Scare Dares is the Halloween episode and the second season premiere of Shining Time Station. It originally aired on 18 November 1991.
Plot[]
Harry relocates to Fort Farley and Mr. Conductor (Ringo Starr) goes to the North Pole with Saint Nicholas. Billy Twofeathers takes Harry's place, while Mr. Conductor's cousin (George Carlin) takes up the mantle of Mr. Conductor.
It is Halloween and the station is decorated for the occasion. As Stacy is setting up the station, Tanya and Matt arrive and introduce Stacy to Tanya's cousin, Kara. Stacy then asks Matt where Dan is, but he doesn't know. After the three kids go looking for Dan, he shows up and complains to Stacy that he cannot find a costume. Stacy tells him not to worry about it and to explore the station. As he does so, Dan comes across Billy in the workshop and runs away, feeling a little frightened of him.
A little later, Mr. Conductor appears and inadvertently introduces himself to Dan and Kara, accidentally thinking they were their cousins. At first, Mr. Conductor vanishes and tries to convince them they were seeing things, but once Dan and Kara explained who they are and how they know him, he reappears and properly introduces himself. The kids then ask him about Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends and Mr. Conductor tells them about the time Thomas thought he saw Percy's ghost and was spooked.
After Percy's Ghostly Trick, Dan brags that he is not afraid of anything. Kara decides to put this to the test by daring Dan to take a the banana off of Midge Smoot's hat. Dan does so and puts the banana in Schemer's pumpkin wagon. Later, Midge Smoot finds the banana in Schemer's wagon and accuses Schemer of taking the banana while Schemer says he did not.
Meanwhile, Kara taunts Dan that he could of been in a lot of trouble for that, making Dan feel a little guilty. Mr. Conductor appears again and asks Dan if he found a costume yet. When Dan says he had not, Mr. Conductor tries to cheer him up by showing him the Anything Tunnel. Dan then tells him that people would not like him if he is scared. Mr. Conductor tells Dan that everyone is afraid of something: he admitted that he was scared of Dan when they first met. This makes Dan feel a little better.
Soon, all the kids are dressed up and are trick-or-treating at the station. While doing so, Stacy is then introduced to Kara's friend, Becky, and asks them if they have seen Dan. Becky knows where he is and she and Stacy go looking for him. While they go looking, Mr. Conductor appears again and tells Tanya that he's late for trick-or-treating because he had just seen Percy getting frightened by a dragon. Afterwards, Mr. Conductor tells her that even engines get scared and then leaves.
Just then, Stacy and Becky return with Dan and Stacy leaves the kids. Matt asks Dan where his custom is and Dan tells him he still does not have one yet. Matt then asks him if he is afraid people might laugh at him for not having a custom. Kara tells them that Dan is not afraid of anything and challenges Dan once more. This time, she challenges him to take Billy's whistle out of his workshop. Determined to take the challenge, Dan goes into the workshop.
However, just as he goes into the workshop, Billy appears and asks Dan what is he doing. Dan admits that he was dared to by the other kids. Billy decides to cheer him up by showing him his Native whistle and telling him that music helps a person with overcoming sadness and fear. Billy then decides to find Dan a costume to wear. After the talk, Dan feels much better and is no longer afraid of Billy.
Schemer, meanwhile, is afraid as the station is dark and quiet. He puts a nickel into the jukebox to see if playing a song would work. However, during the song, Schemer trips over pumpkins and gets one stuck on top of his head, making himself look like he had a Jack-o-Lantern for a head. Just then, the kids arrive back at the station and suddenly see a giant bird running out of Billy's workshop. They are all frightened and start running until the bird is revealed to be Dan. The kids say they were not scared as Dan says otherwise. They then ask Dan if he is up for one more dare and Dan takes a stand and says he is done taking dares. Just then, Schemer comes up to them, still with the Jack-o-Lantern on his head, and moaning with fright, which scares all of the kids out of the station. After the kids have left, Schemer finally manages to take the pumpkin off and is relieved. He then brags that it does not even look really and that Halloween is silly. He quickly changes his mind when the Jack-o-Lantern starts lighting up and smoking. He runs out of the station as well screaming and tripping while Mr. Conductor appears from behind the Jack-o-Lantern laughing.
Characters[]
- Mr. Conductor
- Stacy Jones
- Billy Twofeathers
- Kara Cupper
- Dan Jones
- Horace Schemer
- Tito Swing
- DiDi
- Tex
- Grace Bass
- Rex
- Becky
- Tanya Cupper
- Midge Smoot
- Matthew Jones
Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends[]
- Thomas
- Gordon
- James
- Percy
- Toby
- Henry (doesn't speak)
- Percy's Ghost Engine (doesn't speak)
- Annie and Clarabel (don't speak)
- Duck (cameo)
- Diesel (cameo)
- Bertie (cameo)
- Big Mickey (faceless, cameo)
- Farmer Sam (mentioned)