THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FAN BASE
THE COMPLETE SERIES 18
Written by
Andrew Brenner
Paul Larson & Laura Beaumont
Mark Huckerby & Nick Olster
Davey Moore
Episodes
Old Reliable Edward
Not So Slow Coaches
Flatbeds of Fear
Disappearing Diesels
Signals Crossed
Toad's Adventure
Duck in the Water
Duck and the Slip Coaches
Thomas the Quarry Engine
Thomas and the Emergency Cable
Duncan and the Grumpy Passenger
Marion and the Pipe
Missing Gator
No Steam Without Coal
Spencer's VIP
Toad's Bright Idea
Long Lost Friend
Last Train for Christmas
Duncan the Humbug
The Perfect Gift
Bonus Disc - Dino's and Discoveries
Emily Saves the World
Timothy and the Rainbow Truck
Marion and the Dinosaur
Samson at Your Service
Samson Sent For Scrap
Millie and the Volcano
Special Features
N/A
Release Date
19/06/17
Three years after S18's release on television and we finally have a collection of all the episodes from that season along with a bonus disc of the 2015 'Dino's and Discoveries' DVD. Prior to S20, this season was hailed among as one of the best but does it still hold? Let's find out.
EPISODES
Like all season collection DVDs, S18 consists 26 episodes that ran the course of 2014 on television. I bought some DVDs of Thomas & Friends at Rasputin Music and Ameoba Records while I was in California for a couple of weeks in June and some of them had provided booklets telling the consumer what's inside such as episodes and special features and other offers from the brand.
Since HIT Entertainment and Mattel have paper advertisements in their DVDs to promote things in the UK like books, Drayton Manor etc. why not have a booklet showing us what the episodes are?
As of the episodes, some still hold up. One of my personal favourites from this season looking back was 'Thomas the Quarry Engine'. The episode is simple and it feels like some early Awdry charm plus the engines singing 'I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside' is perhaps the most Awdry-esque thing to see in the episode. Rev.W.Awdry had always add some old nursery rhymes and things like in his books, although the song is a music hall song but it feels like something the Reverend would've done.
'Duck and the Slip Coaches' is another episode I always think of when I look back at S18. The episode is brilliant. While it showcases some railway practice, it wasn't the sole focus as the story is all about James taking credit about the idea of slip coaches even though he took the idea from Duck and claimed it as his own. It's a fun and charming episode.
'Last Train for Christmas' is still in my opinion, one of my most favourite Christmas episodes from the season and of all time. What makes it so good is to show about the railway and why it serves the public even during the busiest time of the year, no matter what the weather. You see the engines have commitment on getting the passengers home in time for the Christmas holidays. Connor braves through the bad weather to bring home his last passengers and getting extra coaches so more passengers can fit and you see engines from the Fat Controller's railway ploughing the snow off the track so that Connor can get through. It's such a great episode.
I look back at 'Old Reliable Edward' and despite the reuse of Edward is old and not useful but he had proved his worth cliche. But I think it's good to showcases the younger generation of Thomas fans Edward's true character after years of him being such a downer about his old age, hating a crane and being a show off, watch 'Edward's Exploit' or 'Saved from Scrap' and then 'Saving Edward', 'Edward Strikes Out' and 'Steady Eddie' and you would see the major difference in his character. I quite like that the episode showcases Edward's sarcasm and teasing towards Gordon, a trait that needs more exposure.
There are some episodes that I do considered as duds from this season ever since they were new back in 2014. 'Signals Crossed' is still the episode that was a good idea but had the wrong character choice. When I think back to the episode, I think it could've been better for Mavis rather than Toby. Although Mavis isn't the character that we've known since S3, she did say she's up in the quarry all the time. So why not have being nervous about signals? Mavis hardly had any episode to herself and it could be quite refreshing to see rather then seeing another engine from the steam team having an episode to themselves.
I pretty much have mixed thoughts about 'Marion and the Pipe' ever since the episode first began and looking back, it wasn't bad but it certainly wasn't the most interesting episode. The writing felt it was all over the place as Marion found out that she had burst a water pipe and then realised it in the end that it was one the whole time. But it was great seeing Marion and she was a great character in the episode and the entire series.
Another thing that makes the DVD collection at bit different compare to the rest is the added bonus disc of the 2015 DVD, 'Dinos and Discoveries' which consists six episodes from the 18th season. Some fans are bit critical about this idea and while they have their own opinions, I can see two sides of this. First off it's the idea. In the previous series collection (Series 17), the episodes from 'Spills and Thrills' were all part of one disc and are showcased in the production order. Why release the 2015 DVD when so many fans (young and old) two years ago had already bought it? But there's another side to this as well, not many kids would have the DVD when it came out in 2015. Sure there could be plenty of kids wanting the DVD and getting out of their parents' money but I don't think all parents would've gotten it for their kid on the day it came out. Clearwater Entertainment, run by Railway Consultant Sam Wilkinson, said that it's trying something new and could be a better value for money.
OVERALL
I think the DVD is good value. Although as said before, I think HIT and Mattel should release a booklet containing the episodes since there's no episode listing anywhere on the cover. There are many good episodes in this DVD that would be enough to entertain a child and despite the Dinos and Discoveries disc, kids would at least be more interested that there are more episodes to watch.
RATING
7/10
