Series 23

  Series 23 of Thomas & Friends has already begin airing on May 18 2019 in the US & will air 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 three x 20-minute specials following the recent revamp of the series. The series will also see Thomas visiting two new countries: Italy and Brazil.

Episodes

 * 1) The Other Big Engine
 * 2) Grudge Match
 * 3) Crowning Around
 * 4) Thomas Makes a Mistake
 * 5) Batucada
 * 6) Gordon Gets the Giggles
 * 7) Laid Back Shane
 * 8) Chucklesome Trucks
 * 9) Free the Roads
 * 10) Heart of Gold
 * 11) Wish You Were Here
 * 12) Diesel Glows Away
 * 13) Shankar's Makeover
 * 14) All Tracks Lead to Rome
 * 15) Mines of Mystery

Characters
Duck, Flynn, Belle, Merlin, Trevor, Daisy and Mavis are likely to appear.
 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Toby
 * Donald and Douglas
 * Flying Scotsman
 * Emily
 * Rosie
 * Stanley
 * Glynn
 * Ashima
 * Rajiv
 * Raul
 * Shane
 * Yong Bao
 * Gina
 * Lexi
 * Nia
 * Hong-Mei
 * Rebecca
 * Diesel
 * Den
 * Sidney
 * Paxton
 * Norman
 * Fernando
 * Shankar
 * Noor Jehan
 * Victor
 * Millie
 * Skiff
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Henrietta
 * Troublesome Trucks
 * Aubrey and Aiden
 * An An and Yin-Long
 * Bertie
 * Bulgy
 * Jack
 * Alfie
 * Oliver (The Pack)
 * Max and Monty
 * Kevin
 * Owen
 * Ace
 * Cassia
 * Emerson
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Sir Robert Norramby
 * The Bird Watcher
 * The Grumpy Passenger
 * Albert's Wife
 * Charubala
 * Gator (stock footage)
 * Marion (stock footage)
 * Samson (stock footage)
 * Luke (stock footage)
 * Terence (stock footage)
 * Henry (does not speak)
 * Butch (does not speak)
 * Cranky (does not speak)
 * Spencer (cameo)
 * Ryan (cameo)
 * Salty (cameo)​
 * Philip (cameo)
 * Skarloey (cameo)
 * Duncan (cameo)
 * Winston (cameo)
 * Judy and Jerome (cameo)
 * Harold (cameo)
 * Merrick (cameo)
 * Reg (cameo)
 * Big Mickey (cameo)
 * Farmer Finney (cameo)
 * Bill and Ben (stock footage cameos)
 * Axel (stock footage cameo)
 * Carlos (stock footage cameo)
 * Frieda (stock footage cameo)
 * Ivan (stock footage cameo)
 * The Mainland Diesels (stock footage cameos)
 * Rusty (stock footage cameo)
 * Stephen (mentioned)
 * Tamika (mentioned)
 * King Godred (mentioned)
 * George (dropped)

Characters Introduced

 * Gabriela
 * Lorenzo
 * Gustavo
 * Culdee
 * Lord Harry
 * Godred
 * Beppe
 * Darcy
 * Ester
 * Brenda
 * Stefano

UK, AUS and NZ

 * John Hasler as Thomas
 * Keith Wickham as Edward, Henry, Gordon, Glynn, Den, Norman, Bertie, Sir Topham Hatt, the Grumpy Passenger, a child, and some Passengers
 * Rob Rackstraw as James, Toby, Stanley, Owen, and the Troublesome Trucks
 * Nigel Pilkington as Percy
 * Teresa Gallagher as Emily, Annie and Clarabel
 * Yvonne Grundy as Nia
 * Rachael Miller as Rebecca
 * Nicola Stapleton as Rosie
 * 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
 * Emily Sharpe as Gina
 * Chipo Chung as Hong-Mei
 * Monica Lopera as Gabriela
 * Kerry Shale as Diesel and the Troublesome Trucks
 * Bob Golding as Sidney
 * Steven Kynman as Paxton and Jack
 * 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
 * Maggie Ollerenshaw as Henrietta
 * 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
 * Colin McFarlane as Bulgy
 * Nathan Clarke as Alfie
 * Rasmus Hardiker as Monty
 * Matt Wilkinson as Kevin
 * Peter Andre as Ace
 * Laura Cucurullo as Cassia
 * Christopher Ragland as the Troublesome Trucks
 * Mike Grady as Sir Robert Norramby

US and CAN

 * Joseph May as Thomas
 * William Hope as Edward and Toby
 * Kerry Shale as Gordon, Diesel, Max, Kevin, and the Troublesome Trucks
 * Rob Rackstraw as James, Stanley, Owen, Monty, and the Troublesome Trucks
 * Christopher Ragland as Percy and the Troublesome Trucks
 * Jules de Jongh as Emily
 * Nicola Stapleton as Rosie
 * Keith Wickham as Glynn, Den, Norman, Bertie, Sir Topham Hatt, the Grumpy Passenger, a child, and some Passengers
 * 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
 * Emily Sharpe as Gina
 * Rachael Miller as Rebecca
 * Chipo Chung as Hong-Mei
 * Monica Lopera as Gabriela
 * Bob Golding as Sidney
 * Steven Kynman as Paxton
 * Yvonne Grundy as Nia
 * 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
 * Teresa Gallagher as Annie and Clarabel
 * Maggie Ollerenshaw as Henrietta
 * Siu-see Hung as An An
 * Windson Liong as Yin-Long
 * Genevieve McCarthy as Aubrey
 * Tim Bain as Aiden
 * Colin McFarlane as Bulgy
 * David Menkin as Jack
 * Nathan Clarke as Alfie
 * Tim Whitnall as Oliver the Excavator
 * Peter Andre as Ace
 * Laura Cucurullo as Cassia
 * Mike Grady as Sir Robert Norramby

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
 * Tomohiro Tsuboi as Toby
 * Hisayo Mochizuki as Rosie
 * 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, Henrietta, Jack and Cassia
 * Mikoto Nakai as Hong-Mei
 * Ken Sanders as Diesel
 * Ryuzou Ishino as Den
 * Kunihiro Kawamoto as Paxton, Norman, Fernando, Yin-Long, some Passengers, and the Troublesome Trucks
 * Kōichi Sakaguchi as Shankar and Victor
 * Chiaki Mori as Noor Jehan
 * Minako Saito as Millie and a Child
 * Sakura Yoshioka as Annie and Clarabel
 * Mitsuhiro Sakamaki as Bertie
 * Hinata Tadokoro as Bulgy
 * Hayato Fujii as Max and Monty
 * Takayuki Kawasugi as Kevin
 * Jun'ichi Kanemaru as Owen
 * Kan Tanaka as Sir Topham Hatt
 * Kiyonobu Suzuki as Sir Robert Norramby

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, Fernando and Ace's first appearances in an episode and their first appearances since The Great Race and Big World! Big Adventures! respectively.
 * Knapford Harbour's first appearance in full CGI and it’s first full appearance since the Season 4 episode, Special Attraction.
 * 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.
 * The first season to have two head writers for an episode since the nineteenth series.
 * Norman’s first speaking role since The Great Race.
 * Owen’s first speaking role since the eighteenth series.
 * The first series to have Den appear without Dart.
 * The first series since his introduction in the nineteenth series in which Philip appears, but doesn’t speak.
 * The first series to date in which Edward and Henry appear, but don’t speak.


 * 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.
 * Emily Sharpe, Ferderico Trujillo, Francisco Labbe, Monica Lopera and Laura Cucurullo join the voice cast.
 * Peter Andre, Colin McFarlane, Miranda Raison, Mike Grady, Gabriel Porras and Nathan Clarke 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.
 * Toby is the only previous member of the Steam Team to have a speaking role in this series.