Invasion of the Tender Snatchers (2024)

Invasion of the Tender Snatchers is the tenth Thomas: The Trainz Adventures special.

Plot[]

One stormy night, Bill and Ben deliver some trucks to Tidmouth sheds, where they find the big engines teasing Edward for his ghost stories and sudden belief in the supernatural. The cheeky twins then tell the story about the tender snatchers, but either of the big engines are impressed. After dropping of their trucks, the twins head back to the clay pits.

As the storm rages the island, Paxton is witness to something mysterious in the sky, believing it to be a UFO.

The next morning, Henry, Gordon and James wake up to find their tenders missing. As the other engines depart for their assignments of the day, the Fat Controller assures them that the Search and Rescue Team will look for their tenders and he will inform them when they’re discovered.

Edward takes his passenger train and meets BoCo and Paxton at Wellsworth. BoCo explains how he was trying to convince Paxton that he didn’t see an alien spaceship. Edward personally doesn’t rule it out, much to BoCo’s disappointment. Hannah interjects and explains how UFOs can’t exist, as it would take many light years for them to reach the earth. Harold then passes by and informs them that he’s looking for Paxton’s UFO and the missing tenders. He asks Paxton if he remembers where the supposed UFO went, but Paxton didn’t know. Harold then heads off, and shortly afterwards, Edward also departs with his train.

Back at the sheds, James tries to convince Gordon that Henry is the tender snatcher, citing how he was the first one to bring it up once he discovered his tender was missing. Gordon initially doubts James’ theory, but eventually reluctantly agrees.

Edward arrives at Lower Suddery, where he meets Neville. He asks if he believes in aliens and has heard about the missing tenders. Neville asserts that the missing tenders is what everyone is talking about. Personally he doesn’t believe in aliens, and rather thinks that the sun will one day explode. As they depart in their respective directions, Edward tells himself how difficult it is to share a thought with Neville.

At the sheds, Gordon and James initiate their plan. Gordon begins to ask Henry questions about his past, all of which he answers and explains correctly. Gordon then turns to James and rebuffs the idea. James then asks Henry what his colour was when he first arrives on Sodor, which Henry also answers correctly. But James calls him out for hesitating, and Henry berates the two for believing him to be an alien. Gordon decides to settle the matter and questions if either of them are a tender snatcher, which both deny.

Edward later meets Donald and Douglas, and also asks them if they believe aliens exist. Both are open to the idea, and explain how over 300 UFO sightings were reported in a small town in Scotland, and how one man was believed after returning with bruised clothing.

At the sheds, Gordon tries to convince Henry that James could be a tender snatcher, but he dismisses the notion and calls all of the speculation for paranoia and accuses Gordon of being a tender snatcher. James defends himself, while Henry asks him about what type of breaks he had when he arrived on Sodor, which James answers without hesitation. Gordon then apologises for the suspicion, which James accepts.

Edward meets Harold in a field, who explains that they found the UFO, which turns out to just be a weather ballon that had blown of course. Harold also explains that weather balloons commonly has been mistaken for UFOs before, which are notably the ansewer to most UFO calls he receives. As Edward departs, he ponders where the tenders ended up.

Edward arrives at Brendam docks and meets Salty. He tells him about the missing tenders, and is confused when Salty starts laughing at it. Porter passes by and hints at the tender snatchers being a story Salty told. Salty confirms this, arguing that he was changing up the genres of his stories. Edward then realises something and then asks Salty who else he told the story to.

At the sheds, Henry and James openly express suspicion against Gordon. He dismisses this, and suddenly realises that Bill and Ben could have had something to do with the missing tenders. However, Henry and James accuse him of shifting the blame, which leads to a heated argument between the three.

Edward goes to the clay pits, looking for Bill and Ben. He finds Ben and tells him that he knows that they took the tenders. Ben denies this, until the opposite is proven when Bill comes forward with the tenders. They admit to it and explain how they took the tenders by pushing the three engines onto the turntables, detached the tenders and pushes them back into the sheds. Edward asks why they did it, which they explain was due to the big engines calling him names. Edward appreciates their concern, but assures them that he can defend himself. He also tells them to not take the three seriously when they tease him. He then asks to get the tenders back, which the twins does.

Edward returns to the sheds, where he finds Henry, Gordon and James still arguing. He whistles to get their attention and informs them that he found their tenders. He also explains that Bill and Ben took them the night before.

The next morning, the big engines are reunited with their tenders and are back to work. The three agree to not speak of the tender snatchers issue again. Just then, Bill and Ben’s whistles sound out, and Henry and James hurriedly depart. Gordon stays behind a bit, until he hears a spooky voice saying “take me to your leader” before he also hurriedly departs. Bill and Ben share a laugh as they’ve tricked them again. As they leave, Bill stops as he spots a real flying saucer in the sky. He departs again after Ben calls out for him. The flying saucer hovers a bit before it departs.

Characters[]

• Thomas
• Edward
• Henry
• Gordon
• James
• Percy
• Donald and Douglas
• Bill and Ben
• Neville
• Porter
• BoCo
• Salty
• Paxton
• Hannah
• Harold
• Sir Topham Hatt
• Emily (cameo)
• Duck (cameo)
• Oliver (cameo)
• Harvey (cameo)
• Stanley (cameo)
• Hiro (cameo)
• Charlie (cameo)
• Timothy (cameo)
• Ryan (cameo)
• Logan (cameo)
• Nia (cameo)
• Rebecca (cameo)
• Daisy (cameo)
• 'Arry and Bert (cameo)
• Norman (cameo)
• Philip (cameo)
• Stafford (cameo)
• Slip Coaches (cameo)
• Toad (cameo)
• Bertie (cameo)
• Trevor (cameo)
• Cranky (cameo)
• Carly (cameo)
• Big Mickey (cameo)
• Captain (cameo)
• Jem Cole (cameo)
• The Mayor of Sodor (cameo)
• Sir Topham Hatt's Assistants (cameo)
• The Knapford Stationmaster (cameo)
• Dr. Kim (cameo)
• Belle (indirectly mentioned)
• Flynn (indirectly mentioned)
• Rocky (indirectly mentioned)
• Butch (indirectly mentioned)
• Murdoch (dropped)
• Jeremy (dropped)

Cast[]

• EpicLafiteau as Thomas
• Supermariokyle100 as Edward
• OvalFrankie as Henry
• Steamteam3211 as Gordon
• Joel Hunter as James
• Ilovetrains323 as Percy and BoCo
• MainlandStudios as Donald, Douglas, Bill, Ben and Paxton
• MrOliver1997 as Neville
• Chase The Ferroequinologist as Salty
• Steven Garcia118 as Porter
• Steam Powered Cyborg as Hannah
• TheMilanTooner as Harold
• Papa Mainland as Sir Topham Hatt

References to the Official Show[]

• James references Henry's trip to Crewe.
  • He also references a popular fan theory that Henry returned from Crewe as a different engine.
• Henry references James' wooden brakes and black livery from the events of "Thomas and the Breakdown Train" and "The Adventure Begins".
• When Gordon is questioning Henry, he references the events of "The Sad Story of Henry".
• Henry and Gordon talk about Henry's "Buff Buff Buffers", This is a reference to an illustration in the Railway Series where Henry is seen wearing Gordon's buffers.
• Dr. Kim, a character from the twenty-fourth series speical, "Marvelous Machinery" is seen when Harold finds the weather balloon.

Trivia[]

• In an early pitch for the story, Jeremy and Murdoch were originally going to play roles. But these concepts were later dropped.
  • Jeremy was cut due to the worry that the plot might be too similar to the series 11 episode, "Thomas and the Spaceship".
  • Murdoch was originally going to have a scene in the slot that Neville's scene ended up in where the Class 9F's nickname being "spaceships" would've been brought up, but it was cut for the lack of comedic potential compared to Neville ranting about the impending heat-death of the universe.
• While filming, there was a, later cut, background joke involving a late dock worker. This dock worker can still be seen on the platform while Edward and Neville are talking.
• As a nod to the old coaches only being seen in season 1 of the official show; the rolling stock clattering sound effect used throughout the special, is the rolling stock sound used in season 1.
• Gordon references the hit 2018 video game, Among Us. A ditty similar to the music from the game plays shortly after he says "Imposter". This music is from the 2009 Thomas & Friends special, Hero of the Rails.
• This is one of the few projects not to include any T:TTA original characters. Though Gilbert was considered for a cameo, this didn't happen.
• A script read-through was hosted by Chase The Ferroequinologist and MainlandStudios for this episode with the voice actors OvalFrankie, Joel Hunter and SteamTeam3211 along with series creator Ilovetrains323. SteamTeam3211's lines for Gordon are mostly taken from the read-through recording.

Videos[]