jackson”. In the title sequences, both Nigel and Herbert's models appear, but are wearing different faces to the ones they would eventually end up with. The standard 4MT seen at the end of the episode was seen wearing the face that Nigel would eventually end up with.

None of the engines have correct nameplates or numbers at this point – Sir Ralph's number is 60007, but the red nameplates (incorrect for this number) read Dominion of Canada, Allen's model is 60161 North British, not 60114 W.P Allen, and while Stephen's number is correct, the livery (LNER Green) would have had at the very least “British Railways” picked out in cream on the tender, and a British Railways number applied to the cab sides.

Another surprising twist is that Scott is also seen, albeit in his final, 1964 form with green paint and smoke deflectors, in several shots throughout the episode. There are more gaffes, the tankers seen behind the old Western Engine appear and reappear at a whim (and for a series set in 1952, why are we using 1970s petrol tankers anyway?!). We were still developing our filming techniques – look carefully, there is a shot of the Western Engine pulling some coal trucks that is simply inverted – a truck which should read “MSLR” is seen backwards as a result!!!

There are little or no lamps present in the series – we would address the head codes problem in Episode Nine, “Birds of a Feather”. Steam is seen in its minutest form, we used a series of piping underneath the tracks, which  had pumped smoke from an ex-disco smoke generator. We also used in this early episode, a hot metal pipe (which glows at its end), which had steam oil applied and used for static smoke shots. The smoke effects would disappear from episode seven onwards, and will hopefully reappear in the near future when the latest version of “Copley Hill Sheds” is built.

There are lots of homages to several different television series in this episode. The main reference is of course Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, the script being an adaptation of sorts of “Thomas' Train”. Secondly, there is the butcher's van seen, whose sides read “J.Jones the Butcher” and a green van which has “Hodges: Fresh Fruit and Vegetables” - these two being a nod to the wonderfully British television series, Dad's Army. Indeed, if you listen to the narration carefully, though he is not named,Corporal Jack Jones makes an appearance, and a direct reference to the series – by naming his commanding office, Captain Mainwaring.

This, the first episode, remains to date the most viewed of the series' episodes, although it would be another six months before we'd see an episode do quite as well in its first few days as this one.