Postman Pat Follows a Trail is the fifth episode of the second series, which was broadcast on 1st May 1997. This episode was written by John Cunliffe.
Summary[]
Pat finds a long piece of string across the road and follows it to see where it leads. It leads to a tree where Katy and Tom's kite is stuck. Pat needs to find someone with a ladder, so he can rescue the kite. He sees Peter Fogg ploughing in a field on his tractor and asks him if he could use the tractor to stand on, but Peter tells Pat that he loves help, but he has to finish ploughing the field before nightfall. Pat then sees Ted Glen and stops his lorry. Ted Glen agrees to help, and they take the ladder to the tree where Jess is.
Whilst trying to get Jess out of the tree, Pat knocks the kite out of the tree, and it falls down to the ground, where the twins catch it and praise Pat and Jess for their help. Pat gets back down from the tree, but is worried about Jess. Ted tells him not to worry as Jess is waiting for him. Pat jokes, "Bless us all, has that cat got wings?"
Ted heads off to Doctor Gilbertson's as he has promised to fix her greenhouse. Pat continues on his way, but ends up becoming lost, until he sees Mr Pringle. He shows Pat the way to go, and Pat soon sees his van safe and sound. But he is worried as Jess is nowhere to be seen, until he notices him asleep in his basket. Pat gets into the van and sets off to deliver the rest of the letters.
Characters[]
- Pat
- Jess
- Mrs. Goggins
- Ted Glen
- Katy and Tom Pottage
- Doctor Gilbertson
- Mr. Pringle
- Peter Fogg
- Granny Dryden (book version only)
- Sam Waldron (book version only)
Vehicles[]
- PAT 1
- The Red Tractor
- Ted's Lorry
- The Plough
- SAM 1 (book version only)
Locations[]
- Post Office
- Granny Dryden's Cottage (book verison only)
Cast[]
- Ken Barrie as Pat, Ted Glen, Mr. Pringle, Peter Fogg and the Main Narrator
- Carole Boyd as Mrs. Goggins, Katy and Tom Pottage and Doctor Gilbertson
Differences in the TV and book versions[]
- In the book version, Pat follows the string through Granny Dryden’s garden, but he does not in the TV version.
- In the book, Pat meets Sam after Mr Pringle tells Pat where his van is. Sam does not appear in the TV version.
- In the book version, Peter doesn't hear Pat calling him while he was too busy ploughing the field, unlike in the TV version.
- In the book version, Pat gets his shoes muddy while travelling through the fields, which didn't happen in the TV version.
- In the book version, when Pat finds his van, he goes to clean his shoes on the long grass, which didn't happen in the TV version.
Trivia[]
- Mr. Pringle's backpack was the same one that Bill used in the "Gran" episode "Gran the Camper".
Goofs[]
- In the book version, Granny Dryden should have been able to stop the string from going all over her garden.
- As Peter Fogg ploughs the field, the tractor's headlights are on, even though it is not even dark.
- In real life, it would be impossible for a kite's string to unravel for miles through such a lot of obstacles.
- When Pat closes the gate at the beginning, it makes an opening sound rather than a closing sound.