Season 17 - Percy's Lucky Day

Pros:

-Bill & Ben's in-persona return

-Opening sequence

-'Wrong road' reference at the start

Cons:

-N/A

So, now onto episode 14 of series 17! Now featuring Bill & Ben! How was it?

Firstly, Bill & Ben's return. When I first heard of the episode, I thought that Bill & Ben would only appear briefly at the end (at that accident-prone place called 'Bluff's Cove junction'). However, they appeared earlier, and in fact were given a secondary plot! Bill and Ben's personalities remain quite the same, arguing with each other in a comical way (unlike a certain two other 0-4-0 twins). Their wheels becoming red isn't such a problem, a reasonable explanation being that they went for an overhaul and the workmen had run out of black paint, so had to paint their wheels red.

The second great thing about the episode was the opening sequence. The addition of the 4-leaved clover was very significant to the episode, giving an idea of the theme.

My third and final point on this episode is the 'wrong road' reference at the start. Percy being confused about the man waving the green handkerchief is not too dissimilar to the Gordon and the lady in the floppy green hat in that episode. One improvement would be some interaction from the driver/fireman, similarly to how 'wrong road' was handled.

Overall this was another season 17 success and quite a good episode overall, also featuring the new Bill & Ben, who seem to have caught a case of mad red-wheel disease.

Rating: 5/5