Bill and Ben are tank engine twins who work for the Sodor China Clay Company, though they can commonly be found at Brendam Docks. They formerly worked at Anopha Quarry. They enjoy playing tricks and being cheeky to other engines.
Biography[]
One day, Bill and Ben returned from shunting some trucks to find that some other trucks they had shunted earlier were missing. Their drivers, after examining a puddle of oil on the ground, concluded a diesel was responsible. After the twins argued over who brought the "diseasel" into the yard, the drivers suggested they go looking for the diesel. The twins were horrified at the possibility that the "diseasel" might magic them away like he did with the trucks, but their drivers quickly persuaded them otherwise, and so they set off.
At last, the twins found the "diseasel". While Ben ran behind, Bill confronted the "diseasel" over the theft. The "diseasel" claimed the trucks were his and ordered Bill to "go away"; Bill pretended to be frightened and slunk away, remarking, "You'll be sorry". With that, Ben ran up and accused the "diseasel" of being a "truck stealer", before running back so Bill could run up again. This continued until the "diseasel", under the impression that there was only one very swift and annoying saddletank, became so giddy that his eyes "nearly popped out", just as the twins puffed up beside him. The "diseasel", initially confused, laughed at his ignorance. When Edward arrived moments later, inquiring as to why Bill and Ben were not shunting, the twins angrily claimed that the "diseasel" had sneaked into their yard and stolen their trucks. Edward soon realized what was going on and explained the situation. The twins, embarrassed, apologized to the "diseasel", who asked to be called BoCo, and then left to shunt some more trucks, leaving Edward and BoCo to laugh about the incident.
A few days later, after BoCo took the Express in James' absence, Edward recounted what Gordon had said about branch lines to the twins. The next morning, after Gordon ended up at Brendam after a series of events involving poor preparations and a large floppy green hat, the twins sneaked up beside him and loudly recounted what Gordon had said about branch lines. Concluding that the engine beside them could not be Gordon, the two declared he was nothing more than a pile of old scrap-iron, and began to contemplate what they should do (Bill was all for sending Gordon to be scrapped, while Ben favoured the more humane option of dumping him in the sea), all the while ignoring Gordon's protests, until at last, BoCo arrived. Gordon begged him to save him, and so BoCo threatened the twins to leave with the trucks he had brought. The twins quickly left, leaving Gordon with BoCo. BoCo wisely neglected to tell Gordon the twins were joking.
Sometime later, a group of enthusiasts came to visit the railways of Sodor. When Edward brought them to Brendam, the twins took them to the China Clay Workings in a brake van special.
In 1988, Thomas was sent to work on Edward's Branch Line while repairs were carried out on the bridge. The twins were quick to tease him about his color, but Edward was savvy enough to send the twins away before an argument broke out.
After Thomas returned to the Yard, covered in dairy from a collision with a farm lorry, the two teased him even more about his new livery. This continued until Edward announced a party of enthusiasts were coming, and threatened that he would not bring them to see the twins. The twins, excited, decided instead to worry about their own paint - for example, how clean it was - although one day, when the drivers remarked that "the enthusiasts would not eat their dinner off them", Bill quipped that "They might if we were Thomas".
When at last, the enthusiasts did arrive, a photographer with an "instant" camera began harassing Ben by continuously taking pictures of him, even after the remainder of the crowd went to watch Bill tug a boat into deeper waters. At last, the photographer prepared to take one final picture, just as Bill's driver arrived to ask for assistance. Ben's driver turned on the steam just as the photographer took the picture; disgusted with the poor quality of the shot, he abandoned it on the floor and left. The picture was later discovered by Bill's driver after the two rescued the boat.
The repairs to the bridge took a long time, and Thomas was still at Brendam when the rainy season came. At the "Drain", a hollow in the land where rainwater collected, the water even began to come near the rails, although no one took much notice. One particularly wet day, as Ben returned from the Workings, the wind whipped the rainwater into a wave which swamped Ben, dousing his fire. His fireman went for assistance, and brought Thomas to help. While Thomas dragged Ben out, Bill took away the trucks. When at last the water subsided four days later and Bill returned to Brendam, the two made a pact to never tease Thomas again.
One day, Bill and Ben were sent to work in the yard. They got to use the turntable as a reward for their hard work. But Bill and Ben were accidentally sent down the same track and they ended up buffer-to-buffer. They each blamed each other for the incident and refused to speak to one another. At last, Edward and BoCo lost patience and Sir Topham Hatt heard about the incident. He gave the twins a chance to work together, and sure enough, the plan worked. The twins started to speak to each other again. Bill and Ben sometimes find it dull up at the clay works and they wanted something exciting to happen. They got their wish when a rockslide devastated the quarry. Luckily, Bill and Ben had taken all of the workmen and the foreman out of the quarry before the rockslide. The Fat Controller was so pleased that he called them heroes.
Later, BoCo could not handle the twins as much as he used to, so Sir Topham Hatt had to bring in another diesel, Derek. Bill and Ben had heard from Percy that Derek had a toothache. But they soon found out that Derek really had teething troubles. The twins and Derek had to pull a train the next day, and Derek soon overheated. Together, the twins got the train to their destination. That night, they, BoCo, and Duck talked about Derek all night long.
When Salty was sent to work with the twins and Mavis with an important job, he impressed the twins with his skills for handling the Troublesome Trucks. When Salty handled the trucks with songs and tales of the sea, Bill and Ben became jealous. They became even crosser when Salty told them stories. Luckily for them, Salty was transferred to Brendam Docks. Bill and Ben met Salty again when they themselves went to the docks and started teasing Cranky. This time, they encourage Salty to tell them his stories, knowing that Cranky can't stand them. The twins spent the entire night being engrossed in and fascinated by Salty's many tales, and when they left the following morning, Cranky was pleased. Afterwards, Ben had to get new buffers, so he was sent to the Works. Bill became jealous and his mind drifted away from his work. After some of the Troublesome Trucks teased him, Bill crashed into a ditch. Ben arrived to rescue Bill and Bill was taken to the Works to be mended.
Some time later, Fergus was sent to help the twins at the quarry. They got tired of his "do it right" attitude. Bill and Ben collected a rock crusher from the docks and caused a rockslide. Fergus pushed them out of the way, but the twins returned the favour when they helped him out of the rocks.
In the seventeenth season, they teased Percy after he had an accident with a mail bag, unaware the pumpkins on their train were falling onto the tracks, which caused more problems for Percy. After the Fat Controller ordered one twin to act as a back engine, Bill reluctantly went to push from behind. Ben ended up derailing near an embankment, and Percy, although he was nervous because he had lost his new lucky charm, helped Bill pull Ben back onto the tracks. After racing Connor several times (by racing, one would start the race and the other twin would be waiting at the finish) Sir Topham Hatt figured out their tricks. So people would not confuse the two or think they were the same engine, Bill was repainted blue at the Sodor Steamworks. To continue the tricks, Ben tricked Kevin into giving him a blue coat of paint too. Since then they were repainted to their yellow schemes. They also teased Harvey about going fishing with his hook.
In Tale of the Brave, Thomas was sent to work with the twins at the Clay Pits while a bridge on his branch line was being repaired. They ran away from him, and after he caught up, they teased him about being slow. They showed him to a line of trucks, which he was coupled up to. Thomas began pulling them, but did not realise that Timothy was on the other end, jerking the little oil
-burning engine backwards. Later that day, there was a storm at the Pits, and the rain made the cliffs unstable. Thomas was near some cliffs, and saw a set of mysterious footprints. However, the area was still unstable and he was unable to investigate. Bill and Ben pushed Thomas to safety just before the three were hit by a landslide. The next morning, the twins were congratulated by the Fat Controller. Later in the week, Thomas asked if they were playing a trick on him by scaring him with fake footprints. However, Bill and Ben thought that he thought that their rescuing was a trick and so they puffed away, offended. The next morning at dawn, when Percy went to the clay pits to prove his bravery to James, Bill accused Ben of making puffing noises in his sleep, and when Thomas came looking for Percy, the twins assumed that they could literally hear what Timothy was dreaming. When they went to work for the day, they were almost hit by a landslide, and after Marion found a fossil, Bill and Ben were both very intrigued by the concept of fossils.
In the eighteenth season, Bill and Ben played Guess What's In My Shovel with Marion. They also teased Timothy for being an oil burning engine, but when the Clay Pits ran out of coal, Timothy went to pick up some more. They apologized for their teasing. However, they later sent Timothy on what the Fat Controller referred to as a "fool's errand" to search for a rainbow-coloured truck. Timothy brought back a green truck with several colours of paint on it full of dockyard waste. Bill and Ben were sent to take it to Whiff's Waste Dump as a punishment, as well as being on waste duty. They also teased Emily and Samson.
In the nineteenth season, the twins became convinced that Timothy was no help at all. So when they found out that the Fat Controller was looking for an engine to help at Brendam Docks, they volunteered Timothy. Unfortunately, the twins were too busy messing around to work on their own properly. Luckily, once Timothy was no longer required at the docks, he came back to the Clay Pits to help them clear up the mess.
In Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, they teased Henry when he saw a ghostly railboat on the rails the previous night, which was really Skiff and Sailor John.
Personality[]
Bill and Ben are Sodor's mischievous saddle tank engine twins, who have great fun in teasing the other engines of the railway. Each has four wheels, a tiny chimney and dome, and a small squat cab. They often work in the China Clay pits and quarries. Their loads of clay can be used for many things such as paper, paint, and pottery. They take trucks for engines on the main line and ships in the harbour and are regularly seen around Brendam Docks. They enjoy attention and love taking visitors and being photographed. They tend to work together, like most twins, but even this youthful pair can have their arguments among themselves and can squabble with one another. They are highly prone to playing tricks and being cheeky. They have even teased Gordon on more than one occasion. Duck has called them "the bees" before, for being terrors when they start buzzing around. Edward and BoCo are the only engines who can really keep them in order enough to put a stop to their games and make them scamper along and behave. There is no real harm to them, but even Edward admits that they are maddening at times.
Technical Details[]
Basis[]
Bill and Ben are based on the Bagnall 0-4-0STs "Alfred" and "Judy" of Par, Cornwall, who are both preserved and in working order at the Bodmin and Wenford Railway. According to the foreword of Thomas and the Twins, Alfred and Judy are both Bill and Ben's twins.
Alfred was once repainted yellow for a Days Out with Thomas event, to resemble Bill.
Livery[]
In The Railway Series, Bill and Ben are painted dark yellow with red lining. In the television series, they are painted golden yellow with red lining.
In the television series, Bill and Ben both have brass nameplates with yellow writing, the initials "SCC" painted on the sides in yellow and "BRENDAM BAY" on the front of their saddle tanks. In The Railway Series, they have number plates reading 1 and 2 respectively above both the back of their cabs and their faces. In The Diseasel, they have nameplates, but from Wrong Road onwards, they have their names painted on their saddle tanks. In Buffer Bother, Ben has silver buffers, but returned to being black onwards.
From the seventeenth series onwards, the twins have red wheels instead of their original black. In the episode from the same series, Bill or Ben? the twins were painted dark blue with dark blue wheels, yellow lining and yellow lettering, but they returned to their normal livery soon afterwards.
Appearances[]
The Railway Series[]
- Main Line Engines - The Diseasel, Wrong Road and Edward's Exploit
- Thomas and the Twins - Scrambled Eggs, What a Picture!, Trevor Helps Out and Down the Drain
- Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines - Edward and the Cabbages (mentioned)
- Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree (cameos)
Companion Volumes[]
- 1972 - The Railway Series: Surprise Packet
- 1987 - The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways (mentioned)
- 2005 - Sodor: Reading Between the Lines (mentioned)
Thomas & Friends[]
- Series 2 - Percy Takes the Plunge, The Diseasel, Wrong Road, Edward's Exploit, and Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree (cameo)
- Series 3 - Gordon and the Famous Visitor (cameo), Buzz, Buzz, One Good Turn, Oliver Owns Up (Bill only; cameo), and Heroes
- Series 4 - Thomas and the Special Letter
- Series 5 - Double Teething Troubles
- Series 6 - Salty's Secret, No Sleep for Cranky, A Bad Day for Harold the Helicopter (cameo), and Buffer Bother
- Series 7 - Bill, Ben and Fergus
- Series 8 - Thomas to the Rescue (deleted scene)
- Series 9 - Thomas' New Trucks and Bold and Brave (Ben only)
- Series 10 - Edward Strikes Out (cameo)
- Series 11 - Dream On (cameo) and Hector the Horrid!
- Series 12 - Gordon Takes a Shortcut (Ben only)
- Series 17 - Percy's Lucky Day, Bill or Ben?, Away From the Sea (cameo), and Gone Fishing
- Series 18 - Flatbeds of Fear (cameo), Marion and the Pipe, No Steam Without Coal, Spencer's VIP, Toad's Bright Idea (cameo), Emily Saves the World, Timothy and the Rainbow Car and Samson at Your Service
- Series 19 - Salty All At Sea (cameo) and No Help at All
- Series 20 -
- Series 21 - Stuck in Gear (cameo)
- Series 22 - What Rebecca Does, Rosie is Red, The Case of the Puzzling Parts (life lesson) and Hunt the Truck
- Series 23 - Crowning Around (life lesson; cameo) and Diesel Do Right (life lesson)
- Series 24 - The Great Little Railway Show
Specials[]
- 2005 - Calling All Engines! (music video cameo)
- 2008 - The Great Discovery
- 2014 - Tale of the Brave
- 2015 - Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure
- 2016 - The Great Race
- 2017 - Journey Beyond Sodor (cameo)
- 2018 - Big World! Big Adventures!
- 2020 - Sodor's Ultimate Railway Showdown (cameo) and Thomas and the Great Centenary
Music Videos[]
- Series 3 - Thomas' Anthem
- Series 4 - Thomas' Anthem Grand Finale, The Island Song (Bill only), and Really Useful Engine (Bill only)
- Series 5 - Night Train, Accidents Will Happen (Bill only), Every Cloud has a Silver Lining, It's Great to be an Engine, Sir Topham Hatt, and Come for the Ride
- Series 6 - Little Engines, Down by the Docks, and Winter Wonderland
- Series 7 - Troublesome Trucks and Salty
- Calling All Engines! - Trying
- Series 10 - Doing it Right and Jingle Bells
- Series 17 - Hey, Hey Thomas! and On a Journey Today
- Tale of the Brave - Let's Be Brave
- Series 18 - The Best Friends Express
- Thomas' YouTube World Tour - A World Around You, Down by the Docks, Never, Never, Never Give Up, It's Great to be an Engine, Rules and Regulations and That's What Friends Are for
- Series 19 - Engine Roll Call
- Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure - We Make a Team Together (ending version; cameos)
- The Great Race - Will You Won't You
- Journey Beyond Sodor - Somebody Has to be the Favourite (cameos) and I Want to Go Home (cameos)
- Series 21 - Set Friendship in Motion, Doing it Right, Trying and Little Engines
- Big World! Big Adventures! - Where in the World is Thomas?
- Series 22 - Engine Roll Call
Learning Segments[]
- Series 9 - Where Can Neville Find Salty?
- Series 10 - Help From Your Friends
Magazine Stories[]
- 1988 - BoCo the Diseasel, Wrong Road, and Edward's Exploits
- 1989 - Head On, Diesel's Christmas , In a Muddle, and Diesel's Race
- 1990 - Wrong Order, Trouble on the Track, and Go Easy
- 1992 - The Flying Thistle
- 1993 - The Visitor
- 1995 - The Engine Parade! and Tricking Trucks!
- 1997 - April Fools
- 1998 - The Exhibition! (mentioned) and Look Alike
- 1999 - Bill and Ben's Trick
- 2001 - A Burst Balloon!
- 2002 - Ben at the Station, Whistling!, Diesels and Steam Engines
- 2003 - The Big Hero and Seaside Salty
- 2004 - Sky Shapes, Ben's Blunder (Ben only), Rock Shock!, Buffer Bother!, Round and Round! and Engine Ball
- 2005 - Warm Work, Model Engines, A Treat for Trying, Sail Spotting, Turntable Trouble and Salty and the Trucks
- 2007 - The Lost Spring, Sky Spotting, and The Best Smile
- 2008 - Wonky Whistle!, Funny Faces!, Claypit Clowns and Perfect Promise
- 2011 - Taking a Break, Fuss and Fumes, Really Red, Watch the Clock (Ben only; cameo), Perfect Panto, Scrubbed Up (Ben; not seen), and Perfect Panto
- 2012 - A Whoosh of Water!
- 2013 - Seeing Red!, Caught on Camera, Brilliant Ben, Platform Number 1! and Terrible Twins
- 2016 - Percy's Lucky Day
Bill and Ben also appeared in the magazine stories, Bill and BoCo, Bulgy's Bridge, Diesels with Measles!, Engine Plates, New Paint, Nice Neville, On Inspection, Railway Open Day, Rock and Roll!, Snake Mistake, So Much to See, Special Treats, and The Trainspotters.
Annual Stories[]
- 1988 - On Your Guard!
- 1989 - Quick Thinking
- 1999 - Bill and Ben
- 2000 - Double Trouble
- 2004 - No Sleep for Cranky
- 2007 - Thomas' New Trucks
- 2013 - Gordon's Shortcut (Ben only)
Videos[]
- 2015 - A Friendly Farewell (cameos)
Voice Actors[]
Bill:
- Jonathan Broadbent (UK/US; seventeenth series - The Great Race)
- Rasmus Hardiker (UK/US; twenty-second series onwards)
- Tomoko Naka (Japan; second - seventh series)
- Noriko Shitaya (Japan; ninth series onwards, excluding The Great Race)
- Sakura Yoshioka (Japan; The Great Race only)
- TBA (Germany; seventeenth series only)
- Sascha Draeger (Germany; Tale of the Brave onwards)
- Marek Bocianiak (Poland)
- Yehonatan Magon (Hebrew; seventeenth series onwards; excluding Tale of the Brave)
- TBA (Hebrew; Tale of the Brave only)
- Christian Greger Strøm (Norway; seventeenth season only)
- Scott Maurstad (Norway; Tale of the Brave only)
- TBA (Norway; eighteenth series onwards)
- Reinder van der Naalt (The Netherlands)
- Alan Bravo (Latin America, seventeenth series onwards)
- Dor Srugo (Israel; Tale of the Brave only)
- Yehonatan Magon (Israel; seventeenth series onwards; excluding Tale of the Brave)
- Silas Borges (Brazil; seventeenth series onwards)
- Salvador Serrano Jr. (Spain; seventeenth series onwards)
- TBA (Finland; seventeenth series only)
- Antti L. J. Pääkkönen (Finland; Tale of the Brave onwards)
- TBA (Russia; seventeenth series-Spencer's VIP)
- Anton Savenkov (Russia; Emily Saves the World onwards)
- Loukas Frangoulis (Greece)
Ben:
- Jonathan Broadbent (UK/US; seventeenth series - The Great Race)
- Matt Wilkinson (UK/US; Big World, Big Adventures onwards)
- Miyuki Hara (Japan; second - third series)
- Hiromi Nishida (Japan; fifth - seventh series)
- Noriko Shitaya (Japan; ninth series onwards, excluding The Great Race)
- Sakura Yoshioka (Japan; The Great Race only)
- TBA (Germany; seventeenth series only)
- Sascha Draeger (Germany; Tale of the Brave onwards)
- Wojciech Chorąży (Poland)
- Yehonatan Magon (Hebrew)
- Anders Sundstedt (Norway; seventeenth series only)
- Scott Maurstad (Norway; Tale of the Brave only)
- TBA (Norway; eighteenth series onwards)
- Reinder van der Naalt (The Netherlands)
- Carlos Domínguez (Latin America; seventeenth series only)
- Miguel Ángel Leal (Latin America; Tale of the Brave onwards)
- Yehonatan Magon (Israel)
- Silas Borges (Brazil; seventeenth series onwards)
- Miguel Ángel Poison (Spain; seventeenth series onwards)
- TBA (Finland; seventeenth series only)
- Joonathan Kettunen (Finland; Tale of the Brave onwards)
- TBA (Russia; seventeenth series onwards; excluding Emily Saves the World)
- Anton Savenkov (Russia; Emily Saves the World only)
- Loukas Frangoulis (Greece)
Livery[]
In the Railway Series, Bill and Ben are painted dark orange with red lining. In the television series, they are painted dark yellow with red lining.
In the television series, Bill and Ben both have brass nameplates with yellow writing, "SCC" written on both sides in yellow and "Brendam Bay" on the front of their saddle tanks. In the Railway Series, they have number plates reading 1 and 2 respectively above both the back of their cabs and their faces. In The Diseasel, they have nameplates, but from Wrong Road onward, they have their names painted on their saddle tanks.
From the seventeenth season onwards, the twins have had red wheels instead of black ones. In the episode from the same season, Bill or Ben?, the twins were painted dark blue with blue wheels, yellow lining and yellow lettering, but they returned to their normal livery soon afterwards.
- In the Railway Series, from Wrong Road onward, Bill and Ben have their names painted on their saddle tanks to avoid the trick they played on BoCo from happening again.
- A behind the scenes picture of Bill's model reveals that he and Ben were to have numbers on their smokeboxes above their faces, as they did in the Railway Series.
- Bill and Ben's television series models are currently on display at the Hara Model Railway Museum in Japan.
- In the television series, Bill and Ben are twice the size of their basis'; Alfred and Judy. This was so their eye mechanisms and motors could be accommodated. When they returned in CGI, they were rendered in the same larger size.
- The twins' whistle sounds are really Thomas' at higher pitches. Often, throughout the CGI Series, they swap whistle sounds.
- Nathan Clarke did an audio sample of Bill and Ben on his DAA Management Page
- In an interview with SiF , Andrew Brenner stated that Bill and Ben were two of his favourite characters, along with James and Toby.
- They might have been named after Bill & Ben the Flowerpot Men, who were first created in 1952, the same year Toby the Tram Engine was first published.
- Bill and Ben went through several aesthetic changes in the television series:
- Series 3:
- Their nameplates were painted on instead of being actual plates.
- Series 11:
- Ben gained a new cheeky facemask.
- Series 17:
- Their faces became smaller, and were raised slightly higher up.
- Permanent lamps and taillamps.
- An additional sandbox was added on the footplate to mount the lamp.
- An extra wood panel was added to the rear window to accommodate the taillamp.
- Taller cabs.
- Brass nameplates.
- Red lining behind the "SCC" lettering on their boilers.
- Red wheels.
- External brake shoes.
- Black domes and crossheads.
- Brake pipes.
- Yellow wheel lubricators on both sides, that connected to their valve gears.
- Yellow siderod guards.
- Series 19:
- Their crossheads became grey again.
- The text on their nameplates became gold.
- Series 3: