20 Years of Series 5 - An Appreciation Blog!

Back in 2018, three Thomas fans penned their thoughts on Series 5 of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends on it's 20th Anniversary!

Part 1: In Light of Series Past

By Henrythegreen

I’ve been a follower of Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends ever since I was an infant. I have happy memories of playing with the models of the characters produced by the Ertl Company, watching countless reruns of “Shining Time Station” and eagerly awaiting the next release of story compilations on videocassette. However, nothing stays the same and as we anticipate one of the biggest shifts to Thomas’ world since the introduction of CG animation, it’s worth looking back to one of the last times the series and its community saw major changes.

Twenty years ago this month, the fifth series of “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends” debuted on TV in the United Kingdom. At the time I was unaware of this development, as I lived in North America. However, as Series 5 was debuting, “Shining Time Station” was finally leaving PBS after years of reruns. For me, an era had ended. A few months later, in February of 1999, the videocassette “Cranky Bugs and Other Thomas Stories” was released in the United States.

I remember being very intrigued when I first spotted this tape. After a decade of the same basic design, the video jacket had been slicked up with more modern lettering and a large image of Thomas juxtaposed with an episode scene in the bottom third. Even more intriguing was the reveal of a new narrator, Alec Baldwin, on the back of the package. ‘Alec Baldwin?’ I remember thinking. He’s a big-time Hollywood celebrity, starring in movies like “The Shadow” and “Glengarry Glen Ross,” what’s he doing narrating stories for children? Looking back now, it makes just as much sense as having someone like Sir Ringo Starr (who will be best remembered as a Beatle) or George Carlin (who was far more famous as a notoriously foul-mouthed comedian) serve as the narrator, but at the time it was a surprise.

Once the initial shock of hearing a completely new voice telling the stories wore off, I began to take a closer look. Baldwin seemed to be clearly trying to recapture Carlin’s ability to give each character their own distinct vocal pattern. He didn’t always succeed; his Gordon in this series sounded more dopey than pompous to me. However, over time I’ve come to realize that Baldwin’s overall delivery, while definitely not in the ‘bedtime story’ vein of Ringo or Carlin, was suited to the more dramatic thrust of many of the stories. For instance, I’m not sure the previous narrators could have pulled off the line from ‘Thomas, Percy and Old Slow Coach’: “but the hut, where the men lived, was destroyed.”

A new narrator wasn’t the only novelty this series had to offer. Since all the stories were original creations, the producers were free to explore characters that had only been seen once or twice. The best examples would be Toad the Brake Van who shows a different side of his personality in ‘Busy Going Backwards’ or George the Steamroller showing just how far he’s willing to go to cause trouble for the railway in the quirkily titled ‘Bye George!’ Even the non-vehicle characters were given a chance, with Lady Hatt taking key roles in two episodes and Mrs. Kyndley receiving her first speaking appearance since 1984.

While the concept of what could carry an episode was expanding, the show’s distribution was expanding as well. Just as Series 5 was first airing on cable TV in the UK, so it was in America, with the debut in September 1999 of the new “Storytime with Thomas” program on the Fox Family Channel (later ABC Family Channel, now Freeform TV), alongside still more reruns of “Shining Time Station.”

It’s here that I must confess that following the completion of the Series 5 video releases, and nudged by the underwhelming reception of the ‘Thomas and the Magic Railroad’ feature film, my interest began to enter a period of hibernation. On the other hand, just as I was reevaluating Thomas in the light of a completed childhood, others were just discovering him through Series 5…

Part 2: A Fan is Born

By PercyFan1998

I was born the same year Series 5 began airing in the UK and looking back, despite growing up on the first five Series of Thomas, it was Series 5 that really piqued my interest into this franchise far more than the others. As far back as I can remember I had been brought up primarily knowing the Railway Series. I was familiar with Awdry’s stories of the engines of Sodor doing hard work and standing up to villainous Diesels and road vehicles and I was content with that. Then one day I was introduced to the television series.

It was when I received my first VHS of “Races, Rescues, and Runaways” where my adventure into the world of Thomas in action truly began - and immediately upon diving into the tape, I knew that this was something different. Right away Alec Baldwin’s dramatic narration set the tone of the whole tape for me, and I liked it. Thomas for me had always had a small range of tones to it; it had light-hearted moments like in “James the Red Engine” to being very serious, even discussing mortality in “Enterprising Engines”. However, with Series 5 it really felt like the floodgates had opened. All of a sudden the characters I had grown to love were facing things such as the supernatural, extreme karma, landslides, bad luck...the list goes on!

Series 5 is best remembered as the season of explosions and accidents as this series really was David Mittton’s playground to go all out - and as a kid who was new to television I really liked it all. I enjoyed just how over-the-top the stories could be, yet also having a real sense of refinement. The writing in earlier seasons were like bedtime stories. After all, the Railway Series was conceived as the result of having to entertain a bedridden child, but with Series 5 there was something about it that even my younger self understood as something more mature.

As an adult, I now know what it is. Series 5 is Allcroft and Mitton exploring the human brain. This series was different from the others because it wasn’t afraid to dig deeper into our favorite characters. As a kid I have many fond memories of how extreme some of the characters could act in this season, let alone have new layers given to them as individuals. I enjoyed listening to Baldwin really bring out the flamboyant vanity in James, yet also show a softer side, Henry was his usual grumpy self but more cutting and his grouchiness went way up, Duncan’s display of flippant bravery, etc. The stories told with these engines really showed how gritty everything can be, and often shows major consequences of what we say and do. There were some big things that happened to these engines as a result of running their mouths - Duncan got ‘spooked,’ Percy was buried under a landslide, Toad casually complaining led to one of the best runaway sequences ever, and random fires come out of nowhere to conveniently destroy workmen’s huts. You really have to give respect to the Sudrians for their high tolerance of their living situations if every day dams are collapsing and steamrollers are jostling expresses (possibly destroying a few pieces of fine china in the buffet car) and derailing vegetable deliveries.

Looking back, Series 5 was a real piece of work, and I love it just for being the way it was. However, it’s understandable that it’s not for everyone. Even though I’ve grown to take a dislike to some of the wackier things done in Season 5 as I’ve come to realize how impractical some of them were, my old self is grateful that the season took those paths instead of strictly adhering to adaptations. The amount of action and drama that the series had without restraint was fantastic, and without any of those wacky hijinks I wonder if I would’ve been as interested in Thomas as I became. I’m glad it did happen though, as the series provided many fond memories, and to me was the pinnacle of dramatic and suspenseful writing that soon became sadly absent from the series for too long afterwards.

Part 3: From Britt to Brenner

By ZachThomas2K

I was born in 2001, sometime after Series 5 was done airing. I actually first discovered Thomas through going to a toy store (now out of business) at a local mall and playing with the Thomas Wooden Railway play table there. My first Thomas season was not actually Series 5; my first VHS was the ‘Best of Thomas’ compilation, with some clips from Series 5 used during the intermissions. Nonetheless, Thomas really resonated inside of me and my love of him and his world had begun.

Season 5 really had a strong impact on the Thomas and Friends franchise as a whole. It introduced many new recurring motifs to the show, such as extreme crashes and stunts, characters not rooted in the Railway Series and episodes more focused on humor. Not only did it lead to more changes in the franchise but it was also the last season for Britt Allcroft as head writer and David Mitton’s final season as producer. This was even the last season with a railway consultant on hand until Sam Wilkinson joined for Series 17.

After Season 5 and the ‘Thomas and the Magic Railroad’ feature film, Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends was not really shown on American television anymore. Series 6 and 7, under Britt Allcroft’s newly formed Gullane Entertainment, was much less action-packed stories and focused more on Railway Series-like character development, as in ‘Salty’s Secret’, ‘Elizabeth the Vintage Truck/Lorry’, ‘Emily’s New Coaches’, etc. Big stunts were still in place, such as in ‘Gordon Takes a Tumble’ and ‘Percy’s Chocolate Crunch’. The breakout player of Series 5, Cranky the Crane, gained more roles in Series 6 and 7 and even the scrapyard diesels from ‘Stepney Gets Lost’ were given proper names and got more roles onward. I personally enjoyed Series 6 and 7 due to their simple wit and charm as well as introducing unique characters to the fray.

The HiT era continued onward with the first direct-to DVD special, ‘Calling All Engines!’ in 2005. This special featured the return of Diesel 10 and Lady from the feature. Mixed reactions greeted the special as some people did not enjoy the ongoing steam vs. diesel plot at the time. In the HiT Era, there were still a lot of episodes with crashes, races and chase scenes. Further, the concept of one-time characters, first explored in Series 5 with characters like the Horrid Lorries and Thumper, returned. While I didn’t enjoy these seasons as much as the classic series, some classic elements were still intact with these series such as the majority of the cast and a mix of simple and extreme stories.

Then in 2008 came the first series to use computer animation, the model/CGI hybrid Series 12. I was initially shocked at these changes, being accustomed to the looks and aesthetics of the models. But even at this point the series still kept the Season 5 element of one-time characters such as Hank and Flora. Finally, in 2009 came the first full CGI production for Thomas, ‘Hero of The Rails’. The change was shocking at first with Thomas going full on CGI and the models ultimately becoming a thing of the past.

Ever since, we still have episodes with crashes, chases and humor. Even Sir Topham Hatt has turned into a comedic figure in recent years. Alongside those elements, every special usually has one big stunt such as the mine drop in ‘Sodor’s Legend of The Lost Treasure’, the bridge jump in ‘The Great Race’ and most recently in ‘Big World, Big Adventures’ having Thomas and Ace going through the Morenci Loop in Arizona.

To conclude, I will always consider Series 5 to be the most important in the show’s history. It introduced many elements that are still present today and will possibly be in Season 22 onwards. Without Series 5, these changes wouldn’t have occurred and the show may have ended for good. So, let's all remember that Season 5 brought us to where we are today with the franchise.