Series 23

Series 23 of Thomas & Friends has already begin airing on May 18 2019 in the US & will begin airing on September 2nd 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 3 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) Crowning Around
 * 3) Chucklesome Trucks
 * 4) The Other Big Engine
 * 5) Heart of Gold
 * 6) Batucada
 * 7) Gordon Gets the Giggles
 * 8) Thomas Makes a Mistake
 * 9) Diesel Do Right
 * 10) Grudge Match

Currently Unknown Production Order

 * Lorenzo's Solo
 * Too Loud, Thomas!
 * Out of Site
 * First Day on Sodor!
 * Deep Trouble
 * Diesel Glows Away
 * Laid Back Shane
 * Wish You Were Here
 * Panicky Percy
 * Rangers of the Rails

Special Episodes

 * 1) Steam Team to the Rescue!
 * 2) All Tracks Lead to Rome
 * 3) Mines of Mystery

Main Cast

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

Additional Cast

 * Edward
 * Henry
 * Toby
 * Duck
 * Stanley
 * Belle
 * Caitlin
 * Porter
 * Glynn
 * Ashima
 * Rajiv
 * Raul
 * Shane
 * Yong Bao
 * Gina
 * Hong-Mei
 * Diesel
 * Salty
 * Den
 * Dart
 * Sidney
 * Paxton
 * Norman
 * Philip
 * Fernando
 * Shankar
 * Noor Jehan
 * Winston
 * Skarloey
 * Peter Sam
 * Victor
 * Millie
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Troublesome Trucks
 * An An and Yin-Long
 * Aubrey and Aiden
 * Terence
 * Bertie
 * Flynn
 * Harold
 * Bulgy
 * Jack
 * Alfie
 * Oliver
 * Max and Monty
 * Kevin
 * Captain
 * Emerson
 * Owen
 * Cranky
 * Big Mickey
 * Carly
 * Cassia
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Jenny Packard
 * Sir Robert Norramby
 * Charubala
 * The Grumpy Passenger
 * Albert's Wife
 * The Experts (not named)
 * Flying Scotsman (photo; does not speak)
 * Dame Bella's Orchestra (does not speak)
 * Rocky (does not speak)
 * Butch (does not speak)
 * Farmer McColl (does not speak)
 * Rosie (cameo)
 * Ryan (cameo)
 * 'Arry and Bert (cameo)
 * Sir Handel (cameo)
 * Duncan (cameo)
 * Luke (cameo)
 * Judy and Jerome (cameo)
 * Happy Hook (cameo)
 * Merrick (cameo)
 * Farmer Finney (cameo)
 * Willie (cameo)
 * Ace (fantasy, cameo)
 * Stephen (mentioned)
 * Tamika (mentioned)
 * The Chinese Dragon (mentioned)
 * King Godred (mentioned)
 * Byron (not named, indirectly mentioned)

Characters introduced

 * Gabriela
 * Lorenzo
 * Gustavo
 * Beppe
 * Brenda
 * Darcy
 * Ester
 * Stefano
 * Dame Bella
 * Mia
 * The Crown Thieves
 * The Grumpy Indian Stationmaster
 * The Friendly Indian Stationmaster
 * The Fashion Designer
 * Sodor Rangers
 * Road Finisher (fantasy)

UK, AUS and NZ

 * John Hasler as Thomas
 * Keith Wickham as Gordon, Edward, Henry, Glynn, Salty, Den, Norman, Skarloey, Bertie, Harold, Captain and Sir Topham Hatt
 * Rob Rackstraw as James, Toby, Flynn, Owen, Big Mickey, a Crown Thief, the Troublesome Trucks and Monty (Free the Roads only)
 * Nigel Pilkington as Percy
 * Teresa Gallagher as Emily, Belle, Annie, Clarabel and Brenda
 * Yvonne Grundy as Nia
 * Rachael Louise Miller as Rebecca
 * Steven Kynman as Duck, Porter, Dart, Paxton, Peter Sam and Jack
 * Matt Wilkinson as Stanley, Cranky, 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
 * Chipo Chung as Hong-Mei
 * Monica Lopera as Gabriela
 * Vincenzo Nicoli as Lorenzo and Beppe
 * Jules de Jongh as Caitlin
 * Kerry Shale as Diesel, the Troublesome Trucks and Max (Free the Roads only)
 * Rasmus Hardiker as Philip and Monty (excluding Free the Roads)
 * 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 (excluding Free the Roads)
 * 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
 * Harriet Kershaw as Darcy and Jenny Packard
 * Flaminia Cinque as Ester and Dame Bella
 * Lucy Montgomery as Carly
 * Laura Cucurullo as Cassia
 * Antonio Magro as Stefano
 * Christopher Ragland as the Troublesome Trucks
 * Mike Grady as Sir Robert Norramby
 * Monsterrat Lombard as Mia
 * Ian McCue as a Crown Thief

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, Flynn, Owen, Monty, Big Mickey, a Crown Thief and the Troublesome Trucks
 * Christopher Ragland as Percy and the Troublesome Trucks
 * Jules de Jongh as Emily and Caitlin
 * Yvonne Grundy as Nia
 * Rachael Louise Miller as Rebecca
 * William Hope as Edward and Toby
 * Steven Kynman as Duck, Dart, Paxton and Peter Sam
 * Teresa Gallagher as Belle, Annie, Clarabel and Brenda
 * Keith Wickham as Glynn, Salty, Den, Norman, Skarloey, Bertie, Captain and Sir Topham Hatt
 * Glenn Wrage as Cranky
 * David Menkin as Porter and Jack
 * 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
 * Chipo Chung as Hong-Mei
 * Monica Lopera as Gabriela
 * Vincenzo Nicoli as Lorenzo and Beppe
 * 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
 * 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
 * Tim Whitnall as Oliver the Excavator
 * Harriet Kershaw as Darcy and Jenny Packard
 * Flaminia Cinque as Ester and Dame Bella
 * Lucy Montgomery as Carly
 * Laura Cucurullo as Cassia
 * Antonio Magro as Stefano
 * Mike Grady as Sir Robert Norramby
 * Monsterrat Lombard as Mia
 * Ian McCue as a Crown Thief

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
 * Nozomu Sasaki as Edward
 * Jun'ichi Kanemaru as Henry, Porter and Owen
 * Tomohiro Tsuboi as Toby, Sidney and Flynn
 * Kiyonobu Suzuki as Duck and Sir Robert Norramby
 * Hiroshi Tsuchida as Stanley
 * Keiko Nemoto as Belle, Gina, Jack and Cassia
 * Tōru Akiyoshi as Glynn and Aiden
 * Misa Ishii as Ashima and Carly
 * Yuta Odagaki as Rajiv, Oliver the Excavator, Emerson, the Troublesome Trucks and the Grumpy Passenger
 * Hiroaki Tajiri as Raul
 * Ryōsuke Morita as Shane
 * Hiroo Sasaki as Yong Bao and Peter Sam
 * Mikoto Nakai as Hong-Mei
 * Ken Sanders as Diesel
 * Ryuzou Ishino as Salty and Den
 * Kunihiro Kawamoto as Dart, Paxton, Fernando and Yin-Long
 * Nobuaki Kanemitsu as Norman
 * Daiki Kobayashi as Philip
 * Kōichi Sakaguchi as Shankar and Victor
 * Chiaki Mori as Noor Jehan
 * Wataru Hatano as Winston and Harold
 * Hideyuki Umezu as Skarloey
 * Minako Saito as Millie
 * Sakura Yoshioka as Caitlin, Annie and Clarabel
 * Hinata Tadokoro as Terence, Bulgy and Big Mickey
 * Emiko Takeuchi as Alfie
 * Hayato Fujii as Max and Monty
 * Takaya Kuroda as Cranky
 * Hidenari Ugaki as Captain
 * Kan Tanaka as Sir Topham Hatt

Trivia

 * This series marks the first of many things:
 * The first series to have episodes written by Camille Ucan and Rose Johnson.
 * The first series to have the voice cast in the episode credits listed with the character(s) they voiced.
 * 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. These changes were done in order to fit in with Nia and Rebecca's more detailed renders.
 * Jenny Packard's first 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 episode, Saving Time.
 * Oliver the Excavator and Alfie's first speaking roles since the twentieth series episode, Mucking About. This is also the first series in which Alfie is voiced by Tom Stourton, who takes over the role from Nathan Clarke.
 * Terence's first appearance and speaking role since the twenty-first series episode, Terence Breaks the Ice.
 * Glynn and Millie's first appearances and speaking roles, and Sir Robert Norramby's first speaking role since the twenty-first series episode, Runaway Engine.
 * Owen’s first speaking role since the eighteenth series episode, Long Lost Friend. This is also the first series in which he is voiced by Rob Rackstraw, who takes over the role from Ben Small.
 * The first series to not have James as a lead character in any episode.
 * The first series to date since her introduction in the first series in which Henrietta does not appear.
 * The first series since her repaint to red in Journey Beyond Sodor in which Rosie appears, but does not speak.
 * The first series since he returned in Hero of the Rails in which Spencer does not appear since his introduction in the seventh series.
 * The first series since they returned in the nineteenth series in where Daisy and Trevor do not appear since their introductions in the second series.
 * The first series to date in which Edward speaks in only one episode.
 * The first series since the thirteenth to not have any Christmas-themed episodes.
 * The first series to be produced under Mattel Television (formerly Mattel Creations).
 * This is the last series to have Andrew Brenner as head writer, and the second time he has not written any episodes for the series 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, Harriet Kershaw 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.