New Crane on the Dock

"There you go, shipmates. Communication. It's a wonderful thing."

- Salty

New Crane on the Dock is the ninth episode of the twenty-first series.

Plot
Carly the new crane is so keen that she takes on all the work. After Cranky finds himself with nothing to do, he works harder and faster in a bid to keep up with her. But as the two cranes frantically try to outdo one another, their hooks become entangled and they find themselves stuck fast and unable to move. Eventually Salty tells a story of a two-headed monster that worked together to get what they wanted. Cranky and Carly work together to untie the knot and Salty says they work in harmony. Big Mickey says that there are three cranes and all the engines and cranes are surprised that he speaks. They also welcomed him to the team.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Percy
 * Emily
 * Porter
 * Salty
 * Cranky
 * Carly
 * Big Mickey
 * Some Dock Workers
 * The Sea Serpents
 * The Dock Manager

Locations

 * Brendam Docks
 * Sodor Shipping Company
 * Sodor Steamworks

UK

 * John Hasler as Thomas
 * Keith Wickham as Edward, Salty and some Workmen
 * Nigel Pilkington as Percy
 * Teresa Gallagher as Emily
 * Steven Kynman as Porter
 * Matt Wilkinson as Cranky
 * Lucy Montgomery as Carly
 * Rob Rackstraw as Big Mickey and the Red Sea Serpent
 * Ian McCue as the Blue Sea Serpent

US

 * Joseph May as Thomas
 * William Hope as Edward
 * Christopher Ragland as Percy
 * Jules de Jongh as Emily
 * David Menkin as Porter
 * Keith Wickham as Salty and some Workmen
 * Glenn Wrage as Cranky
 * Lucy Montgomery as Carly
 * Rob Rackstraw as Big Mickey and the Red Sea Serpent
 * Ian McCue as the Blue Sea Serpent

Trivia

 * Going by production order, this is the fourteenth episode of the twenty-first series.
 * Because of this, it, its predecessor, A Shed for Edward, all of which feature Carly, and the latter's predecessor are after Emily in the Middle and The Big Freeze, which are the seventh and eighth episodes in production order, respectively. As Carly is absent from her gantry rails at Brendam Docks in those two episodes, and Big Mickey is missing his face in the former, these four episodes take place after them.
 * This episode marks the first of a few things for Big Mickey:
 * The first time his face is visible on screen, as he was always seen facing away from the camera in certain twenty-first series episodes prior to this one.
 * The first time he speaks and is referred to by name in Thomas & Friends.
 * Ian McCue joins the voice cast.
 * The name of the episode is a play on the old expression "new kid on the block."
 * The fish net on Salty is in the same position on him as the other one was in Diesel's Ghostly Christmas. It is possible that the animators reused Salty's model with the net on him from that episode in this episode.
 * During Salty's story, the sea serpent is named Mildred: this is an in-joke to Carly's original name. Salty is unsure as to what the serpent's name actually was, saying it could also have been Monstro, which is a reference to the Walt Disney animated film Pinocchio.
 * This episode marks the very first reference to TUGS (In this case, Big Mickey is now a character in both TUGS and Thomas & Friends).
 * There is a reference to The Three Musketeers at the end of the episode.
 * A shortened version of the episode, narrated by Joseph May as Thomas, can be found on the official YouTube channel.
 * This marks Big Mickey's only speaking role until Big World! Big Adventures! and his only speaking role prior to the reboot.
 * This episode marks the second time an engine is seen with an item in their mouth after the fifth series episode, Something in the Air; here, Salty caught a fish in his mouth.

Goofs

 * In one of the shots of Big Mickey rotating towards Cranky, Carly and Thomas, Salty and Carly are not fully on their respective rails.

UK

 * Danger at the Docks
 * The Complete Series 21 Coming soon