Thomas & Friends (series 17)
| Thomas & Friends (series 17) | |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | United Kingdom, Canada |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Channel 5, Nick Jr.(UK) |
| Original release |
3 June 2013 – 21 November 2014 |
Thomas & Friends (previously known as Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends) is a children's television series about the engines and other characters working on the railways of the Island of Sodor, and is based on The Railway Series books written by the Rev. W. Awdry.
This article lists and details episodes from the seventeenth series of the show, which was first broadcast in 2013. This series was narrated by Mark Moraghan for the UK and US audiences.
Note: Episodes 1 – 20 were first broadcast in the UK in 2013 by Channel 5 (20 single episodes). Episodes 21 - 24 were first broadcast in the UK in July 2014 by Nick Jr.(UK), in 2 two-episode programs. Episodes 25 and 26 were first broadcast in the UK on 21 November 2014 by Nick Jr. Too (formerly Nick Jr. 2), in a two-episode program.
Production
During production of the sixteenth series, Sharon Miller stepped down as head writer, and Andrew Brenner, formerly head writer for Fireman Sam, was appointed as her successor. Brenner already had a previous history with the brand, having adapted the first two series and subsequently written several original stories for the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends magazines published by Marvel Comics from 1987 until the early 1990s. Many of his stories were later adapted by Britt Allcroft and David Mitton for the third series (plus a further one for the fifth) without his knowledge or consent.
This also marked the first series since the fifth to include a railway consultant as part of the production team, with Sam Wilkinson in the role.
The CGI animation for this series was provided by Arc Productions, who took over from Nitrogen Studios following completion of Series 16 and Blue Mountain Mystery in 2012.
In April 2013, Lionsgate released the DVD "Railway Mischief" which featured five episodes from the new series (episodes 4, 1, 2, 3 & 6). The DVD was available exclusively at Walmart.
Episodes
| # | Total | UK/US title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | TV order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 402 | "Kevin's Cranky Friend" | David Baas | Lee Pressman | 3 June 2013 | 401a |
| When work is accumulating at the docks for Cranky to take care of Sir Topham Hatt decides that Kevin will help them but Cranky does not like the idea | ||||||
| 2 | 403 | "Scruff's Makeover" | David Baas | Lee Pressman | 4 June 2013 | 401b |
| After being sent to be cleaned and repainted, Scruff does not want to work at the waste dump because he does not want to get dirty again. | ||||||
| 3 | 404 | "Wayward Winston" | David Baas | Lee Pressman | 5 June 2013 | 402a |
| After Sir Topham Hatt forgets to put Winston's brake on, Winston begins to roll away without a driver. He enjoys it at first, but he soon realizes why he needs to have a driver. | ||||||
| 4 | 405 | "Gordon Runs Dry" | David Baas | Andrew Brenner | 6 June 2013 | 402b |
| =When Gordon leaves with the express down the mainline he almost runs into Paxton who is taking stone from the Blue Mountain Quarry and a stone hit's Gordon's boiler and it begins to leak and Gordon has to stop at almost every water tower | ||||||
| 5 | 406 | "Calm Down Caitlin" | David Baas | Davey Moore | 7 June 2013 | 403a |
| Catlin spends a night on Sodor while the bridge that connects the island with the mainland is being repaired. | ||||||
| 6 | 407 | "Steamie Stafford" | David Baas | Laura Beaumont and Paul Larson | 10 June 2013 | 403b |
| Upset that he does not make much noise being an electric engine, Stafford starts imitating a steam engine. | ||||||
| 7 | 408 | "Henry's Hero" | David Baas | Laura Beaumont and Paul Larson | 11 June 2013 | 404a |
| Henry and Hiro take on some bad coal and start puffing black smoke. Hiro must figure out how to deliver the loads while Henry waits for new coal in the shed. | ||||||
| 8 | 409 | "Luke's New Friend" | David Baas | Davey Moore | 12 June 2013 | 404b |
| Up at the Blue Mountain Quarry, Luke finds a scared young deer, so he tries to get the other engines to work quietly. However, that is not an easy thing to do. | ||||||
| 9 | 410 | "The Switch" | David Baas | Davey Moore | 13 June 2013 | 405a |
| When Luke is sent to Ulfstead Castle to deliver stone, he meets Millie, the Earl's private narrow gauge engine. They decide to switch jobs for the day. | ||||||
| 10 | 411 | "Not Now, Charlie!" | David Baas | Davey Moore | 14 June 2013 | 405b |
| Charlie is a small purple engine who likes to tell jokes. One day Charlie discovers an elephant on the line and tries to alert the other engines. | ||||||
| 11 | 412 | "The Lost Puff" | David Baas | Davey Moore | 30 September 2013 | 406a |
| When Paxton the diesel overhears Toby saying that Thomas has lost his puff, he misunderstands and heads off across the Island of Sodor to look for it! | ||||||
| 12 | 413 | "The Thomas Way" | David Baas | Laura Beaumont and Paul Larson | 1 October 2013 | 406b |
| Thomas and Duck must learn how to work together when they help Harold after he breaks down near Callan Castle. | ||||||
| 13 | 414 | "The Phantom Express" | David Baas | Laura Beaumont and Paul Larson | 2 October 2013 | 407a |
| On a foggy night, James ends up causing Percy, Stephen, and himself to have an accident when they get stranded at Ulfstead Castle. | ||||||
| 14 | 415 | "Percy's Lucky Day" | David Baas | Davey Moore | 3 October 2013 | 407b |
| A couple of mishaps involving a torn sack of mail and some cargo on the line make Percy feel that he is unlucky, so Stephen lends Percy a lucky charm to get him back on the right track. | ||||||
| 15 | 416 | "Bill or Ben?" | David Baas | Andrew Brenner | 4 October 2013 | 408a |
| A new engine named Connor arrives on Sodor, but when Bill and Ben see him for the first time they decide to play a trick on him by challenging him to a race. | ||||||
| 16 | 417 | "Too Many Fire Engines" | David Baas | Andrew Brenner | 5 November 2013 | 408b |
| When a team of railway inspectors come to the Island of Sodor, they question whether Sir Topham Hatt needs two fire engines. This causes concern for Sodor’s fire fighting team, Flynn and Belle. | ||||||
| 17 | 418 | "No Snow for Thomas" | David Baas | Laura Beaumont and Paul Larson | 23 December 2013 | 409a |
| Thomas hides his snow plow because he thinks he doesn't need it. But he soon pays the price when he ends up stranded with Emily, Sir Topham Hatt, and Annie and Clarabel during a snowstorm. | ||||||
| 18 | 419 | "Santa's Little Engine" | David Baas | Andrew Brenner | 24 December 2013 | 409b |
| Thomas is sent to bring a sleigh for Sir Topham Hatt to use when he plays Santa at the Ulfstead Castle Christmas Fair. When the sleigh accidentally slips down the hill, Thomas must rescue the sleigh with Sir Topham Hatt in it! | ||||||
| 19 | 420 | "The Missing Christmas Decorations" | David Baas | Andrew Brenner | 25 December 2013 | 410a |
| It's Christmas on the Island of Sodor and the diesels feel left out without any Christmas decorations so Diesel Ten decides to get some decorations on his own. | ||||||
| 20 | 421 | "The Frozen Turntable" | David Baas | Andrew Brenner | 26 December 2013 | 410b |
| One cold evening the steam engines return to Tidmouth Sheds to discover that the turntable is frozen stuck, so the engines cannot reach their individual berths. | ||||||
| 21 | 422 | "Away from the Sea" | David Baas | Andrew Brenner | 5 July 2014 | 411a |
| When Salty the dockside diesel develops engine troubles he worries he will be sent away from the docks. When a new steam engine, Porter arrives to help out, Salty becomes convinced that Porter has been sent to replace him. | ||||||
| 22 | 423 | "Gone Fishing" | David Baas | Andrew Brenner | 5 July 2014 | 411b |
| Bill and Ben see Harvey the crane engine at Brendam Docks. They tease him about having a hook and ask 'is he going fishing?' Porter helps Harvey see the positive side of being both a crane and an engine. | ||||||
| 23 | 424 | "The Afternoon Tea Express" | David Baas | Laura Beaumont and Paul Larson | 6 July 2014 | 412a |
| Stephen is given the job of collecting ingredients for the afternoon tea at Ulfstead Castle. | ||||||
| 24 | 425 | "The Smelly Kipper" | David Baas | Andrew Brenner | 6 July 2014 | 412b |
| One evening at Tidmouth Sheds, James is teasing Percy about being scared of the dark so Henry challenges him to take "The Flying Kipper" that night. | ||||||
| 25 | 426 | "No More Mr. Nice Engine" | David Baas | Laura Beaumont and Paul Larson | 21 November 2014 | 413a |
| Hiro is one of the strongest engines on Sodor, and he is also very polite and gentle. Diesel tells Hiro that the only way to get the trucks to do what you want is to give them a biff and a bash, but Hiro is not convinced. | ||||||
| 26 | 427 | "Thomas' Shortcut" | David Baas | Andrew Brenner | 21 November 2014 | 413b |
| Thomas tries to take a shortcut to win races after he learns that Bertie has been re-routed, but soon learns he must stick to his branch line the hard way when he gets stranded on an abandoned track with Annie and Clarabel. | ||||||
Voices
Mark Moraghan took over narrator duties in both the UK and US narrations of the series, following the departures of Michael Angelis and Michael Brandon, respectively.
Jonathan Broadbent (Bill & Ben), Michael Legge (Luke), Mike Grady (Sir Robert Norramby), Jonathan Forbes (Connor), Rebecca O'Mara (Caitlin), Bob Golding (Stephen and Sidney), Miranda Raison (Millie) and David Menkin (Porter and Jack) (US only), from that season's special, officially. Togo Igawa (Hiro) returned having not worked or featured in series 16.
Martin Sherman takes over the role of Diesel in the US, Keith Wickham takes over the role of Bertie in both the UK and US, Ben Small takes over the role of Flynn in both the UK and US and Steven Kynman takes over the role of Dart in both the UK and US. Kynman also takes over the role of Butch in the US from Glenn Wrage. Teresa Gallagher takes over the roles of Mavis, Lady Hatt and The Duchess of Boxford in the US and David Bedella takes over the role of Victor in the UK respectively.
| Actor | Region | Role(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Mark Moraghan | UK/US | The Narrator |
| Ben Small | UK | Thomas and Toby |
| US | Charlie | |
| UK/US | Rheneas, Flynn, Owen and the Troublesome Trucks | |
| Martin Sherman | US | Thomas, Percy and Diesel |
| Keith Wickham | UK | Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Whiff, Harold, the Fat Controller, the Wellsworth Station Worker and a Workman |
| UK/US | Harvey, Skarloey, Sir Handel, Salty, Den, Norman, Stafford, Bertie, a Railway Inspector and the Maron Station Speaker | |
| William Hope | US | Edward, Toby, Whiff, Rocky, Farmer McColl, the Dock Manager and the Wellsworth Station Worker |
| UK/US | A Railway Inspector | |
| Kerry Shale | UK | Diesel and the Zoo Keeper (Not Now, Charlie! only) |
| US | Henry, Gordon, James, Scruff, Harold, Kevin, Sir Topham Hatt, the Zoo Keeper and a Workman | |
| UK/US | Some groaning passengers | |
| Teresa Gallagher | UK | Emily and The Children |
| UK/US | Belle, Mavis, Annie, Clarabel, Lady Hatt and the Duchess of Boxford | |
| Jules de Jongh | US | Emily and The Children |
| Matt Wilkinson | UK | Spencer, Charlie, Scruff, Rocky, Cranky, Butch, Kevin, Farmer McColl, The Dock Manager and the Zoo Keeper |
| UK/US | Diesel 10, Rusty, Winston and Merrick | |
| Glenn Wrage | US | Spencer and Cranky |
| David Bedella | UK/US | Victor |
| Togo Igawa | UK/US | Hiro |
| Steven Kynman | UK | Porter |
| US | Butch | |
| UK/US | Duck, Peter Sam, Dart, Paxton and a Railway Inspector | |
| David Menkin | US | Porter |
| Michael Legge | UK/US | Luke |
| Jonathan Broadbent | UK/US | Bill and Ben |
| Bob Golding | UK/US | Stephen and Sidney |
| Mike Grady | UK/US | Sir Robert Norramby |
| Jonathan Forbes | UK/US | Connor |
| Rebecca O'Mara | UK/US | Caitlin |
| Miranda Raison | UK/US | Millie |
References
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