DVD Review: The Royal Engine

We've just celebrated the 75th anniversary on May 12th with the 75th anniversary episode 'Thomas & The Royal Engine' and now we have it on DVD. So here are my views on it, but first:

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

THE ROYAL ENGINE

Written by
Micheal White
Camille Ucan & Rose Johnson
Davey Moore
Beckey Overton

Episodes
Thomas & The Royal Engine
Heart of Gold
Crowning Around
Diesel Glows Away
Emily to the Rescue

Directed by
Joey So: 
Thomas & The Royal Engine

Dianna Basso:
Heart of Gold
Crowning Around
Diesel Glows Away
Emily to the Rescue

Produced by
Ian McCue (HIT/Mattel)
Tracy Blagdon (Jam Filled)

Special Features
Party Train - Music Video
Duchess - Meet the Characters

Release Date
4/05/20 - UK
10/06/20 - AUS

Distributed by
HIT/Mattel Creations - UK
HIT/Mattel/ABC Kids Australia - AUS

EPISODES

The episodes consist two S24 episodes and three S23 episodes. You can read my views of the episode titles above, 'Emily to The Rescue' will be out after its TV run. But I would point out some differences that the DVD gave. The Royal Engine special had cut out Prince Harry's message that was shown on television in the UK and Australia and on Netflix in the US. It really felt as a surprise to me but it kinda makes Thomas' narration less akward compare to what we got in broadcast version with Prince Harry 'narrating' it. The other surprise was that 'Engine Roll Call' had been replaced with 'The Steam Team Song' that was released in 2019. To be honest, the latter feels more like Engine Roll Call anyway so it really doesn't make any difference but it brings a nice change after years of hearing the former. Plus it feels more fresh compare to what we got in 2018 where the vocals changed from the chior that sung the song from S8-12 and then to additional kids that sang the verses for Nia and Rebecca. Plus it makes the song less dated compare to Roll Call when you have a lyric for Rebecca saying, 'She's new and lots of fun'. When she really isn't that new anymore compare to when she was in 2018. So I'm fine with the new addition, although I think they should find a way to edit it shorter instead of ending it abruptly. I also like the addition of 'Crowning Around' and 'Heart of Gold' since they both share the same theme as the DVD.

SPECIAL FEATURES

One thing that surprised me about 'Party Train' was that they got Sam Blewitt back to do the vocals and I'm so glad that it wasn't another Eggplant LF song, as I was expecting maybe more like a rap or pop styled song but it was a nice reggae vibe kind of song. The last time Sam sang for Thomas was back in 2015 for Lost Treasure and that was 'We Make A Team Together'. The song really gave me that vibe of what we got back then and I do like the new animation that Jam Filled had provided for the video and I also liked the diversity of some clips from past episodes and specials and the recreated JBS clip of Thomas puffing past the animals too. Hopefully whenever the hiatus ends we see more of Sam in upcoming songs.

We got another 'Meet the Characters' video which is pretty simple since it's all about Duchess and Thomas recounting his interaction with her from the 75th anniversary episode. Nothing bad and it adds a little touch to the whole themeing of the DVD.

OVERALL

I think the DVD was good despite the lack of special features but the two surprising additions like the cutting of Prince Harry's 75th anniversary message and 'The Steam Team Song' replacing 'Engine Roll Call' were something that makes it a bit unique, for the time being for the latter.

This might be my only DVD review for the time being, what with no new UK DVDs being revealed yet and more likely because of the COVID-19 pandemic that we're in right now. I know that were was suppose to be a 'Thomas & The Magic Railroad' Blu-Ray coming out from Shout! for its 20th anniversary, but had been pulled from its release schedule more likely due to the pandemic, but I won't be reviewing that whenever it comes out, because if you really want to see me bad mouthing it again for how terrible it was then you're more than welcomed to read my 2014 review of it. I know about the workprint leak too and condem the person responsible for uploading it for violating the wishes of the owner of the said tape and for former owner of Thomas, Britt Allcroft who wants it to be taken down. I will admit I had seen it but I will not be sharing it. Would I review it? Only time will tell and while I do not approve of there wishes being violated I will say truthfully that like George Lucas who'd wished he finds every copy of the infamous 'Star Wars Holiday Special' and smash it, once it's on the internet it's on the internet. It sucks and I'm sorry if this brings down some fans of the movie but it's hard to stop people from having a downloaded copy, unless, and from what I heard, Mattel's or Sony's lawyers do something about it.

I know that there are compilation DVDs from Universal, and one was released recently of the past movies for the 75th anniversary, but they are compilation DVDs. They add nothing new and I don't see that much value in having them when you can purchase the DVDs seperatley cheaper. Sure they add more space and there are parents out there who will give there kids a good amount of entertainment, but I much prefer getting them indivually seening as how there's more value in them.

And I do know that the S21 collection DVD has yet to be announced but I think it's delayed because of the global pandemic we are in. But whenever that is announced and released I will surely be reviewing it as well as the 'Marvellous Machineary' DVD since it was advertised on this DVD. There is a Japanese DVD I'm getting in the mail so maybe I might review that, depends how I feel. I hadn't reviewed one since 2013.

OVERALL RATING:
7/10

Classic Series Review Revisited - Series 7 (2003)

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

SERIES 7 (2003)

Written by

Jam Page

Paul Larson

Brain Trueman

Robyn Charteris

George Tarry

James Mason

David Mitton

Jenny McDade

Polly Churchill

Robin Kingsland

Lee Pressman

EPISODES

EMILY'S NEW COACHES

Honestly I think the story could've been better. I think they should've expanded on Thomas thinking that the new coaches were for him and he was wondering why and he saw Emily taking his ones, assuming his coaches were given to Emily instead. Thomas was cross and told the other engines that she was a thief. Then it turns out it was Thomas' ignorance that was the problem because the coaches were for Emily. But I think they wanted a reason to give Emily her new coaches. For that idea, maybe the episode could've gone as a two parter. Episode one is about Emily assuming that Annie and Clarabel were just random coaches and didn't ask permission, which annoyed Thomas and then episode two would be about Emily redeeming herself to Thomas. In the end, the episode was alright but it wasn't a strong opener in my opinion.

Rating: 4/10

PERCY GETS IT RIGHT

I think they should've gone with Gordon getting stuck in the mud instead of Thomas, perhaps the message that we should listen would've been better if they have gone with him instead. With Thomas it just felt mandated because he's the star of the show. I was going to add about the Fat Controller ignoring Percy but I think the intention was to showcase that he's not at all perfect and should've listened to one of his engines. Anyway, the episode was alright but could've been better. 

Rating: 4/10 

BILL, BEN AND FERGUS

I feel that Fergus was introduced just to give Bill and Ben something to work with. While I understand that Fergus' persona is him being fussy about the rulebook and a goody two shoes with a big heart. The plot feels like your generic 'Bill and Ben causing trouble' story.

Rating: 3/10 

THE OLD BRIDGE

I look back at this episode and realise that probably had given this episode too much flak. Yes, Skarloey is an old and wise engine but he can be immune from being scared about anything. We never saw him dealing with an old bridge before so I think this episode is nice to give him some traits and it showcases that he's an engine with some flaws too rather than being the one dimensional wise old engine.

Rating: 7/10

EDWARD'S BRASS BAND

Honestly, it's nice to see Edward with an episode that is not him proving his own worth to someone like Gordon or James but despite that, this episode didn't bring out anything new towards him. There was conflict but it was not done by him and nor he deserves. I think it was trying to show that things can go south but he was repaired and rewarded in the end as if that message doesn't even matter. To me this is another mandated Edward episode. It's good that they thought outside the box but sadly there was nothing new and you can see why writers would rather stick with Edward dealing with him being old or proving his own worth at times over the years before they replaced him with Nia in 2017. Please don't take my word about Edward as if I'm sort of a Mattel 'shill' or a 'bootlicker', honestly, unlike some people. Not every decision they make is great or flawless and I like Edward and Henry, but if you like to have characters who are out there proving there worth to a superior or having to deal with an illness over and over and over again to the point they are flanderised or having episodes where there characters are tarnished for good for those who enjoy them back when they were kids then there'll be problems. The two work well as secondary characters in my opinion, as they were in some Railway Series stories. They can't hold an episode to themselves.

Rating: 3/10

WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH HENRY?

One thing I'll say, I like that they add Emily in the show more but her original persona is kind of like of how fans reacted to with Nia's persona when she was first introduced and honestly I'm glad that they had changed up her persona in S8 to give her more conflict, say what you want about S8 but at least they weren't afraid to try something different. While it was nice to see Emily being this big sister type character, she feels very one dimensional and take a look at her right now, she hardly has any episode, though are some upcoming ones this year and we had one back in 2019 but with that nice persona it doesn't make her interesting. OK I digress, as with the episode. I feel that this is another mandated episode for the sake of giving Henry an episode and it's quite odd to go back with him being sick only that they resolved it quickly this time rather then being for a whole series until nearing its end. I remember hearing a few months ago on twitter, one person pointed out everyone else ignored Henry's illness but there's one problem, they had done that back in series 1. I'm not saying that the person was wrong, there are people in the world who do that sadly. But the idea of Henry being ill for this episode just feels forced and unoriginal and adds nothing new for Henry and we would see this again further down the track during the 'new series' era. 

Rating: 2/10

JAMES AND THE QUEEN OF SODOR

This was your typical James is a splendid engine story, not the best episode I've seen but it was decent. I think maybe they should've made James dirty when he crashed into the pipe of sludge just to add some conflict and a message that you can't keep clean all the time, although as of writing this, it feels strange to say that since we have to keep clean because of COVID-19, wash your hands thoroughly. 

Rating: 6/10

THE REFRESHMENT LADY'S TEA SHOP

I do like this episode and it's also good that we have an episode that gives the message that we need to think outside of the box and that there are solutions to some problems. I also like how they paired up Peter Sam with the refreshment lady again after three seasons and the episode fits with his kind hearted side of his persona. 

Rating: 8/10

THE SPOTLESS RECORD

I honestly think this would've worked better with James since he and Arthur share something in common. They both like to keep clean. Plus this could've served as a sequel to 'James & The Queen of Sodor' if they had gone with that idea, have James feeling very annoyed that there was an engine being better than him at being clean and the other engines were praising him as well and not giving James any sort of attention. It's much better than Thomas because his, according to the Wikia, jealously towards Arthur was just out of nowhere and he was just a complete jerk for no reason. I mean that was in character in this era but with what he was in the first series there was a reason why he was like towards Terence. He was different and thought he was funny looking with his caterpillar tracks. That was until he realised that he was useful in the end. As for the episode was good though and Arthur's character was decent too. In the end, the episode was good but it could've been better.

Rating: 7/10

TOBY'S WINDMILL

I think this episode showcased that we should help those in times of need. There's really not much else to say then that this episode was decent.

Rating: 8/10

BAD DAY AT CASTLE LOCH

They should've reworked the script because this episode had wasted away its potential to become a better story. Donald and Douglas do play jokes and I think they should've gone with one of the twins playing a joke on one another to see who is more brave when they go to Lord Callan's castle. It the episode feels like they went with this 'We have a scottish castle episode who should be the characters? I know Donald and Douglas.' I feel like they went with that idea because their are scottish twins. It's good that they added some scottish culture in but I wish they did more with the twins. 

Rating: 3/10

RHENEAS AND THE ROLLER COASTER

Reading in the triva section of the episode on the Thomas wikia, the original idea was to have Peter Sam doing the tour and that he wanted the tour to be over and done with. But perhaps instead of Peter Sam or Rheneas since they'd developed the script, why not Duncan or if he were in this series, Sir Handel? Both characters seem to fit perfectly for that role and the original idea seems to be much more better compare to this. Honestly writing for the narrow gauge engines isn't easy, that's why you don't see much of them in my series. From my experience I feel that in order to have conflict with them it works with Sir Handel and Duncan mostly and maybe with Peter Sam and whenever I have idea that could work for them, I usually groan because I get tired writing stories for them. Rheneas is a good character but with personality he doesn't have an episode that would make him lead. I know I had mentioned about 'thinking outside of the box' but even so it's hard to think what could work for him outside of his persona. Sure he wants to make something memorable for the school kids but maybe have Rheneas go around the railway and he thinks he had done nothing special but it turns out he did and that was kids knowing more about the places and sites because history can be fun and exciting in the end, yeah a bit of cliche but it could work without the whole roller coaster business.

Rating: 3/10

SALTY'S STORMY TALE

Honestly this episode could've been improved. While I think Thomas and Percy's teasing scene is a good way for kids to learn not to hurt anyone's feelings, since this world is full of some who don't consider that, I feel what they should've done was have Thomas and Percy bored of Salty's stories because they were the same and sometimes very unbelievable which hurts Salty and then the storm happened. It would give the message that there's always something new. I think the episode was alright but not great.

Rating: 4/10

SNOW ENGINE

I think this episode was nice and it was good to see an expansion on Oliver's character but then again this could've gone to any character to be honest. But yeah it was nice and some nice development from Oliver when it comes to snow. 

Rating: 7/10

SOMETHING FISHY

This episode was alright. Nice to see more of Arthur and seeing him having an interest in something. But I feel that the episode was just there. I think maybe they could've introduce another character just for this episode and have him rivaling up on Arthur into getting his own line to make him feel important and he got it because maybe he had sabotaged Arthur's work or something. I feel like that every episode from this series that I've reviewed there's going to be ways that I think would work much better. I don't hate this episode but I think it could've been better.

Rating: 4/10

THE RUNAWAY ELEPHANT

I think this episode was quite good with its message that we should be safe then sorry. Plus it shows the importance of brake vans too on a railway, yeah and we all know what happened in the next series onwards of course. But aside from that this was still a decent episode

Rating: 8/10

PEACE AND QUIET

I honestly find it a bit confusing that we have an engine who wants peace and quiet when really he's an engine that makes noise. But I think with the episode it shows that there are worse noises out there. But yeah I don't have much of a problem with this episode apart from Murdoch's character.

Rating: 7/10

FERGUS BREAKS THE RULES

I think it could've been better that if it were Diesel who was to find Fergus. It would be a punishment for tricking him to make Fergus leave the cement works. Plus there is one little annoying nitpick, that camera zoom to the Fat Controller at the end of the episode. What was that? It was there what was it there for? The story was OK though.

Rating: 5/10 

BULGY RIDES AGAIN

Not much to say for this episode. It was nice to see Bulgy again, before his 14 year come back. But taking away his hatred of the railway kind of made him uninteresting in this episode that trait at least made him interesting. It was alright but not great.

Rating: 4/10

HAROLD AND THE FLYING HORSE

I think the story could've been about Harold going to take part of the fair giving rides to children. But was called to do some rescue operations, one of them being rescuing pegasus. He would be upset by this and would miss out but it would give the message that we all have to make sacrifices in the end. The story was nice and all and Percy's ignorance about flying horses was funny to say the least. 

Rating: 8/10

THE GRAND OPENING

While I was watching the episode, I thought the Fat Controller was being ungrateful to Skarloey for being late despite that he was working hard. But I think after seeing it in full, he was grateful to see him after his balloon incident with his wife. So a blessing in disguise. I was thinking this should've been another Fat Controller shenanigans episode but it might've become a retread of 'Lady Hatt's Birthday Party'. I think the overall episode was good. 

Rating: 8/10

BEST DRESSED ENGINE

The maypole scene was just useless filler in my opinion since it adds nothing to the story. You could've added a scene of Thomas delivering the decorations to the sheds that were for the dress up competition. But the episode itself was good and it shows that dressing up can be fun no matter what, like cosplaying. 

Rating: 8/10

GORDON AND SPENCER

To me out of all the new characters that were introduced in this series, Spencer was probably the most interesting character and this episode is probably the best of the this series alone. On the surface it's pretty much a Gordon is jealous of Spencer episode but after listening to an audio book about Flying Scotsman, they had mentioned that the A4's took over the major expresses on the LNER (e.g - The Flying Scotsman service) and the A3's, the engines that Gordon is based on, were left to do secondary trains. So the whole rivalry between them feels a lot more deeper. To me this almost feels like something out from the Railway Series. Yeah, the running out of water stuff that Spencer faced is probably the easist reason for him to learn his lesson, but honestly it didn't bother me.

Rating: 10/10

NOT SO HASTY PUDDINGS

The episode was nice and its message is that everyone can be reliable was nice too. It's pretty much that to be honest.

Rating: 8/10

TRUSTY RUSTY

So this is where the whole 'no coal makes engine stop' thing started. To be honest, this little thing was annoying and I'm glad that they had started to acknowledge that it is water, when it runs out, that stops an engine from running in the current series. I also think Duncan's insult towards Rusty was just stupid, sure it's a way to make Duncan learn later on but it just sounds more like a petty insult. Perhaps what they should've done was to have Duncan feel stubborn saying that he crossed that bridge plenty of times and didn't see anything wrong with it. In the end, the episode was average. It had a good message that we should obey the signs and don't doubt about dangerous situations. 

Rating: 5/10

THREE CHEERS FOR THOMAS

The episode almost feels like 'Thomas and Bertie' with the race sequence but the entire episode itself gave me a Christopher Awdry feeling towards it. Like in the style of those one shot story books that he wrote back in 1990's like 'Thomas and the Dinosuar' and 'Thomas and the Tiger'. But I also like how Thomas was putting the children and their medals first instead of the race, shows how much Thomas has grown and I feel like it was a great episode to serve the end of the classic series era as well. It was started with Thomas episode and it ended with one too. So yeah another great episode on par with 'Gordon and Spencer' from the series.

Rating: 10/10

OVERALL

I'll be honest, despite some good episodes, this series did feel really weak and it had some traits that would lead into the 'new series' era like no coal makes the engine stop, lack of brake vans, Henry's illness, the too nice personas from some engines etc. I also feel that some of the stories had so much more potential then what they really were and while the new characters have the best designs some have the weakest personalities. Emily in this series was nice of course but that was it and it made her bland and uninteresting. I'll be honest, with the way HIT made her as a bossy engine I think that was a great move because it made her not perfect and with a serious flaw. She is sort of like that nowadays, her S7 persona, in the show and she barely had many episodes despite being part of the 'steam team'.

Fergus I think is the weakest newbie of them all. I understand that he didn't comeback post-S7 because his model was broken by the rockslide in the second episode, but it would be great to expand him. I feel that he was more of a prop then a character. But now with the show being CGI for well over a decade, Fergus could make a comeback in the series. Sam Wilkinson, wheather you love him or hate him, works for the show and could give reference material, like photographs, to whoever will be animating the show, since Jam Filled aren't animating the show anymore. I feel there is potential in him for more stories, perhaps he would be great with Bradford.

I will say the sets and everything was a bit more better than what S6 had done and with the narration, I think Micheal Angelis had toned down the enthusiasm way too much and it was more gentle and soft spoken and I feel that they told him not to shout like he had previously. One other thing that annoyed me was the sound effects, I feel that they were all turned down for no reason. You couldn't hear much of the whistles, chuffing noises etc.

 S7 was nice but did feel weak storywise.

OVERALL RATING
154/260

And that is it, I definetly had alot of opinion changes years after my first reviews. Will I delete my 2012-13 posts? Not really. I want to keep them up because I want to show people how far I came reviewing these episodes. Well next thing I'll be reviewing soon is 'The Royal Engine' DVD and then later on I'll be reviewing the specials (KOTR-TGR). Will I revisit the Jack and the Pack episodes? Maybe one day in the future but not right now. Thanks for reading these reviews and I'll be seeing you real soon.

- NWR1991. 

Classic Series Review Revisited - Series 3 (1992)

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

SERIES 3 (1992)

Originally Written by

Rev.W.Awdry

Andrew Brenner

Britt Allcroft

David Mitton

Adapted by

Britt Allcroft

David Mitton

EPISODES

A SCRAF FOR PERCY

Honestly, I much prefer this over Rev.W.Awdry's version. I like how Britt Allcroft and David Mitton had taken the liberty into expanding the episode to make it more as a story instead of keeping as it was originally. I feel that the original story deviated away from being Henry's book. This isn't the best adaptation but it was alright with its 'be careful what you wish for' moral. Percy wanted a scraf and he did but it wasn't what he expected. 

Rating: 7/10

PERCY'S PROMISE

I don't see the point of Percy having a brake van. Sure it was to use as a van but it was never part of the original story. As for the story, I think it was good but nothing too special about it really.

Rating: 7/10

TIME FOR TROUBLE

I've always believed that 'Gordon Goes Foriegn' was intened for this season because of the dialouge said by Gordon when he left the big station at the beginning of the episode. However I was surprised to learn from SiF that it was really intended for the second season. Although the story was fine, I don't see the point of changing the title really.

Rating: 7/10 

GORDON AND THE FAMOUS VISITOR

I think the story worked on its own, since this was part of the Duck and Diesel book. Duck's appearance in the book was to set up with his boasting of Great Western pride but it was quite small in the original story. Although I don't know why they decided to have Thomas talking about Truro's record breaking instead of Duck since he's the one with the Great Western pride. In the end, the story was more of a Gordon being arrogant episode and it was nice I'll say.

Rating: 7/10

DONALD'S DUCK

I find it odd that Duck and the other engines were building a new station when in fact there was one right there. In the original story it was a shed they were building, why didn't they go with that? It would make more sense to be honest. Despite that little oddity, I think the story was still good. It was similar to the original story.

Rating: 8/10

THOMAS GETS BUMPED

Some story merges can work, but this one didn't in my opinion. I felt that the story was confusing with Thomas helping the school children to get home and the other was about Thomas dealing with Bertie taking his passengers because of bent tracks. Both of the stories felt like seperate plots and they literally are as I have both of the magazine stories. To me the original story 'A Bump on the Line' by Andrew Brenner could've worked on its own and maybe add something original to it to lengthen the plot. The episode feels like they were going for another Thomas and Bertie story so, for the beginning of the episode, why not have Bertie teasing Thomas that the passengers will prefer him over Thomas and use the rest of the magazine story? Scarp the 'Hello Thomas!' magazine story and just use the former. The original episode's merger of the two stories was just confusing and a bit messy.

Rating: 3/10

THOMAS, PERCY AND THE DRAGON

Unlike 'Thomas Gets Bumped', this story merger actually works with the whole being afraid scenario. It flowed nicely but I also think this is where Percy's scaredy cat trait started off from and I think it makes him stand out more from Thomas to be honest. I love the dark atmosphere and the music too with the dragon it was really good. Plus I like the message that we can't be brave all the time.

Rating: 9/10

DIESEL DOES IT AGAIN

Honestly, I don't think it's a bad idea to bring Diesel back into the series despite him being sent away a season ago. Everyone deserves a second chance in the end despite what happened before but if you mess something up big time then that chance is gone, which shows for Diesel in the end. I think Britt Allcroft and David Mitton wanted a recurring villian for the show but it got inconsitent later on. Plus I liked the Duck and Percy pairing here, they do work so well together as a duo.

Rating: 9/10

HENRY'S FOREST

Probably the most infamous episode because of Rev.W.Awdry's 'Rule 55' criticism but despite that I think it's overrated and that due to the fandom being sentimental with this episode. Ever since Awdry's criticism about the episode was uploaded on YouTube many years ago, it was part of the 'Thomas the Tank Engine Man' documentary back in the mid-90's and back in the early 2010's it was rare to come by unlike now, I have seen some people in the fandom protecting the episode because they generally think that everyone hates the episode now because Awdry says so. But maybe those people have more reason to dislike the episode and it's not just because of a railway regulation, and yet this is the same fandom who would go nuts over anything not railway realistic from the likes of Mattel and yet would defend anything that came before them, with the execption of the Miller/Barlow era. 

The reason why I think it's overrated is that the story basically feels like a story draft being told. Nothing had pretty much happened to Henry character wise. It was basically, Henry loves the forest, storm came destroyed it all and Henry was sad. Toby then, for some reason, took young trees to the forest and Henry is happy that he got his forest back, the end. There was nothing that made me engaged with Henry's character, no character conflict or anything. It almost felt like a nothing story offering no valuable life lesson after watching it, especially for a season that was designed to be in sync with the Shining Time Station episodes at the time when it comes to morality and life lessons. Plus Henry only had ONE line in the entire episode.

It's like someone had written the draft and had forgotten to write the script by the deadline had given them the draft instead and they just went with that in the end.

So despite Awdry's critical standpoint of the episode based on a real life railway regulation, the episode is pretty much a bland, uninteresting, shallow story that feels like it was mandated just so Henry could have a story and is only loved because it was sentimental. Nostalgia is great to have but it shouldn't be an excuse by parts of the fandom to justify why an episode or a movie is good. I like the first Pokemon movie as a kid and I still have nostalgia for it but that doesn't mean it was a great film with some errors in the original and the 1998 english dub.   

Rating: 1/10

THE TROUBLE WITH MUD

I don't know why in this version they made Gordon feel too important to not have a wash down when in the earlier seasons we see him feel beneath his pride of pulling goods trains, since they are dirty, heck in the US dub they stated that he felt his position was down deeply. To me its clearly out of his character, and yet strangely some people think that Allcroft and Mitton know the characters well more than Awdry, that argument makes no sense in my view, and the title of the episode to me was a poor choice to go with. The mud part of the story lasted for a little while and was only made to give Gordon a role, and it had no importance in the second half of the story when most of it was about leaves. To me the story could've worked in S1 since two of Gordon's stories were used and it would add some continuity. I think this was poorly adapted and more tweaks should've been done to make it a bit better.

Rating: 3/10

NO JOKE FOR JAMES

Looking at the original magazine story 'The Express', which this episode is based on, I think that magaine story could've worked without the scene of James shunting trucks around the yard. Sure it was suppose to be a happy ending for James but I think if they had written, ''James was wise enough now to know that he shouldn't be playing a trick on Gordon again.'' but then again that line would feel too similar to 'Thomas & Gordon' but it would make sense to do it. The overall story was bad though but the ending just feels like filler.

Rating: 5/10

THOMAS, PERCY AND THE MAIL TRAIN

I feel that the man who had missed his last train could've been dropped and maybe try and write something more original. Like maybe have the post person expirementing the idea of delivering the mail by Harold but a strong wind had come to the Island and blew Harold off course of his mail route, perhaps he had an accident and Thomas and Percy came to his rescue. Realising that Thomas and Percy can do the work whatever the weather he/she agree that the engines are more useful when it comes to the mail and apologises to the Fat Controller for blaming him for the post delay. In the end, the episode was still good and I do love the atmosphere at the beginning with the mail train.

Rating: 7/10

TRUST THOMAS

Honestly, what was the point of James pretending to be ill subplot? It added nothing to the subject matter of the missing tar and it was completly another story until Thomas told Edward about the missing tar, surely they could've thought something original that keeps in touch with the story, like trying to find the tar wagons? Sure it's called 'Trust Thomas' but why add that illness subplot that deviates away from the actual focus, maybe it could've been better if it were two seperate stories.

Rating: 3/10

MAVIS

I think Diesel was the elephant in the room moment in this episode. I think Britt Allcroft and David Mitton wanted a continuous villain in the series and Diesel fits in the picture but I also think Daisy could've worked more better like in the original story a diesel like her who has no knowledge of trucks, heck her and BoCo share some face masks in this series what was stopping her from appearing? Plus I think Diesel's appearance messed up the continuity of the series with him being sent away by the Fat Controller seven episodes ago but then again many of the episodes were randomly filmed during production.

As for the episode, Mavis was an interesting character to see progressing. She was an inexperienced and impatient diesel engine who is young and wants things done in her own way. Her character is like a brattish rebellious teenager and her dealing with Toby feels like she was dealing with her father who told her to do things the proper way. But ignores everything she says and got herself into trouble. 

Rating: 8/10

TOBY'S TIGHTROPE

Despite that Percy meeting Mavis was entierly original, the story was actually quite faithful to the original source. I really got nothing else to say though.

Rating: 9/10

EDWARD, TREVOR AND 
THE REALLY USEFUL PARTY

This story was alright but I think they could've done a title change since the majority of the episode is focused more on Trevor. Edward had played in a minor role and didn't offer much apart from having posters all over him, I mean it was good use for him since he was in the original story but I feel he was mandated because all of the S1 established characters have episodes themselves. In the story was good.

Rating: 7/10

BUZZ, BUZZ

I think how the way Britt Allcroft and David Mitton handled the Railway Series stories in the series was good. They write something original to avoid continuity errors. I think it could've worked for Series 2 with BoCo's appearence but budget might've been the thing that stopped them. Although there were some comedic bits with James trying to get rid of the bees, it was entertaining in the end.

Rating: 8/10

ALL AT SEA

For this being a completly original story, no source to adapt from, this was really well done. I think it was good to expand more of Duck's character such as his interests. He yearns for the sea, yearns to travel and see things beyond the horizon, a bit like Thomas wanting to see the world, although now that might have to depend on interpretation knowing that he actually wants to the globe. I think this story had better focus because there wasn't any pointless filler for sake of the time limit. I think if Allcroft and Mitton had decided to create more original stories instead of adapting magazine stories maybe this series' episodes would've been better. I will always love the ending shot of Duck with Thomas and Percy and the sunset those shots along with the music by Mike and Junior was just beautiful and I've always loved that moment so much as a kid. 

Rating: 10/10

ONE GOOD TURN

This is one magazine adaptation that I think was the best out of the lot. The two stories 'Head On' and 'Pulling Together' blended in well together with the message that it's more better to work together than to fight each other.

Rating: 10/10

TENDER ENGINES

I don't like the idea from the model makers that Flying Scotsman had two coal tenders, they just look wrong and odd to see two coal tenders, surely they could've made the water tender. It was also a pity that Flying Scotsman didn't get to appear but I understand that part because of budget. Anyway, I like how they still manage to retain some of the original story and had to make some original parts because, like I said earlier, they had a budget to work around. It was a good adaptation. 

Rating: 9/10

ESCAPE

I quite like how Allcroft and Mitton had tried to create an alternative opening for this story since characters like Bear and Old Spamcan weren't made for the series and Flying Scotsman's tenders were only seen because of budget reasons, although a classic series adaptation of 'Super Rescue' would've been great to see. But here they've written an entire new opening with Edward talking about him and the vicar saving Trevor. It shares some importance about saving something from scrap when Douglas was trying to save Oliver. I will say I much prefer the original story because Awdry did some exploration of Oliver's escape but it the way the story was adapted with its atmosphere, the music and all was just great. Personally one of my most favourite episodes.

Rating: 9/10

OLIVER OWNS UP

I quite like it how Allcroft & Mitton had managed to adapt this episode without the Arlesdale miniature engines like in the original story. It managed to work and I do like Oliver's development in this episode too being all arrogant and cocky, any of the writers out there in the production staff today are reading this he needs episodes badly, though I wish they'd adapted Scruffey's episode to help with his progression more. All in all this was another good adaptation. 

Rating: 9/10

BULGY

I don't see the reason why a holiday has to be called a 'Special Holiday' in this episode. Why can't they just go with summer holiday? The whole world has those they can relate too. It's a nitpick but just seems so unimagitive to come up with that. But apart from that the episode was another faifthful adaptation to the original. Plus Bulgy deserves his comuppance for lying to the passengers and I think he deserves it. He caused so much confusion and distrust and with that the bus company would not want to have someone who is that for the sake of their image, this is out to the 'journalists' who think that the Fat Controller, despite that he never runs buses, scraps things because they are not useful.  

Rating: 9/10

HEROES

This adaptation was alright, although I find it a bit inconsitent of the twins thinking that the trucks would help them since they work in an industry that had to deal with trucks on a daily basis. But then again without that then there's no plot. I think the message shows that we should be careful what we wish for because Bill and Ben wanted something different and they got it but was the wrong type of surprise. In the end, it was alright.

Rating: 6/10

PERCY, JAMES AND 
THE FRUITFUL DAY

Another alright adaptation of a magazine story. I love the James and Percy dynamic here and the story was faithful to the original. I think Thomas' message was good but I think it could've gone with James saying that Percy's accident served him right when it comes to being jammed. But all in all, it was alright.

Rating: 6/10

THOMAS AND PERCY'S 
CHRISTMAS ADVENTURE

I think I get why Britt Allcroft and Rick Sigglekow went with a Thanksgiving story instead of Christmas for the North American audience. The villagers want to thank the engines for saving them but with S3 being made with an American audience in mind, why did they go for a Christmas setting anyway? What I think could've worked is have the whole story still with maybe some tweaks here and there for the setting and all, since Thanksgiving is in the autumn, and have a heavy rain storm and it caused a landslide to the village and when the engines rescued them, the villagers all have a party for them. It may not be Christmassy but you could remove one episode from S3 and have room for another episode that is Christmas focused, I mean 'All At Sea' was an original story by Allcroft & Mitton so why couldn't they try a story about being thankful? In my opinion, I think they should've kept the episode for another Christmas special for 'Shining Time Station' so that they can avoid the confusion and the poor editing of the episode that American fans have to deal with in the aftermath.

As for the story, I think this was probably the strongest Christmas episode from the series. The episode doesn't involve a Christmas party like the last two seasons and it was more focused on being helpful and kind at the time of the year. I think it was a fun episode to sit through.

Rating: 9/10

SERIES OVERALL

Visual wise, the third series I think has the best sets and camera work for the show. Plus it was really colourful compare to the last two seasons. I think because the show, at the time, was popular in the United States and Japan it increased the budget for the show thanks to their support. But storywise, I can see why Allcroft & Mitton took the liberties into the stories because with an american audience in mind, they would want to focus more attention on the core characters so they can introduce them further. But you think with maybe the home videos and Shining Time, kids might've known who these characters are. And for the latter they might've been reruns of the show too. But adding further characters from the books would requrie more attention to them and less focus on Thomas and his friends. Plus their is budgeting and all. But the stories that they were giving, particulary the magazine adapted stories, just feel poorly adapated. They just don't know what to focus on and it feels like they add some filler to fill in the running time. In my opinion, 'All At Sea' was a great episode and that wasn't adapted from any source material and I believe they should've gone with original stories instead. As for the narration, I think Micheal Angelis had brought great amount of energy towards all of the episodes. I haven't seen much of George Carlin's narrations while reviewing these episodes but from my memory I think he was better in this series compare to the last two he had to renarrate. I also like how he added distinct voices to the characters as well.

I have a soft spot for this season because this was the series that I grew up with back when I was a kid. But just because it's nostalgic, doesn't negate the errors and flaws that some episodes have. I like this series but I think it should've made some tweaks for the episodes.

OVERALL RATING
186/260