Bill and Ben (episode)

Bill and Ben
Season 1, Episode 20
Air date	November 22nd, 2015
Written by	OliverDuckandToad11
Directed by	OliverDuckandToad11
Episode guide
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Bill and Ben is the twentieth episode of the first season of Thomas' Engine Adventures.

Plot

Bill and Ben are tank engine twins, they both work up at the Clay Pits with Timothy and Marion, two other engines who also work at the pits. Bill and Ben often carry clay and deliver it to many parts of the island, like Brendam Docks or the Mainland, but the thing Bill and Ben like doing more than delivering clay is playing tricks, they love playing tricks on other engines, engines like Marion and Timothy. "Shall we play a trick on Timothy?" Bill asked Ben. "Yes of course." said Ben. "Hey Timothy." said Bill, "Yes?" Timothy replied. "The Fat Controller wants to see you Timothy." said Ben. "Does he really?" asked Timothy. "Yes!" the two tank engines said "This isn't one of your tricks is it?" asked Timothy. "No!" Bill and Ben said "It isn't" trying their best not to smirk in front of him. "Alright," said Timothy "I'm going to see the Fat Controller, but the clay pits better be cleaned up before I come back... Got that?" said Timothy "YES!" said Bill and Ben and as Timothy chuffed away. Bill and Ben laughed. "Fooled you!" the twins both shouted, but Timothy was no longer in sight. Timothy came back eventually, but he now knew that Bill and Ben had played a trick on him. "I went to see the Fat Controller, but he said he never said he wanted to talk to me. Which one of you thought of the idea of this trick?" Timothy asked crossly. "It was Bill who thought of the trick first." said Ben. "Yeah, but you said 'Yes!' when I was asking if you wanted to play a trick on Timothy." said Bill. "No I didn't." said Ben. "Yes you did!" snapped Bill. "Didn't!" "Did! "Didn't!" "Didn't!" Didn't!" Didn't!" "Did! Did Did!" Timothy blew his whistle loudly. "That's enough!" he shouted. "I don't want to hear you accuse each other again." and Timothy puffed away, this is what happens if their trick has been foiled or if the Fat Controller finds out that they've played a trick, they always start to blame each other, and will start arguing with each other continuously until a day ends, this is what annoys Timothy and Marion much than anything.

One day, Bill and Ben were working at the clay pits as usual, they had been shunting trucks there all day and now they were bored. Bill sighs "Uh, I'm bored, there's nothing to do." he complained. "I know..." said Ben "But shunting trucks is all we can do." "I know, Ben." said Bill. "Why can't Timothy do all these work instead?" thought Ben. "I don't know," said Bill "But I'm not doing anymore work for today." "Me neither." agreed Ben. Bill and Ben refused to shunt any more trucks that day, they were thinking of what they should do. "What can we do, Ben?" thought Bill. "Well, we could play tricks." thought Ben. "Brilliant idea!" said Bill. "Let's go and play a trick on Marion." said Bill. "Great idea Bill." said Ben and the two tank engines puffed over to Marion who was digging part of a wall which was covered in dust and stone. "Hello Marion." said Bill. "Oh, hello Bill." said Marion. "Don't you have to shunt trucks rather than doing nothing?" she asked. "I've done that." Bill lied. "Oh, okay." said Marion. "Bill, you wouldn't mind shunting these trucks out of the way for me would you?" Marion asked, "Oh not at all." said Bill, but secretly he didn't want to do it, then he thought of a trick to play on Marion. "Marion..." "Yes!" Marion replied. "Look up there, it's a pterodactyl!" "Where?!" exclaimed Marion and Bill rushed off quickly. "Hey!" Marion shouted. "You played a trick on me." "Bye!" wheeshed Bill laughing, he chuffed back to Ben. "How did your trick go?" Ben asked. "It was good." said Bill. "Uh, Bill... Ben!" came a voice, it was Timothy. "Bill! Ben! Come back and help move these trucks." he said. Bill and Ben sighed and they did what they were told.

Bill and Ben got back to work, but they were still bored. "I don't want to shunt stupid trucks!"" complained Bill, "Neither do I." said Ben "But unfortunately we'll have to." the twins were shunting trucks all day. The trucks did not like being bumped around. "Hey, Bill, stop bumping us!" said a truck. "Well it's not my problem." said Bill "Blame ol' Timothy, he got us to do all this work." "Okay, but still, we hate being bumped around!" complained the trucks. A while later, Bill and Ben had finally cleared all the trucks, then the quarry manager arrived to talk to Bill and Ben. "Bill and Ben, I want you two to take these trucks of clay to Brendam Docks, the ship leaves at 4pm and you've got to be there on time." "Yes sir!" said Bill and the quarry manager walked away. Ben sighed "More work for me." he said "And me." said Bill, the two tank engines chuffed away to the docks.

Bill and Ben arrived at the docks with the trucks "Yah mateys, glad you delivered these clay trucks, the ship is leaving in 5 minutes. "Okay..." Bill and Ben said uninterested. "Let's start unloading these trucks." said Porter. "Come on, Cranky." "Okay, okay, I'm doing it." said Cranky. "Okay, Bill." said Ben "Let's get back to the clay pits." and the twins puffed away.

They arrived back at the clay pits, this time they refused to do any more work. "I'm not doing any more work!" said Bill "Me neither." said Ben "Let's go and play tricks like we usually do." Bill said. "Why don't we have a race instead?" thought Ben. "Yes! A race would be good." said Bill and the two engines got ready. "Ready! Set! Go!" and the twins were off in a flash. Bill was in the lead. "Haha, I'm winning." he said teasingly, then Ben overtook Bill "You thought wrong, I am!" said Ben, then Bill overtook Ben. "No! I am!" Bill said "I am!" said Bill "I am!" "No, I am!" "No, I am!" the twins argued as they raced, but not until they had reached a sharp bend. Bill gasped, "Ben... Look out!" and as Bill swerved around the corner, Ben crashed into the pit wall, stones started to tumble down onto him. Bill stopped and watched his twin get covered in dust and rocks. Ben was stuck, his driver and fireman had jumped clear, but the quarry manager was not impressed. "Bill, Ben! Racing is not allowed in a quarry like this!" he snapped. "You should know better than to do things like this." Bill and Ben felt bad for themselves. "I'll have to call the Fat Controller." said the quarry manager. "Yes, sir!" they both sighed.

The Fat Controller soon came. "Bill and Ben!" he boomed "You should know better than to race about in a very hazardous area, none of my engines would do such a thing!" "We're sorry sir." said Bill "We didn't mean it." added Ben. "...and now!" continued the Fat Controller, "Ben is damaged severely and he cannot work," he said "Ben will have to go to the steamworks, so you Bill will be managing alone!" said the Fat Controller. Bill was sad, "Can Bill still work with me once he's mended?" he asked. "No!" the Fat Controller exclaimed, Bill and Ben were horrified. "B-But... why sir?" Bill asked "Because..." the Fat Controller said "You two cannot be trusted to work well together." he said "You can do on a couple of occasions, but most of the time, you can not!" Timothy and Marion sniggered quietly. "But, where is Ben going to work when he's been mended?" asked Bill. "Ben will work at the docks while you stay working here." said the Fat Controller. "Yes sir." said Bill sadly. It wasn't long before Ben was towed out of the rocks. "I'm going to miss you, Ben." said Bill "I'm going to miss you two, Bill." Ben said back. "How can we be able to work on our own?" thought Bill. "Because I can't do that." "I can't either." said Ben. "But you'll have to now." said Timothy. "Indeed!" said Marion, Ben was taken to the steamworks while Bill was left to manage alone, Bill was once again shunting trucks. Much like earlier, they hated being bumped about. "Again! Stop bumping us about!" they yelled. "Sorry!" said Bill "But you'll just have to do with this now." Bill was shunting trucks all day, he missed Ben already. "I wish Ben was here," he said sadly and he continued working.

Ben was at the steamworks, he was waiting to be given a new wheel and repainted because of the dust on his paint. "Don't worry, my friend." said Victor "You'll be repaired in no time." Ben sighed. "Thanks Victor!" he said. "Ben, I know you've been separated from your twin, but there's nothing much I can do, nor you either." "The Fat Controller separated us just because of that accident that happened at the clay pits." "I know everything about what happened and Kevin will come soon with your new wheel and paint. "Thanks Victor!" Ben said, Ben was sort of looking forward to be working at the docks, but not by the fact that he had been sent away from his twin. "How long is this going to take Victor?" asked Ben. Victor smiled "Not long now, my friend! Just be patient, Kevin is coming along now." "Kevin!" Victor shouted. Kevin skidded up alongside Victor. "Yes boss?" he said "Please go and get a new wheel and paint for Ben." "Yes boss! Right away, boss!" said Kevin as he rushed off to find the two things he was told to bring to Ben. Ben sat on the hoist for a very long time, he didn't want to wait any longer. "Has it arrived yet?" Ben asked. "Not quite yet." said Victor. After a moment of waiting, Kevin finally came with Ben's new wheel and paint. "Ah, glad you finally come with the things you need." said Victor "Yes of course, boss!" said Kevin. "Sorry for taking so long, I couldn't find them anywhere, but they were behind a machine down at the back." "Okay," said Victor "Let's get you repaired Ben." While the workmen were fixing Ben. Ben waited impatiently, but he was still thinking about his twin. It wasn't long before Ben was repaired, he had shiny new paint and a clean red wheel. "Right Ben, you're ready to go." "Thanks Victor." said Ben and he chuffed away to the docks.

Ben had arrived at the docks. Salty, Porter and Cranky were waiting for him. "Hello matey," said Salty. "We heard about that accident you had at the clay pits." said Porter "...and that you've been separated from your twin." "Well, yes... that's true." said Ben. "Ha! Serves you right from racing around sharp bends in a quarry!" said Cranky and he laughed. Everyone looked unamusingly at Cranky, he stopped laughing. "Oh... uh, sorry." "Anyway now that's stopped." said Salty. "Let's get to work." said Porter and the three engines got to work. The engines were very busy, shunting, loading, lifting and hauling all day. While working so hard, the docks got busier later on, engines with flatbeds and conflats, shunting and whistling were all over the dockside. Ben was working so hard that not once he was thinking about Bill. "This is fun!" said Ben. "Yah, I told you it be fun." said Salty "Lifting and loading!" sighed Cranky. "That's all I ever do." "We know!" said the three engines and they continued working.

Meanwhile, back at the clay pits, Bill was not happy at all, he had been shunting trucks and delivering clay, he wished Ben was back working with him, he couldn't manage without him. Timothy and Marion on the other hand were glad that they could finally get some peace and quiet now that one of their team had gone, but they also felt sorry for Bill and they wanted to try and cheer him up somehow. "It is peaceful now one of the twins has gone." said Timothy. "Yes!" said Marion "But Bill has been upset all day, he can't do work without Ben." "I know," said Timothy. "Ben will come back here soon, the Fat Controller just wanted to separate them so they wouldn't cause trouble." "But at least Bill hasn't been causing trouble ever since he and Ben got separated." said Marion. "Oh, yes!" said Timothy. "It has been quiet since the Fat Controller told Bill and Ben to work apart." "But really that's the only good thing of why they have been separated. Quietness!" Timothy exclaimed, "I know." said Marion. "I can still see Bill sad now." said Timothy. "You know, I might have a word with the Fat Controller." and Timothy puffed away.

At the docks, all the work had been done. "There!" said Porter "Everything has been done." "Indeed me hearty." said Salty. "And we couldn't have done it without you matey, yahaha!" "Thanks Salty." said Ben. "You welcome!" Salty replied back. Cranky was pleased that he didn't have to do any more work for the day. "At last, I can rest." he said. "Yes Cranky, you can rest now." said Porter. Cranky was calm, but not for long. "Well I mean, without any of you little bugs disturbing my quiet time!" cranked Cranky. "That is no respect to talk to engines like that." scolded Salty. "Well, sorry!" said Cranky "But I want quiet time!" The Dock Manager came out of his office and was pleased to see the engines had done a good job. "Well done everyone." he said "The docks is all sorted now, work has been done, trucks have been shunted, it looks like you can be part of our Dockside Team Ben." said the Dock Manager. "Yes, I could." said Ben, but then Ben gasped. "Bill!" The engines were confused. "What's up Ben?" asked Porter. "You know this whole time of working at the docks with you?" said Ben "I didn't think about Bill at all." "Really?" thought Porter. "Yes!" said Ben "...and I've done all of my work!" he exclaimed. "You've been a really useful engine." said Salty "Indeed!" said Porter, even Cranky agreed. Then suddenly, a blue car drove up, it was the Fat Controller. Ben was worried "Oh no, what have I done now?" he thought, but the Fat Controller wasn't cross, he was pleased. "Ben, I heard you've done a very good job working at the docks, helping Salty, Porter and Cranky with the work. Excellent!" he said, Ben was pleased. "Thank you sir." he said "Oh, and I've got something to tell you." said the Fat Controller. "What is it, sir?" asked Ben. "I am letting you go back to the clay pits to work with Bill." Ben beamed from buffer to buffer. "Working with Bill! Thank you, sir!" "You're very welcome." said the Fat Controller. "Can I go back now sir?" asked Ben. "Of course you can." the Fat Controller said. "Yes!" said Ben and he chuffed quickly away back to the clay pits.

Ben returned to the clay pits, Bill was still shunting sadly. Ben pulled up alongside Timothy and Marion. "Ben, Bill doesn't know that you've come back yet." whispered Timothy. "He has not?" asked Ben. "Nope, not at all." said Marion, but that'll be the only way to cheer him up." "Okay," said Ben. "Surprise!" said Ben as he pulled up alongside Bill. Bill was pleased to see his twin. "Bill!" "Ben!" the two tank engine twins reunite immediately. "I'm so glad you've come back." said Bill "I'm glad I'm back too." said Ben. "Now we can play tricks again." said Bill "Tricks?!" exclaimed Ben. "Well, yes I suppose we can still play tricks, but maybe outside the pits." "Yeah, I agree." said Bill. "And it's all thanks to Timothy for letting you two reunite." Bill and Ben were confused. "Was it really?" asked Bill. "Yes it was me." said Timothy. "You can play tricks all you want now." "No, we've decided to only play tricks outside of the clay pits." said Bill. "Really?" asked Timothy raising an eyebrow. "Yes, of course!" said Ben. "Well, okay." said Timothy. "Now let's get back to work!" and the four engines got back to work.

Bill and Ben were glad to be back together again, they would play tricks less often now and would promise to never race about in quarries again, they would do all the work they were told to do without fuss, they would still get into arguments, but they are still friends, much like twins are.

Characters

• Bill and Ben
• Porter
• Timothy
• Marion
• Salty
• Victor
• Cranky
• Kevin
• The Fat Controller
• The Quarry Manager
• The Dock Manager
• Fergus (cameo)
• Rosie (cameo)
• Stanley (cameo)
• Diesel (cameo)
• Butch (cameo)

Locations

• Sodor China Clay Company
• Brendam Docks
• Sodor Steamworks
• The Mainland (mentioned)

Trivia

• The plot is slightly similar to the sixth season episode Twin Trouble.