Season 17 - Steamie Stafford

Pros:

- Explanation of steam/electric

-Stafford's quiet job

Cons:

- Stafford's steam engine noises

I've run out of new openings! But anyway, how did it fare?  In my honest opinion, it seemed quite weak. Sure, the storyline seemed quite good, but it's main plot driving force (no pun intended) seemed quite bad. But first, the good.

Firstly, the explanation of steam and electric engines at the start. I liked it as it teaches children how the railways work. It's, in a way, like the explanation of track maintenance. More great work by the writing staff!

My second point is that Stafford gets a job well suited to his class. He has to be especially quiet doing this job, which is well suited to a small, electric shunting engine. Even more good points going to the new writing team!

But there was one major plot fall. Stafford's chuffing noises. Stafford's noises hardly sounded like a steam engine at all! Either Thomas and Percy were just trolling him, or they are just weird like that. If Stafford had maybe wired a drainpipe to himself (references to 'special funnel' there) and maybe trying to amplify the 'whirring' sound his motor makes (probably breaking down in the process), he just makes noises which fail on every level.

In conclusion, I think this episode could have had a good, strong plot line, but it's main driving force (again, no pun intended) let it down.

2/5