Rich, hot, powerful, flashy, shiny, shiny, shiiiiiiiny.......

*ahem* excuse me.

Shhhhiiiiiiiinnnnnyyyyyyyyyy....

spinny spinny spinny.

Spinny shiny things make Belle a happy girl.

In other words, Electra is my favourite Engine, due to his glitter, charisma, confidence, impressive skating and blatant bisexuality. He is a complex character, carefully balanced between being overly camp or overly macho. He is supremely arrogant, he toys with the other trains, amusing himself by playing with their little racing game, knowing himself to be far superior, of course. His five components do his bidding without his needing to even utter a command, such is their complete devotion to him.

When the show was written in 1984, Electric engines were being introduced across Britain, with tracks being prepared for electrification (laying electrified rails or overhead wires). Electric trains were very much the future, new in most areas. 20 years on we're all much more accustomed to Electrics and they no longer have the sense of wonder they once did. Nevertheless, a speeding Express thundering through a station at night, showering sparks and electric flashes as it goes, is a magnificent sight.

Electra's wig has undergone many incarnations, from huge and wild, to neat and short, to being non-existant! John Partridge had his shaven head painted with a nice clear "AC/DC". On Broadway Ken Ard had a rather unimpressive mohawk - until you learn it was his real hair! In the Bochum production the mohawk is attached to his skull-cap and is removed before each race for Electra to properly wear his race helmet. In london, however, his helmet was specially designed to slip around the hair. How effective this would have been in a crash, I don't know, but it saved Electra the indignity of appearing onstage bald! (but then they had John Partridge... go figure.)