Series 23

  Series 23 of Thomas & Friends has already begin airing on May 18 2019 in the US & will begin airing on September in the UK in 2019

Production
Mattel has greenlit a new series and several specials for Thomas & Friends that will premiere in 2019. Production has begun on the 23rd series that will consist of 20 x 11-minute episodes as well as two x 22-minute specials following the recent revamp of the series. The series will also see Thomas visiting two new countries: Italy and Brazil.

Episodes

 * 1) Free the Roads
 * 2) Heart of Gold
 * 3) Chucklesome Trucks
 * 4) Crowning Around
 * 5) Gordon Gets the Giggles
 * 6) The Other Big Engine
 * 7) Grudge Match
 * 8) Thomas Makes a Mistake
 * 9) Batucada
 * 10) Laid Back Shane
 * 11) Wish You Were Here
 * 12) Diesel Glows Away
 * 13) Panicky Percy
 * 14) Diesel Do Right
 * 15) All Tracks Lead to Rome
 * 16) Mines of Mystery
 * 17) Out of Site
 * 18) First Day on Sodor!
 * 19) Untitled Italy Episode
 * 20) Untitled Max and Monty Episode
 * 21) Untitled Emily Episode

Main Cast

 * Thomas
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Emily
 * Nia
 * Rebecca

Additional Cast
Belle and Merlin are likely to appear.
 * Henry
 * Toby
 * Duck
 * Stanley
 * Glynn
 * Ashima
 * Rajiv
 * Raul
 * Shane
 * Yong Bao
 * Gina
 * Hong-Mei
 * Diesel
 * Daisy
 * Salty
 * Den
 * Dart
 * Sidney
 * Paxton
 * Norman
 * Philip
 * Fernando
 * Shankar
 * Noor Jehan
 * Winston
 * Skarloey
 * Peter Sam
 * Victor
 * Millie
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Henrietta
 * Troublesome Trucks
 * An An and Yin-Long
 * Aubrey and Aiden
 * Terence
 * Bertie
 * Harold
 * Bulgy
 * Jack
 * Alfie
 * Oliver (The Pack)
 * Max and Monty
 * Kevin
 * Emerson
 * Owen
 * Cassia
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Jenny Packard
 * Sir Robert Norramby
 * Charubala
 * The Grumpy Passenger
 * Albert's Wife
 * Edward (does not speak)
 * Flying Scotsman (does not speak)
 * Butch (does not speak)
 * Farmer McColl (does not speak)
 * Rosie (cameo)
 * Porter (cameo)
 * Ryan (cameo)
 * Sir Handel (cameo)
 * Duncan (cameo)
 * Luke (cameo)
 * Judy and Jerome (cameo)
 * Cranky (cameo)
 * Carly (cameo)
 * Big Mickey (cameo)
 * Farmer Finney (cameo)
 * Stephen (mentioned)
 * Tamika (mentioned)
 * King Godred (mentioned)

Characters Introduced

 * Gabriela
 * Lorenzo
 * Gustavo
 * Beppe
 * Darcy
 * Brenda
 * Ester
 * Stefano
 * Dame Bella
 * Mia

UK, AUS and NZ

 * John Hasler as Thomas
 * Keith Wickham as Gordon, Henry, Glynn, Den, Norman, Skarloey, Bertie, Harold and Sir Topham Hatt
 * Rob Rackstraw as James, Toby, Owen, a Crown Thief, and the Troublesome Trucks
 * Nigel Pilkington as Percy
 * Teresa Gallagher as Emily, Annie, Clarabel and Brenda
 * Yvonne Grundy as Nia
 * Rachael Louise Miller as Rebecca and Darcy
 * Steven Kynman as Duck, Dart, Paxton, Peter Sam and Jack
 * Matt Wilkinson as Stanley, Winston and Kevin
 * Tina Desai as Ashima and the Indian Fashion Designer
 * Nikhil Parmar as Rajiv, the Indian Troublesome Trucks, and the Grumpy and Friendly Stationmasters
 * Federico Trujillo as Raul, a Brazilian Railway Worker, and a Musician
 * Shane Jacobson as Shane
 * Dan Li as Yong Bao
 * Anna Francolini as Gina
 * Bob Golding as Sidney and a Crown Thief
 * Chipo Chung as Hong-Mei
 * Monica Lopera as Gabriela
 * Vincenzo Nicoli as Lorenzo and Beppe
 * Kerry Shale as Diesel and the Troublesome Trucks
 * Tracy-Ann Oberman as Daisy
 * Rasmus Hardiker as Philip and Monty
 * Sanjeev Bhaskar as Shankar
 * Gabriel Porras as Fernando, Emerson and the Crowd
 * Sheena Bhattessa as Noor Jehan and Charubala
 * Francisco Labbe as Gustavo and a Musician
 * David Bedella as Victor
 * Miranda Raison as Millie
 * Tim Whitnall as Oliver the Excavator and Max
 * Siu-see Hung as An An
 * Windson Liong as Yin-Long
 * Genevieve McCarthy as Aubrey
 * Tim Bain as Aiden
 * Tom Stourton as Terence and Alfie
 * Colin McFarlane as Bulgy
 * Flaminia Cinque as Ester and Dame Bella
 * Laura Cucurullo as Cassia
 * Antonio Magro as Stefano
 * Christopher Ragland as the Troublesome Trucks
 * Mike Grady as Sir Robert Norramby
 * Monsterrat Lombard as Mia

US and CAN

 * Joseph May as Thomas
 * Kerry Shale as Gordon, Henry, Diesel, Harold, Max, Kevin, and the Troublesome Trucks
 * Rob Rackstraw as James, Stanley, Owen, Monty, a Crown Thief, and the Troublesome Trucks
 * Christopher Ragland as Percy and the Troublesome Trucks
 * Jules de Jongh as Emily
 * Yvonne Grundy as Nia
 * Rachael Louise Miller as Rebecca and Darcy
 * William Hope as Toby
 * Steven Kynman as Duck, Dart, Paxton and Peter Sam
 * Keith Wickham as Glynn, Den, Norman, Skarloey, Bertie, and Sir Topham Hatt
 * Tina Desai as Ashima and the Fashion Designer
 * Nikhil Parmar as Rajiv, the Indian Troublesome Trucks, and the Grumpy and Friendly Stationmasters
 * Federico Trujillo as Raul, a Brazilian Railway Worker, and a Musician
 * Shane Jacobson as Shane
 * Dan Li as Yong Bao
 * Anna Francolini as Gina
 * Bob Golding as Sidney and a Crown Thief
 * Chipo Chung as Hong-Mei
 * Monica Lopera as Gabriela
 * Vincenzo Nicoli as Lorenzo and Beppe
 * Tracy-Ann Oberman as Daisy
 * Rasmus Hardiker as Philip
 * Sanjeev Bhaskar as Shankar
 * Gabriel Porras as Fernando, Emerson, and the Crowd
 * Sheena Bhattessa as Noor Jehan and Charubala
 * Francisco Labbe as Gustavo and a Musician
 * Matt Wilkinson as Winston
 * David Bedella as Victor
 * Miranda Raison as Millie
 * Teresa Gallagher as Annie, Clarabel and Brenda
 * Siu-see Hung as An An
 * Windson Liong as Yin-Long
 * Genevieve McCarthy as Aubrey
 * Tim Bain as Aiden
 * Tom Stourton as Terence and Alfie
 * Colin McFarlane as Bulgy
 * David Menkin as Jack
 * Tim Whitnall as Oliver the Excavator
 * Flaminia Cinque as Ester and Dame Bella
 * Antonio Magro as Stefano
 * Laura Cucurullo as Cassia
 * Mike Grady as Sir Robert Norramby
 * Monsterrat Lombard as Mia

Japan

 * Kumiko Higa as Thomas
 * Kenta Miyake as Gordon
 * Masashi Ebara as James
 * Chie Kōjiro as Percy
 * Erina Yamazaki as Emily, An An and Charubala
 * Yoshino Aoyama as Nia
 * Maki Uchiyama as Rebecca and Aubrey
 * Jun'ichi Kanemaru as Henry and Owen
 * Tomohiro Tsuboi as Toby
 * Kiyonobu Suzuki as Duck and Sir Robert Norramby
 * Hiroshi Tsuchida as Stanley
 * Tōru Akiyoshi as Glynn and Aiden
 * Misa Ishii as Ashima
 * Yuta Odagaki as Rajiv, Oliver the Excavator, Emerson, and the Troublesome Trucks
 * Hiroaki Tajiri as Raul
 * Ryōsuke Morita as Shane
 * Hiroo Sasaki as Yong Bao
 * Keiko Nemoto as Gina, Daisy, Jack and Cassia
 * Mikoto Nakai as Hong-Mei
 * Ken Sanders as Diesel
 * Ryuzou Ishino as Den
 * Kunihiro Kawamoto as Dart, Paxton, Norman, Fernando, Yin-Long, some Passengers and the Troublesome Trucks
 * Daiki Kobayashi as Philip
 * Kōichi Sakaguchi as Shankar and Victor
 * Chiaki Mori as Noor Jehan
 * Minako Saito as Millie
 * Wataru Hatano as Winston and Harold
 * Sakura Yoshioka as Annie and Clarabel
 * Mitsuhiro Sakamaki as Bertie
 * Hinata Tadokoro as Bulgy
 * Emiko Takeuchi as Alfie
 * Hayato Fujii as Max and Monty
 * Takayuki Kawasugi as Kevin
 * Kan Tanaka as Sir Topham Hatt

Trivia

 * This season marks the first of many things:
 * The first season to have episodes written by Camille Ucan and Rose Johnson.
 * Gina, Raul, Emerson, Cassia and Fernando’s first appearances in an episode and their first appearances since The Great Race and Big World! Big Adventures! respectively.
 * This is the first time that Thomas, Gordon, James, Percy and Emily are seen in their new CGI models. They all gain additional rivets and handrails, while Gordon gains a second permanent lamp and Thomas gains a step on the front of his tanks. Emily also gains an additional handrail above her smokebox.
 * Jenny Packard’s first speaking role appearance since the The Great Discovery, and her first appearance in full CGI.
 * The first season to have two head writers for an episode since the nineteenth series.
 * Norman’s first speaking role since The Great Race, and the first series since the seventeenth series in which he speaks in more than one episode.
 * Peter Sam's first speaking role since the twentieth series.
 * Oliver the Excavator and Alfie's first speaking role appearances since the twentieth series. This is also the first series in which Alfie is voiced by Tom Stourton, who takes over the role from Nathan Clarke.
 * This is the first series not to have Nathan Clarke voice anyone since he became a voice actor.
 * Harold's first appearance and speaking role since the twenty-first series.
 * Owen’s first speaking role since the eighteenth series. This is also the first series in which he is voiced by Rob Rackstraw, who takes over the role from Ben Small.
 * The first and only series to date to not have James and Nia as a lead character in any episode.
 * The first and only series to date since his introduction in the first series in which Edward appears, but does not speak.
 * The first and only series to date since his introduction in the fifth series in which Cranky appears, but does not speak in full CGI.
 * The first and only series to date since her introduction in the twenty-first series in which Carly appears, but does not speak.
 * The first and only series since her repaint to red in Journey Beyond Sodor in which Rosie appears, but does not speak.
 * The first series to date in which Henry speaks in only one episode.
 * The first series not to have Thomas appear in any of the episodes since the twenty-first series.
 * The first series since the thirteenth to not have any Christmas-themed episode/
 * The first series not to be written by Lee Pressman since he became a head writer in the seventh series and since he returned in the nineteenth series.
 * This series will be Andrew Brenner's final series as head writer to date. This is also his second series in which he hasn’t written any episodes since becoming head writer, the first being Series 21.
 * Ferderico Trujillo, Francisco Labbe, Monica Lopera, Laura Cucurullo, Anna Francolini, Vincenzo Nicoli, Antonio Magro, Flaminia Cinque and Monsterrat Lombard join the voice cast.
 * Colin McFarlane, Miranda Raison, Mike Grady and Gabriel Porras return to the voice cast.
 * Ian McCue is reinstated as producer, after having served as Creative Executive since Series 21. He is re-appointed as producer to replace Micaela Winter, who left the series in 2018 to take up a position with Blue Zoo Animation.
 * James and Nia are the only members of the current Steam Team to not get a starring role in this series.
 * Starting in this series, Rachael Miller is credited by her full name, Rachael Louise Miller.