Series 5

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 fifth series of the show, which was first broadcast in 1998. This series is narrated by Michael Angelis for the U.K. audiences, while Alec Baldwin narrated the episodes for the U.S. audiences.

Stories
The show's staff had decided since Series 3 that most of the best stories of The Railway Series had been adapted, the rest involving too many new characters or closely resembling previous stories.[1] With Series 5, the decision was made to write a full series of original, staff-written stories. One reason for this was producer Britt Allcroft's desire to create a theatrical Thomas the Tank Engine movie, and requested that director David Mitton show off his modelling skills.[2] Series 5 aired in 1998, and the movie Thomas and the Magic Railroad was released two years later.

Some inspiration for the stories came from a former LMR manager named David Maidment. In 1997, Maidment met with Steven Wright about the possibility of supporting the Railway Children charity, and while Wright told him the series' staff commonly received such requests, they would consider. During their meeting, Maidment relayed stories about his railway experiences working in South Wales and as the manager at Crewe station. Days later, Maidment received a call asking if he would allow some of his stories to be used as material – the stories from The Railway Series were frequently based on true events, and Allcroft and Mitton preferred this. Maidment agreed, and was also asked to review each story to make sure that the railway in the show operated realistically. As a result, Maidment received writing credit alongside Allcroft and Mitton. 10,000 pounds ($14,406 in U.S. dollars) was donated to the Railway Children for his work.[2]

These stories are amongst those adapted: Additionally, "A Better View for Gordon" was based on a famous incident at Gare Montparnasse in 1895.[2]
 * "Baa!" – a ram invades a railway station and attacks some vandals; additionally, the idea of a "Best Kept Station" competition.
 * "James and the Trouble with Trees" – rain erodes an embankment, causing a tree to slide down and stand upright on the tracks.
 * "Double Teething Troubles" – a British Rail Class 17 diesel stalls while banking a train.
 * "Gordon and the Gremlin" – bathwater in a luxury coach splashes around the compartment.

The design for each new character would be chosen by David Eves, and given to David Mitton for approval.[1]

Filming
Mitton shot 2,700 slates for Series 5, the most of any of the series he shot for Thomas. Stock Footage Theme Music From Season 3-4.[2]

Broadcast
Previously Thomas had only appeared in the US as a segment on the TV show Shining Time Station, but Series 5 aired in the US as part of the half-hour Storytime with Thomas program. Each episode would include a new Series 5 episode narrated by Alec Baldwin, an episode of Britt Allcroft's Magic Adventures of Mumfie, and a Series 4 episode narrated by George Carlin, with music videos and footage of Day out with Thomas in between.

Episodes

 * 1) Cranky Bugs
 * 2) Horrid Lorry
 * 3) A Better View for Gordon
 * 4) Lady Hatt's Birthday Party
 * 5) James and the Trouble with Trees
 * 6) Gordon and the Gremlin
 * 7) Bye George!
 * 8) Baa!
 * 9) Put Upon Percy
 * 10) Toby and the Flood
 * 11) Haunted Henry
 * 12) Double Teething Troubles
 * 13) Stepney Gets Lost
 * 14) Toby's Discovery
 * 15) Something in the Air
 * 16) Thomas, Percy and Old Slow Coach
 * 17) Thomas and the Rumours
 * 18) Oliver's Find
 * 19) Happy Ever After
 * 20) Sir Topham Hatt's Holiday
 * 21) A Surprise for Percy
 * 22) Make Someone Happy
 * 23) Busy Going Backwards
 * 24) Duncan Gets Spooked
 * 25) Rusty and the Boulder
 * 26) Snow

Songs

 * Night Train
 * Accidents Will Happen
 * Every Cloud has a Silver Lining
 * It’s Great to be an Engine
 * The Snow Song
 * Donald's Duck
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Come for the Ride
 * Harold the Helicopter
 * Percy’s Seaside Trip

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Toby
 * Duck
 * Oliver
 * Bill and Ben
 * Stepney
 * BoCo
 * Mavis
 * Skarloey
 * Rheneas
 * Duncan
 * Rusty
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Toad
 * Terence
 * Bertie
 * George
 * Caroline
 * Harold
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Lady Hatt
 * Stephen Hatt
 * Bridget Hatt
 * Mrs. Kyndley
 * The Firelighter
 * The Little Boys
 * Sir Handel (music video cameo)
 * Jem Cole (not named)
 * Farmer Trotter (not named)
 * Peter Sam (does not speak)
 * Henrietta (does not speak)
 * Donald and Douglas (cameo)
 * Trevor (cameo)
 * Big Mickey (cameo)
 * Jeremiah Jobling (cameo)
 * The Vicar of Wellsworth (cameo)
 * Refreshment Lady (cameo)
 * Nancy (cameo)
 * Farmer Finney (cameo)
 * The Storyteller (cameo)
 * The Butler (cameo)
 * The Crovan's Gate Policeman (cameo)
 * The Tailor (cameo)
 * Duke (portrait cameo)
 * Bulstrode (faceless; cameo)
 * Diesel (music video cameo)
 * Class 40 (music video cameo)
 * Tom Tipper (music video cameo)
 * Queen Elizabeth II (music video cameo)
 * The Policeman (music video cameo)
 * The Stone-dropping Boys (music video cameo)
 * The Barber (music video cameo)
 * The Careless Cleaner (music video cameo)
 * The Ffarquhar Stationmaster and his Family (music video cameo)
 * The Quarry-master (music video cameo)
 * The Injured Sailor (music video cameo)
 * S.C. Ruffey (deleted scene cameo)

Characters introduced

 * Old Slow Coach
 * Cranky
 * The Horrid Lorries
 * Old Bailey
 * The Fire Brigade
 * The Special Visitor
 * Mrs. Kyndley's Daughter
 * Tiger Moth's Pilot
 * Derek (not named)
 * Arry (not named)
 * Dowager Hatt (not named)
 * The Lighthouse Keeper (not named)
 * Bert (does not speak)
 * Bertram (does not speak)
 * Rusty's Ghost Engine (does not speak)
 * Thumper (does not speak)
 * Butch (does not speak)
 * Tiger Moth (does not speak)
 * Harry Topper (mentioned)
 * Boulder (does not speak)
 * The Fire Engines
 * Special Express Coaches
 * Gordon's Snow Machine
 * Sir Topham Hatt's Blue Car
 * Snowploughs

Japanese Voice Cast

 * Leo Morimoto as the Narrator
 * Keiko Toda as Thomas
 * Yasuhiro Takato as Edward
 * Ryō Horikawa as Henry and Mavis
 * Kenji Utsumi as Gordon
 * Katsuji Mori as James
 * Chisato Nakajima as Percy, Clarabel and Stephen Hatt
 * Yasuhiko Kawazu as Toby and Terence
 * Kōzō Shioya as Duck
 * Hikaru Midorikawa as Oliver and Bertie
 * Tomoko Naka as Bill and Annie
 * Miyuki Hara as Ben
 * Bin Shimada as Stepney
 * Shinobu Satouchi as BoCo
 * Moriya Endo as Iron 'Arry
 * Tomohisa Asō as Skarloey
 * Ryōtarō Okiayu as Rheneas
 * Hideo Ishikawa as Rusty
 * Ryōichi Tanaka as Duncan
 * Yūsuke Numata as Toad
 * Fu Suzuki as Old Slow Coach, Lady Hatt and Dowager Hatt
 * Masato Hirano as George and Old Bailey
 * Hiroko Emori as Caroline
 * Yūki Satō as Harold
 * Hisao Egawa as Cranky
 * Takeshi Aono as Sir Topham Hatt
 * Hiromi Nishida as Bridget Hatt
 * Yumi Nakatani as Mrs. Kyndley

Trivia

 * This was the first series of several things:
 * The first series not to have any episodes based on the Railway Series stories by Wilbert and Christopher Awdry.
 * The first series to introduce original characters with no connection to the Railway Series.
 * Alec Baldwin's first series as narrator.
 * The first series not to air on Shining Time Station due to the show ending. Episodes from the fifth series were instead aired on FOX Family's Storytime with Thomas.
 * The first series to use a Proteus 2000 to compose the music.
 * The first series not dubbed in Ukrainian.
 * The first series to air in Canada.
 * The first series dubbed by The Maidstone Studios.
 * The first series in which the phrase, "confusion and delay" is said.
 * According to an interview with David Mitton before his death in 2008, this series was supposed to be a showcase of Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
 * This series features the most songs, at a total of ten.
 * This was also the final series of several things:
 * Britt Allcroft's final series as writer and producer.
 * David Mitton's final series as producer.
 * Angus Wright's last series as executive producer.
 * The last series to premiere in the UK on Cartoon Network.
 * The last series filmed completely in 4:3 full screen.
 * The last series shown in Germany and Spain until the eighth series.
 * The last series to have a railway consultant until the seventeenth series.
 * The last series where Thomas' shocked face had a buck tooth.
 * The last series to have all its episodes released on VHS in the UK and Australia. The two episodes, Bye George! and Something in the Air, were featured on the ABC For Kids compilation VHS, Play Box in the latter country.
 * John L. Wright's last series as editor.
 * This was also the only series of several things:
 * David Maidment's only series as railway consultant and writer.
 * The only series where Donald appears without Douglas.
 * The only series where Knapford Station does not appear.
 * The only series recorded in Dolby Surround Sound, hence the absence of certain sound effects and music in either the UK or US version of several episodes.
 * Michael Angelis was not credited in the opening titles for the UK narration. However, he is credited as narrator in the Hindi narration, even though it was re-dubbed and Alec Baldwin was credited in the opening titles for the US narration.
 * Starting with this series up to the twelfth series, the brake sound effect from the 1964 film, The Train would be used when an engine puts on the brakes.
 * This series was never shown in Ukraine.
 * This series was filmed in the same room that Tugs was filmed in.
 * The Japanese video game Magical Adventure utilized specially shot footage from this series.