On Site with Thomas
Jack and the Sodor Construction Company or Jack and the Pack is a direct-to-video release of the series Thomas and Friends. The thirteen episodes feature the Sodor Construction Company, or The Pack: a group of characters introduced in Season 6 with the intent to launch a spin-off series.
In the US, the episodes were featured on three DVDs: "On Site with Thomas" in 2006, "Thomas' Trusty Friends" in 2007, and "Mud, Glorious Mud" in 2008. In the UK (released October 2006) and Australia (October 2007), they were released in the form of a single DVD of 11 episodes ("Thomas' Trusty Friends"). The two excluded episodes, "Jack Owns Up" and "Percy's Scary Tale" had a limited release on single DVDs available initially at Woolworths and later The Sunday Mirror.
The episodes were narrated by Michael Angelis in the United Kingdom and Australia and by Michael Brandon in the United States. The musical scores for each episode were composed by Robert Hartshorne. The DVD with 11 episodes was also released in The Netherlands in 2009 narrated by Erik de Zwart.
Though the episodes were released in 2006-2008, the filming was in the original 35mm camera format, and the original four-and-a-half-minute running length (as opposed to the digital photography and seven-minute running length that have been in use since 2004) because the series was filmed while finishing up the filming of Season 7 in 2003.
Episodes
| # | Total | Title | Directed by | Written by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 235 | "A Visit from Thomas" | Steve Asquith | Paul Dawson |
| Miss Jenny's machines are preparing the site for a new school, when Oliver unexpectedly finds something buried in the ground. | ||||
| 2 | 236 | "Jack Owns Up" | Steve Asquith | Paul Larson |
| The Pack is sent to a workshop, but Jack accidentally knocks some supplies over and Ned is blamed for the resulting accident. | ||||
| 3 | 237 | "On Site with Thomas" | Steve Asquith | Will Ing |
| Patrick boasts that he has the most important job while building a community center. This leads Jack and Alfie to question whose job really is most important, and the other machines are swept up in the commotion. | ||||
| 4 | 238 | "Percy's Scary Tale" | Steve Asquith | Jonathan Trueman |
| On a dark night in the forest, Kelly tells a scary story about a one-eyed truck, and Max and Monty decide to take advantage of the situation by trying to scare the other machines. | ||||
| 5 | 239 | "Kelly's Windy Day" | Steve Asquith | Phil Fehrle |
| High winds force The Pack to be extra careful - in spite of this, Kelly is knocked into a shed, and as a result is very spooked when he has to rescue Isobella the next day. | ||||
| 6 | 240 | "A Happy Day for Percy" | Steve Asquith | Paul Larson |
| Miss Jenny warns the vehicles to be careful around mud, but Byron is the only one using caution. | ||||
| 7 | 241 | "A Tale for Thomas" | Steve Asquith | Paul Larson |
| A large old tree is in danger of falling after a lightning storm, and complications emerge when Jack and the Pack is hired to prop it up. | ||||
| 8 | 242 | "Thomas and the Moles" | Steve Asquith | Jan Needle |
| Buster the steamroller feels unimportant when he is left without a job after a storm damages the island. | ||||
| 9 | 243 | "Percy Helps Out" | Steve Asquith | Brian Trueman |
| Nelson is disappointed that he always has to carry others, but no one else ever has to carry him. | ||||
| 10 | 244 | "The Tortoise and the Hare" | Steve Asquith | Will Ing |
| Buster dreams about being the fastest steamroller, which amuses Max and Monty, who challenge him to a race. | ||||
| 11 | 245 | "Thomas' Trusty Friends" | Steve Asquith | Paul Larson |
| Ned is bored with clearing rubble at a demolition site, but finds himself helping out the crew more than he intended to. | ||||
| 12 | 246 | "Alfie Has Kittens" | Steve Asquith | Abi Grant |
| Alfie the Excavator is sent to help demolish a building, but the other machines tease him for being small. Later when a mother cat and her kittens are discovered in the building only Alfie is small enough to rescue them. | ||||
| 13 | 247 | "Mud, Glorious Mud" | Steve Asquith | Jonathan Trueman |
| Isobella dislikes getting dirty, but when all the machines run out of diesel she has to get some more by driving through muddy fields. | ||||
Characters
New
- Monty (On Site with Thomas)
- Patrick (On Site with Thomas)
- Buster (A Visit from Thomas)
- Nelson (On Site with Thomas)
Notes
- The episodes "Jack Owns Up" and "Percy's Scary Tale" do not appear on the Australian and Dutch DVD release.