Classic Series Review Revisited - Series 5 (1998)

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FANBASE

SERIES 5

Written by

Britt Allcroft

David Mitton
Andrew Brenner

EPISODES

CRANKY BUGS

This was a good season opener. However I think this episode can work with just any engine, based on this fan made video. But that isn't to say that this was bad. But I still think there could've been a reason for Cranky to be at the docks rather then just being there, even just a mere mention of it would've been good. However I do like the antics and the crash scene was well filmed and all.

Rating: 7/10

HORRID LORRY

I think this episode had problem with its focus. For most of the episode it was focused towards Percy and then later it was then transferred to Toby for some reason. I think what could've made this episode better if it were a Toby focused episode and it's actually not that hard to place him in the main role as he had dealt with road vehicles in the first season. However the episode was alright in the end with its story and its kind of interesting to see a road vs rail rivalry. But I think they should've tweaked the script to fix its character focus.

Rating: 6/10

A BETTER VIEW FOR GORDON

Rather than have Gordon with steaming problems, why not braking problems? In fact the incident that this episode was based on was caused by braking failure. I feel like that Allcroft & Mitton were being very unfocused with the incident and you think with a railway consultant at the time as well. Change the plot up with Gordon experiencing bad brakes instead of having something broken inside him. Have him dealing with braking issues on his way to Kirk Ronan station, like maybe have stop at a signal and that he almost ran past it. The driver showcases some worry about it but Gordon just thinks they were going too fast and then have him complain about the station and its lack of panoramic view. Then on his return journey, they have to stop at another signal and then he ran past at danger. His crew stopped him and with permission from the signalman, they put Gordon in a siding so another engine can take his train, while Gordon was being stubborn about his brakes. Later Gordon was heading to the opening ceremony and then his accident happened because his brakes had failed completly. I just feel that could've been better. But despite that the episode was OK. Its moral is the usual 'be careful what you wish for scenario' and that was pretty much it. I wish that it was better.

Rating: 6/10

LADY HATT'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

I find it interesting that there was an episode focused towards the Fat Controller, there was never story seem to focus upon him by the Awdrys so it's quite refreshing to see something outside of the railway. The story was fun and comical and yeah there was a three strike formula, but it works here. Although I will nitpick here, why would Thomas' fireman have taken ill when they were on an open piece of line? Sure I get at this point they weren't focusing on railway realism but it just seem odd. But despite that the story was really good.

Rating: 9/10

JAMES AND 
THE TROUBLE WITH TREES

I will say that this episode was good with message that we should listen to other people for any advice. Although I think, and this isn't an attack on Britt Allcroft, I think it's a bit two faced that she defended 'Henry's Forest' for saying that other railways have trees close to the line and then we have this episode showcasing how dangerous trees are when they're close to the line, unless the railway consultant told her that it is dangerous or maybe she had changed her mind on the matter. Look I understand people like Britt Allcroft but she isn't perfect all the time with her decisions that's all I want to say. I still respect her as a person and a businesswoman too. But anyway the episode was good to say the least.

Rating: 7/10

GORDON AND THE GREMLINS

I think they should've scrapped the Gremlin stuff and just make it more about Gordon given a special job and that he thinks going fast would impress the visitor but the Fat Controller told him not too because she doesn't like it. However Gordon was late and he had to go fast and while Dowager Hatt understood that Gordon wants to take her to her destination on time, she told him that if she's late, she's late and instead Thomas got to take her instead, maybe earlier in the episode Gordon belittled Thomas and Percy saying that important VIP trains are for big engines like him. I think the story we have now was alright but could've been better and the dog was a bit unneeded.

Rating: 5/10 

BYE GEORGE!

I will say this, the flying truck after Gordon bashed into it was just ridiculous. I mean sure BWBA does this kind of stuff nowadays, although in fantasy sequences mostly, but it doesn't give this a freepass just because it was the classic series. Anyway, it was good to see more focus on George although not. I think the story was good and its message that ignoring the problem. But there was an adaptation of this episode that I had read on SiF that I think was a bit better than this episode and if you remove Thomas' accident, like in the adaptation, you can still have the story. Anyway, it wasn't bad in my opinion, despite the flying truck incident.

Rating: 6/10

BAA!

I think the story should've about how every station had been trashed and tarnished and the blame was on the ram, since he's always out and about looking for things to eat. Percy and the other engines thought so too but Toby was telling them not to jump to any conclusions and have Percy saying that Toby sound silly. Then once Maithwaite was tarnished they found they found the boys who were real culprits and he was there trapping the boys in the waiting room. After that everyone apologises to the farmer and there we have Maithwaite being the winner. The actual story was nice but I think it could've been better.

Rating: 6/10

PUT UPON PERCY

Honestly, this was another episode that lost a bit of focus on the subject matter. Percy felt like that he was taken for granted, which is what 'being put upon' is called. Then later he was trapped under a canvas from a rockslide. The whole rockslide ordeal pretty much added nothing nor it solved anything for Percy being put upon. Perhaps what could've been better if all the engines laughed at him and then he breaks down after dealing with too much work. Then the engines would have to do his work as well as there own and see what Percy has to deal with all the time. It could give the message that you shouldn't tease someone when they feel overworked. Here it should've been tweaked more.

Rating: 3/10 

TOBY AND THE FLOOD

I'll let my 2012 self creep in here but, how come Toby didn't sink? He's a very heavy engine with the steel of his wheels and chasis beneath him and a boiler on the inside. With him being on a wooden bridge that had cracked, it would've gone down with him. This is suspension of disbelief but why add that when you had a railway consultant? Anyway, outside of that, I really think this was more of a mandated episode for Toby. I think it's mandated because they had to give something for Toby since he is one of the core characters of the show through promotions and merchandising. But I won't pinpoint that this was the start of Toby's wimpy persona. I do believe that in this episode he had the right reason to be scared. A dam was in brink of collapse and so of course you'd be worried of other's well being. But I think this should've gone for Percy. It feels like something that would fit him. Mandated episode in my opinion and I think it should've gone to somebody else instead.

Rating: 4/10  

HAUNTED HENRY

I think this episode was really good. It was focused with great mystery and reveal of Old Bailey at the end was good little twist too, sure it's not an original concept but it was still good despite that. I love the dark atmosphere of the episode too.

Rating: 9/10

DOUBLE TEETHING TROUBLES

Honestly, this almost feels like a Railway Series story. Here we have a diesel who has teething troubles and would often breakdown just his real life counterpart. It's clever research by the Railway Consultant. We got to know a bit of Derek but I wish their were more episodes focused upon him and his character. Though I do see him breaking down as a running gag but I believe it would be get tiring for a while.

Rating: 8/10

STEPNEY GETS LOST

Honestly the whole 'engine narrowly avoiding scrap' just feels like the 'engine escapes from scrap' plot line, same conflict but something different to attach. However I do think the plot should've been focused more on Oliver because Stepney's character as seen in the episode just makes him more generic in my opinion. With Oliver you can have him being more arrogant about his escape from scrap, maybe he was exaggerating his story and was making it more about him than Douglas helping him. Douglas gets cross and tells Oliver off that if he has to avoid scrap again, he can escape on his own. Then Oliver took a train to a location and ended up at the scrap yard and tried to escape but the two diesels got him. Then in the end, Douglas found him ironically and saved him again and Oliver apologises and found that maybe he isn't as brave as he thought. Sure I had criticised the plot idea earlier but I think maybe the Oliver plot would focus more on bravery than 'avoiding scrap'. In the end, the plot was meh and I think it would've had better potential with Oliver.

Rating: 4/10

TOBY'S DISCOVERY

This to me is where I think Toby's persona had changed and why we were stuck with it over the years. Being worried about a dam on the brink of collaspe as well as other's well being is natural behaviour, but being scared by the idea of ghosts despite being wise is something that is bad. I think this would've suited Percy since they had given him the scaredy cat attitude back in the third season. Plus is episode scream as a mandated episode. Sure the dark atmosphere is good but Toby is more of a wise old engine who has a good sense of humor and his true character doesn't fit the story at all. I think this was a bad episode overall.

Rating: 1/10 

SOMETHING IN THE AIR

I do like the partial inspiration from a couple of Brenner stories such as Thomas having fish surrounding him and the line being dangerous and they added some orginality to it as well to create the conflict and that it was focused and not deviating away from the actual subject matter. This is a great improvement compare to some of the S3 stories that used the magazine stories. Plus I do like how the model makers make Henry spit out water and not showing whatever made him do that, great craftsmanship. 

Rating: 10/10

THOMAS, PERCY AND OLD SLOW COACH

I still find it strange that there's a scrap yard filled with dead steam engines on Sodor. I mean sure there was Crocks Scrap Yard in S2 but you don't see steam engine bodies lying around. I get it that they were past models that were redundant like City of Truro for example as sceneary, but it doesn't seem to make sense to have it on an Island when it was kind of established in the books, before the Awdry brother's Sodor book, that steam lives on on the island. Anyway as for the episode, I think James' incident with the fuel trucks was a bit redundant but I believe it was made to serve as irony for his earlier comment of him saying the countryside would fire him up, I mean that feels very Railway Series to be honest. But maybe they should've filled that scene with something like Thomas and Percy thinking what use would Old Slow Coach have. Then we see Thomas and Percy dealing with the fire of the workmen's hut. The episode was nice and simple with a message about how old things can have their uses.

Rating: 7/10

THOMAS AND THE RUMOURS

Honestly, the magazine story made much more sense compare to this episode. I mean why would Harold and the Fat Controller think the location of the playground would be good enough around the railway? In the magazine story it was to find a suitable location for a new tunnel. I mean the story had a good message that we shouldn't be listening to rumours because they have no basis. Plus the tunnel in the episode was out of nowhere and it was unneeded since the story was different to the original. I think they should've done a different accident for Gordon like him being diverted into a siding and plunged down the hill from an old siding instead. It was OK but not great.

Rating: 4/10

OLIVER'S FIND

I'll give Allcroft & Mitton credit for using Oliver, heck as well as Stepney a few episodes ago too. But the episode was sort of meh in the end. Oliver's discovery of an old station and houses didn't really go anywhere after this episode and most of the episode was Oliver moping and later going from place to place. I think they should tweaked this up and deal with more of his discovery and the aftermath that reveals more of this mystery.

Rating: 3/10 

HAPPY EVER AFTER

This was a nice episode. I do like how Allcroft & Mitton kept the whole Kyndley relationship to the railway that had started from the Railway Series and how the engines help Mrs. Kyndley out over certain situations. The episode was pure with Percy's helpfulness. 

Rating: 9/10

SIR TOPHAM HATT'S HOLIDAY

With Annie and Clarabel and there smart new look, I think it was a clever way to give the original models a send off. From what I heard from ThomasTankMerch on twitter, who preserve some of the Thomas models, they made the new Annie and Clarabel models because the old ones were deteriorating as seen at the start. As for the episode, I liked the shenanigans that they went through. It was very comedic too, I remember when I was young I thought it was funny that the camera revealed Percy pushing the canal boat on the breakdown train and it still is today. Yeah I criticised the idea of the Fat Controller being used for comedy, but they are very different. With the show now in CGI he has many movements that can be used for all sorts of slapstick whereas the model era had its limits. Anyway, this was a nice episode in the end. However maybe for Thomas and his coaches, there could've been episode about the whole thing, maybe have him dealing with two other coaches who were rude and badmouthing Annie and Clarabel.

Rating: 9/10

A SURPRISE FOR PERCY

I think I can relate to this episode. I remember while I was working and doing the same stuff over and over again it can become quite boring and want something exciting. The episode does show in the end that there can be exciting stuff, you just never know when.

Rating: 7/10

MAKE SOMEONE HAPPY

I think they should replace Harold's scene with James to give him that development of thinking about someone else or something for a change instead of himself. But apart from that this was a nice episode overall with its message but I think with a few tweaks it could've been better.

Rating: 7/10

BUSY GOING BACKWARDS

Honestly, as entertaining the runaway is, I feel that the episode was more of a rewrite of 'A Surprise For Percy' with a bit of 'Oliver's Find'. For the former you just have Toad who was bored of going backwards and wants something else for a change, like Percy bored of working in the coal yard all the time and with the latter, the bit with Toad talking to Oliver felt like the opening scene. It was good that they'd focused on Toad and the message about being careful what you wish for was used again, though some Thomas episodes after this have been using it for a while. But it just feels like a rewrite of past episodes to be honest.

Rating: 6/10 

DUNCAN GETS SPOOKED

I think the Fat Controller was a bit harsh to Peter Sam, the coupling was old but why would it be his fault? In anycase it should've been the shunter to get the blame. I understand it was a way to have Duncan teasing Peter Sam over his dilemma and have him mention ghost. But if they want to make it chilling, why not have Peter Sam crossing the bridge and he feels a cold vibe surrounding the bridge and as soon as he crosses the other side the coldness stop and maybe have it set in summer too during a heat wave. Then Rusty tells them the story about the old engine. This wasn't a terrible story and the dark atmosphere was good too with the music but I think some tweaks could've been made at the start.

Rating: 6/10

RUSTY AND THE BOULDER

I do have a history with this episode back in 2012 when I first reviewed it. Looking back I think it's more weird with this supersition stuff, sure there were ghost trains but they do end up being total rubbish at the end of the day. In my opinion the episode should've been more about safety and how we should be mindful, I made an adaptation based on this episode back in 2015. I think the runaway was a bit ridiculous with the boulder and all and the shed expolosion, still unnesscary. This episode is just too bizzare to be in Thomas. 

Rating: 3/10

SNOW

Percy's breif scene should've been cut and maybe showcase Thomas working hard in the snow pushing aside the snowdrifts, maybe have Gordon and his snow machine for comedy purposes. I still don't like how Rusty said that there was a funny part about avalanches. Avalances are dangerous and can be very deadly for people due to freezing temperature and also, with 2012 self creeping in again, I hate how they said Skarloey has an engine and how he was turned into an igloo due to the heat. I understand that not all films and TV shows ever showcased accurate science, like Star Wars and how its explosions can be heard in space, but it's still stupid to do something like that for Thomas, when one of the elements of its existance was that it was based on railway acurracy. Why can't they showcase how dangerous avalanches can be? Sure they do talk about the dangers of snow in the end but we already had that in past episodes like how engines can get stuck in a drift and how a snow storm can cut off a village to the rest of the world. I get it that it's suspension of disbelief but all in all, it was poor. 

Rating: 1/10

OVERALL

I know there are people out there who love season 5 for its action and crashes but honestly, I still think it's highly overrated. Outside of the action and crashes, the stories are a total mixed bag for me. There was only one story that I really like and it was an adaptation from a magazine story. There are others that I like but I don't see them as a top ten list episode. They are more runner ups. However some stories have missed potential and some had less focus. I will give credit to Allcroft & Mitton fo giving some of Awdry's other characters like Oliver and Toad some focus but nothing new really came out from them. I think they could've gone with more Railway Series stories, maybe around Christopher Awdry's books and maybe balance them with some original stories as well.

I will give credit for the models and sets, they do look great as usual. But story and creative wise, it was a total mixed bag. As for the narrators, Micheal Angelis was great as usual, although in some episodes there were times where his voice doesn't sound distinct. Alec Baldwin from my past viewings of this season from my US DVDs was fantastic as well. He add great energy and I kinda preffered him in some episodes since he had made some characters distinct.  

OVERALL RATING
153/260