As the clock is ticking away to finally end this crazy year of 2020, let's look back at some of the DVDs that were released during the 75th anniversary year. But first: 

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FANBASE

A RETROSPECTIVE OF 
THOMAS & FRIENDS DVDS OF 2020

STEAM TEAM TO THE RESCUE

Review Date: 5/02/20

Score: 6/10

I sometime forgot that this was the first release for 2020. Looking back, this was a decent TV special, still better than 'Digs & Discoveries' to me still. I like how it showed the stresses of running a railway line through the Fat Controller with a lack of engines, despite that he had more than the steam team characters, but I understand that was to showcase the conflict that he and the engines are going through. If he had more engines doing work, like Duck and all, then what's the point of the conflict to drive the story? 

THE ROYAL ENGINE

Review Date: 28/05/20

Score: 7/10

The first DVD featuring S24 of and released during the month when 'The Three Railway Engines' was published in 1945. Looking back, the special was a nice way to celebrate the 75th what with Thomas going to London, the connection that Awdry's creation has on the royal family with Prince Charles growing up with the Railway Series books and Prince Harry opening up the special as he grew up with the show back in the 1980's when the characters were models and were narrated by Ringo Starr. I will say the special could've had some tweaks made with maybe increasing the conflict towards Thomas, make him boastful and arrogant about taking the Fat Controller to see the royal family until he learned his lesson, I think Beresford's cameo, while charming, was a bit pointless to have as it did nothing but halt the plot. I also think the reference to 'Gordon Goes Foregin', while a nice reference for older fans would be confusing for most of the pre-school audiences, given that the Railway Series are only published in collection form every anniversary year and that the indiviual books hadn't been in print for sometime now due to them not being sellable compare to the likes of the TV tie-in books. Though that could be more of a nitpick. All-in-all it was a decent special. As for the additional episode, 'Emily to the Rescue', it was a mediocre Emily episode where it felt more like a Christopher Awdry story where something happened to an engine because it did. Emily didn't go through anything to make herself into a hero, it just happened.

CARNIVAL DAY

Review Date: 21/08/20

Score: 5/10

This was a meh release to me. I do like the Brazil episodes but the Sodor episodes were meh. I honestly didn't like Diesel's fantasy sequence in 'Diesel Do Right' as Diesel said he wanted to be more important and all it just was was just the intro of BWBA but with Diesel. Nothing really felt fitting about it, use the fantasy sequnce from Glows Away and it would make more sense. I didn't like the episode anyway as I think it could've been more of a Rebecca and Diesel episode. Have Diesel feel jealous that Rebecca gets all the glory for do her jobs properly and goes off and takes advantage of her trustworthy trait. I also didn't like how Marcia and Marcio appeared as a special feature but not their S24 episode, I honestly don't think it was that great but you think maybe HIT and Mattel would place it on their to fit the Brazil theming of this DVD?

MARVELLOUS MACHINEARY

Review Date: 21/11/20

Score: 7/10

Some odd transitions here and there when it comes to the two main features and then onto an episode but apart from that, this wasn't a bad DVD. Yes unrealistic and out of Thomas' world, but it was fun in the end. Still don't like the barebone feel of the special features still.

OVERALL

And so that was 2020, sadly it wasn't much of a celebatory year given the fact that the world is in a pandemic but we'd celebrated the 75th in our way none the less. I know that 2021 would now bring us a brand new show instead of a new season like every year and while I understand the dread of the outcome of this show I will say this. All the past content we had like the classic series and the Brenner/McCue era as well as the Railway Series books will always be there for us to enjoy, yes the new show isn't the Thomas we grew up with, but we just got to make do with it now. If a child does enjoy it just let them enjoy it and heck maybe the child might go and have a look at past content as well and maybe enjoy that too, HIT/Mattel may not have released model era content back when the show was CG because more people wanted new stuff, but kids these days have greater access to it, I know my nephew from America enjoys watching model era Thomas and BWBA Thomas. It's not going to go anywhere. Mattel isn't going to come over to your house and take away everything that was released years ago.

 I would love for the show to have something similar to what I grew up with, but I do know that children's TV is changing and of course Thomas has to compete not just to Paw Patrol or Bluey, for the latter ALOT more better than the former in my opinion, but with other pre-school shows too, it's a competitive business. To me I'm just glad that Thomas is still going to be around, however long it goes for.

I also had come to terms, for a while now, that the show had never and never will market towards the older fandom. Mattel and the now-former production team knew we exist but we aren't the money makers they want for toy sales or appealing the show too, we are a minority. Thomas, before the Brenner/McCue era, had been successful before without the older fandom in mind. Not that I'm saying that pre-Brenner/McCue era was great, it never was great and still isn't great a decade later. 

There are more S24 DVDs to look forward to and in future there will be the Marc Forster film coming out, hopefully we do see it in the cinemas. 

So whatever 2021 will bring will bring. I just hope that the new year is kind to us compare to this year.

So I hope all of you have a happy and safe new year. Just remember to wash your hands, stay safe and wear a mask! 

- NWR1991

CGI Series Re-Review: Series 18 (2014)

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

SERIES 18 (2014)

Written by

Andrew Brenner

Paul Larson & Laura Beaumont

Mark Huckerby & Nick Olster

Davey Moore

Directed by

David Stoten 

Don Spencer

Produced by

Robert Anderson (Arc Productions)

Brian Lynch (Arc Productions)

Ian McCue (HIT/Mattel)

Told by

Mark Moraghan 

EPISODES

OLD RELIABLE EDWARD

I remember when this episode first aired it was praised universally by the older fandom, even me. But as time rolled on and with Mattel and the production team kicking Edward out of the steam team because he was hard to write for given how the episodes for Edward were pretty much the same, I now see this as another Edward proves his worth story and it screams that. Sure it's good that Edward was given an episode but as I said in my S6 review for 'Edward the Very Useful Engine', this is more of a Gordon episode as he is the one learning the lesson, not Edward. No matter what the older fandom says, Edward just can't hold an episode to himself. Even if he's the first character created by Awdry or even if kids do actually like, it's great, but he's just not as interesting enough as the other characters that go through conflict. No matter what, Edward is hard to write for and I definetly understand that. I really don't hate this episode really it was great seeing Edward having his sarcastic side and it gave a good message that we should respect people who are older than us, but all in all, it was just another Edward story that we'd seen time and time again. 

Rating: 5/10

NOT SO SLOW COACHES

This was a fun episode, Annie and Clarabel were entertaining with their dialouge and Thomas with his cheeky attitude. I believe the message that the episode provided, visually, is that although there things we don't like from people, there are ones who are more worse, not that Larson and Beaumont were saying Caitlin was a bad engine, just that she's even faster than Thomas which makes it more worse for them. I liked the episode when it first came out and I still like it today.

Rating: 8/10

FLATBEDS OF FEAR

I sometimes feel that the stories they give to Salty, particulary for Halloween, are sometimes weak. I mean this is no worse than the 'Monster of Brendam' from S16. But it didn't feel too scary, but then again there are regulations when it comes to children shows and I bet the writers are very restrictive on how they handle a scary story. I would say this, I do like how they kept the strange sound as mystery instead of something more obvivous. I mean to us the audience, we would know it's the pipes but what were suppose to see is the mystery of the strange noise in the engines' POV. Do they know it's the pipes? No. I understand at the time that Henry was out of character in this episode, but after years of saying that Henry was more of a combination between James and Gordon's personas, I feel that his scaredy persona makes him more stand out compare to his vain and arrogant persona. 'Henry Spots Trouble' and this episode both showcase a better way to execute the former with Henry being scared of the unknown, much more better than being worried about a box. How would Henry know that it was the pipes or anything? Neither Thomas or Emily knew and they were scared and no one complained about that. I understand people wanted Henry back to being grumpy but one, I don't think that would provide any stories for him. We had him grumpy before and never had any episode focusing on him with his grumpy persona and two, I don't think parents would like the idea of a grumpy engine as a character. Nowadays, the characters are more treated like they are suppose to be something kids look up too by society. I mean I more prefer kids to look up to these characters with them going through flaws and conflict. Anyway I digress, in the end, the episode isn't really that bad. 

Rating: 7/10

DISAPPEARING DIESELS

I think this episode could've been better with Paxton actually trying to be friends with Diesel instead of just chasing him to find him. But maybe instead Diesel and Paxton being friends maybe have the message that sometimes there are some people who just don't like you but you can still help them out if they are in trouble. Like maybe have Paxton trying hard to be Diesel's friend, Diesel was getting annoyed and was hiding away from him and Paxton followed suit until Diesel broke down and then told him his feelings and then asked for help. I think HIT, Mattel and the production team wanted a Diesel episode were he gets his comuppance because he's the bad guy of the show but what's wrong with showcasing Diesel as a character? The episode itself wasn't bad or anything but mainly it was just Paxton looking for the diesels and then chasing Diesel. 

Rating: 5/10

SIGNALS CROSSED

I think it would've been better if the episode had provided a bit of a back story over why Toby was scared of Knapford Junction instead of that he just is. I mean the writers had added some tidbits of continuity here and there such as the mine from 'King of The Railway' being reboarded up in 'Missing Gator' or how Sidney was stuck up the hoist at the Dieselworks for two years, the same length of time when 'Day of the Diesels' was released in 2011, when 'The Missing Christmas Decorations' was released. You could have the narrator mentioned that more engines were coming in and out at the big station and more goods were being delivered that the Fat Controller expanded the yards. That way Toby's fear and stress would've made more sense. The whole episode was pretty much Toby being nervous and that's it. It wasn't a bad episode and I feel Toby's fear was natural, just like with the dam back in S5. However I think if the episode had added more backstory, Toby's role would've made better sense. 

Rating: 4/10

TOAD'S ADVENTURE

This story was good and Toad and Oliver were in great character. Although the episode had lack some action, sure there was the runaway but it felt a bit shortlived compare to 'Busy Going Backwards' from S5. It wasn't a bad episode really with its message around James that we shouldn't rush things otherwise we might get into some trouble. But I will say this, its a crying shame that Oliver didn't get any leading role himself at all, he has potential with that arrogant attitude of his, heck Richard Jordan's story, that I'd adapted in October 2020 proves that a story about Oliver and Toad can work! 

Rating: 7/10

DUCK IN THE WATER

I liked James' snarky attitude in this episode. We all don't like a job that we don't prefer but you got to make do. I remember not many fans like the episode because James left Rocky with his hook unsecured, at least from my memory. But without that, how can an episode go through conflict? Although the titling of the episode seems strange as the focus of the conflict was more about the signals that James had knocked over and less about Duck being in the water. I suggest maybe a title like 'Fallen Signal' or maybe something simple like 'James and the Signal', maybe. You can still have the scenes with Duck. This was another good episode with its message that we admit the problem we'd created and own up, even if it was an accident.

Rating: 7/10

DUCK AND THE SLIP COACHES

I'll say this, the whole Duck and Emily joke in the episode was just unnecessary. It could've easily been cut or rewritten but it was mostly their to pander to the older fandom. I understand the production team was at least acknowledging the older fandom for exisiting and that one person was a member of the production team at the time, but things like these don't need to be in the show. It's just like the Donald and Douglas joke from Lost Treasure, it never adds anything to the story. As for the episode itself, I still find it amazing that they took something that was once railway practice and placed it in the episode which is almost the equalivant of something that you get from a Railway Series book. In fact the whole episode has that feeling with an engine thinking that he could do better and ends up being wrong. It was a very clever and well written story and it gave Duck some good focus as well despite that he was more in the supporting role. So yeah, despite that unneeded pandering, this was still a great episode to watch to this day!

Rating: 10/10

THOMAS THE QUARRY ENGINE

Over the years watching this episode, I really see this among as my personal all time favorites. There's something that feels like an early Railway Series story, with the focus of Thomas on his branch line and Thomas causing a bit chaos. It just feels like something out from the likes of 'Tank Engine Thomas Again'. Also the addition of 'I Like To Be Beside The Seaside' just makes it even more Awdry because Rev.W.Awdry adds little nursery rhymes in the early books, I know the song is not really one but I do see Rev.W.Awdry placing it in one of his books. The story was great as well as the character interactions. I really have no problem with the episode overall. 

Rating: 10/10

THOMAS AND THE EMERGENCY CABLE

This was another solid episode from Andrew Brenner and I love that the message was clear and simple, the emergency brake is stricly there for emergencies only. Although I wish the episode went further and tell kids that they have to pay a fine, like you do in real life. It even furthers the message that a false emergency can lead to something bad and in this episode that resulted Annie into having a wheel flat, thanks to the false emergency. It also gave another little message towards the end that we shouldn't hold a grudge against something over a little mistake and that if they'd learnt their lesson they had bettered themselves. To me this one of the best episodes of the seasons and probably of all time.

Rating: 10/10

DUNCAN AND THE GRUMPY PASSENGER

This episode feels more relevant now than it was in 2014. Ever since 2017, Mattel and the production team had geared more towards the pre-school audience and strayed away from the older fandom with the latter complaining about things like Duck and the other returnees being an example of fan service and then want something else without being greatful with what we got and this episode's message is pretty much a big nail on the head that while everyone is grumpy we should just ignore them and carry on with our job, it's the same outside of Thomas as well. Especially with people working in retail, hotels/motels, airports etc. heck I guess if this episode was released in 2020 you could call the grumpy passenger a 'karen' now and the grumpy passenger would be a favorite among the people who hated lockdowns during the pandemic and not caring for a living soul, I understand that you have a business running but if you leave it open and people die from COVID-19 your business would still be failing regardless, lockdowns work just talk to anyone from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Davey Moore did an excellent job at nailing Duncan's character but also having him trying his best appease the grumpy passenger as well which I guess is a bit of a flaw to him as well. Another solid episode!

Rating: 10/10 

MARION AND THE PIPE

I always felt that this episode was set after Lost Treasure, despite that the movie came out a year later. Since Marion had said that she'd dug up a treasure chest and then in the movie that was her subplot. Just a little thought I had for the last five years. With the episode, it was a nice episode and I do love Marion's persona but I also like how she was hiding her problem away and carries on like it was no big deal until the problem got worse, a good message for kids and parents in the real world. 

Rating: 7/10

MISSING GATOR

I do like this episode, it even lives up today what with this pandemic we are living in, as of 2020, and that we can't see our family members and friends, depending on what country you live in. The message that we should focus on the positives of our relationship whether its a friend or a loved one can keep us happy and hopefully we might see them again. It was an emotional episode that was crafted really well. Plus the strong continuity such as the old mine at Ulfstead Castle being reboarded up was nice too. 

Rating: 9/10 

NO STEAM WITHOUT COAL

Bill and Ben's antics in this episode was really great comedy and were in great character. However with Timothy, I remember people were saying that BoCo didn't need to comeback because he and Marion were pretty much his character. But we do see later on that the latter can't handle the twins in a busy situation and Timothy is always beaten down when it comes to the twins' teasing whereas BoCo gets more annoyed with them and gets more firm. I wish the production team had brought him into the series but with the upcoming reboot I feel that hope for BoCo returning are very slim to none. I feel that there is a dynamic between them. Anyway, this was a great episode with the twins' characterisation and the situation they go through is something they would do, I still don't like the whole no coal makes no steam and no steam doesn't make you move thing that the series had established way back from the 7th season. Water is what helps makes the steam, coal helps to burn the fire to boil the water to make steam. I'm glad that they fixed that in the 'Big World, Big Adventures' movie.

Rating: 9/10

SPENCER'S VIP

The best part of the episode was Spencer's progression here, even though at this time the characters learn their lesson and are reverted back to what they were previously for another episode. As much as I understand why people want character development in the show, I think it works if the show was a one time thing. But it was good none the less to see something different from Spencer. I remember some people were saying that the mistakes made by the engines were very 'Miller-esque' but from looking at the episode again after so long, I think the mistakes aren't really that bad and they were done to serve the main message that showing off and rushing about can cause trouble as well giving someone a second chance since they'd learned their mistake like the engines and Spencer. This was a good episode with its variety use of characters such as the 'steam team' and secondary characters like Duck and Oliver, even if some have thought that they were placed their because it was 'fan service'. Although Toby being one of the engines that was showing off was kinda strange, maybe if they'd added Henry instead it would make some sense but that's just a nitpick.

Rating: 8/10

TOAD'S BRIGHT IDEA

One thing that I liked from the episode was how this was set during 'Tale of the Brave'. It was just an interesting concept to see coming from Thomas. While that was great the episode was also great as well with the character dynamic between Gator and Toad, quite like Moore's way to putting certain characters together that aren't quite common to see in the show. Toad was someone who is straightforward but can be a quite authoritive brake van and knows the rights and wrongs of the railways, such as Gator and his lamp and I think this might be a story that Awdry might like since it had a very railway oriented theme towards it when it comes to the importance of lamps. Whereas Gator was impulsive on getting back to the docks, but of course he had a reason for it but knew later just how important Toad and his lamp are. A very creative and well done episode.

Rating: 10/10 

LONG LOST FRIEND

I wasn't much of a fan of this episode when it came out and six years after this came out, it still isn't a favourite of mine. It was OK and it was great seeing Percy and Gator reuniting again after so long, a nice thing to set during Christmas time. But the whole story overall was more of a hide-and-seek thing with Gator going from one place to another and Percy goes to the last place Gator was earlier. It was a bit repetitive in my opinion and maybe the whole thing could've been done better. While I tend to see the whole rock salt thing more as a plot device to keep the story going, I don't understand why that it had to be loaded at the docks when it was unloaded from the ship earlier. I think it could've been better to have it at the shunting yards and have all the trucks surrounding Percy as he was trying to find Gator. It was an OK story but repetitive.

Rating: 5/10

LAST TRAIN FOR CHRISTMAS

This was a great episode then and its still a great episode now! What I love about the episode is how the engines are trying their best to clear the tracks for Connor so he can bring the last train back to Sodor in time for Christmas since Thomas had established earlier that there won't be trains running on Christmas, something that does happen in Britain every year during Christmas and Boxing day. The episode showcased that the railways are indeed a service to the public in desperate of time and that the message is that we should always keep our promises and be kind to one another. Probably the best Christmas episode from the season.

Rating: 10/10

DUNCAN THE HUMBUG

There was something about the ending that seemed a little off to me and it was the same feeling I had back when this episode was new in 2014. It feels like they were telling Duncan that it was OK for him to be grumpy. I understand Luke said that it doesn't make him any less useful, but I believe they did that so they won't change him completely. While the characters do go through some development, they do go back and revert themselves to what they were previously for the sake of storytelling. As for the episode, I think it was good to have an episode where we see an engine not liking Christmas and the winter time, since Duncan was complaining more about that. Usually we always have an episode where everyone loves Christmas, so it was a nice change to see that. I also like how the episode teaches kids that we shouldn't force someone to be cheerful, especially at Christmas and that everyone are who they are and it's OK. This was a good episode but not as good as 'Last Train For Christmas' in my opinion.

Rating: 8/10

THE PERFECT GIFT

The idea of the story isn't anything new, especially since we had two episodes from the Miller/Barlow era when it comes to giving gifts. Percy's role was sweet but it too wasn't anything different with him helping a friend. But the message that everyone does Christmas their own special way or that gifts can be great in any shape or size. I like the episode it wasn't bad but it wasn't really the strongest out of the Christmas episodes from this season. 

Rating: 6/10

EMILY SAVES THE WORLD

I remember when this episode was announced, everyone in the fandom wasn't really excited by the whole idea of Emily and a runaway globe. Even though we had an episode quite similar called 'Rusty and the Boulder' and fans praised that as a great episode, to me it's not. While yes Thomas the Tank Engine was always written with railway accuracy by the Rev.W.Awdry, the writers in the production team are storytellers first and there's going to be some twists and turns that even Awdry himself would might've disprove of if he were alive today. As of the episode itself, after all the Emily we had seen from this era, since Mattel will be sadly rebooting the show, this probably the best Emily episode from this era. Although I would've much prefer her in her S8 persona, here she isn't even all that bad. She was eager to show off her exciting load but wasn't paying attention by the idea that her load can fall off. There were lots of comedic moments that were shown not told and I'd liked that from this era too. The episode was great looking back at it, maybe not the best but still one of the great gems of S18. Yes unrealistic but entertaining none the less. Perhaps maybe to make the message better if that Emily was warned to look out for any low hanging places but she brushed it off because she was more excited about showing everyone her exciting delivery. A shame that after this and 'Best Engine Ever', Emily didn't get anymore episodes until BWBA and they were pretty mediocre compare to those two.

Ratings: 9/10

TIMOTHY & THE RAINBOW TRUCK

The episode was a bit slice of life and it had a good start, middle and end to it as well. Their's really not much else to say but that it was a good episode with Timothy, Bill and Ben and the use of the three strikes formula was done brilliantly, rather then have Timothy stopping and starting and reciting the same dialouge over and over again like the last production team did, he just went past things that are rainbowed coloured. I don't really have much quarrel with the episode.

Ratings: 8/10

MARION AND THE DINOSUARS

I remember everyone, including me, complaining about Thomas' apperarnce being contrived and how it goes against Awdry's vision of having the engines on their designated lines. But as times rolls on, I realise that Thomas' appearence were out of the writers' control and honestly you can say that Thomas can be called off from his branch line work when he has to make a delivery from somewhere on the main line to his branch line. I mean we had that before like with Thomas taking the mail train with Percy back in S3. Anyway, that's on bit I want to get out, as of the episode, I love Marion. Her naive but bubbly persona is one of the charms of her character and Olivia Colman was excellent with her performance. She had really brought the character to life and it's amazing today that she's now an A list star with a wonderful range of performances, she was great in 'The Crown', haven't seen the show but seen clips, and she had been in 'The Simpsons' which her character kinda reminds me of Marion. A great episode of a great character, much better than her pipe episode from before. Plus this was our introduction to Samson, but I'll get to him next.

Ratings: 10/10

SAMSON AT YOUR SERVICE

One of the things I'd liked about the episode was the teasing that the engines did towards Samson. It shows that the engines aren't always these perfect role models that maybe some parents might get peeved off from. I mean the Rev.W.Awdry did say that his engines do act like children and kids do tease other people for their flaws. Samson's character was an interesting one and he stood out among the ones who are just cheery and kind. He kinda reminds me of Sir Handel from the fourth season. It was a good episode with the message that we shouldn't act like we know everything and always ask for help if we are in a spot of trouble.

Rating: 9/10

SAMSON SENT FOR SCRAP

I was sort of in the middle with this episode back in 2015 but looking at this episode again after years of first seeing it, I think  it was a terrible episode. Their was really not much plot, basically it was Samson being an idiot who thinks anything left beside was scrap and I think Harvey was wasted away as a secondary character in the episode. If the episode was more better, I would make it more like Samson, being stubborn and full of himself or acting bigger than Harvey whenever he has second thoughts. Then before everything almost went wrong (i.e - The Fat Controller's car nearly being grabbed by Reg) he stood up towards him and told how he is wrong for thinking anything on the side was scrap. It had some good moments like Scruff whistling at the Fat Controller for attention and then heading off to scrap yard while he [TFC] was still speaking. But it didn't help the episode from being poorly executed. 

Rating: 2/10

MILLIE & THE VOLCANO

This was a nice episode and it was great that we got some focus on Millie. It had a very Thomas like feel towards it with the small engine being belittled by their bigger peers and trying to get their own back by doing the same, like Millie trying to get back at Harvey and Samson for laughing at her and calling her silly. Like how Thomas was belittled by Gordon. It did give a good message that two wrongs don't make a right and that you should not listen to people who belittle you.

Rating: 9/10

OVERALL

I still feel 50/50 on S17 but for S18, I feel that it was a much better improvement it really began to pick up some pace on being different to the previous season. There were much more better stories and I liked the diversity of characters that were focused rather than just the steam team and a few secondary characters. I stand by my viewpoints on Edward's episode, yes it's a good episode but just it still reused the same old trope that had carried multiple other episodes focused on him about proving his own worth and it makes sense to make him more of a secondary character, 'The Adventure Begins', 'Rosie is Red' and 'Hunt the Truck' all proved that crystal clear. Honestly for some fans, and I apologise in advance that if some are offended, who'd critcised Duck for just being this proud great westerner that just says 'The great western way', I don't honestly know why fans need to have an Edward episode which is the same over and over again. Edward has limits. There can be episodes where Edward can be flawed like putting trust into an engine or making a plan to help an engine but only to get backfired but at the end of the day there are limits and their are other times that Edward can be out of character and older fans would hate that.

Some stories like 'Thomas and the Emergency Cable' and 'Duck and the Slip Coaches' really feel like that they came out from a Railway Series book. They do showcase some railway operation but were more focused on the characters than the realism. Just like what the Rev.W.Awdry did in the books, with a few artistic liberties. I understand that not many fans had liked what Mattel did in recent years, especially with railway realism but I said this a hundred times, realism is one of the things that made Thomas interesting but it's not THE focus. The characters are the focus we see them grow and learn. 

The visuals are once again nice and are bit more better than what we got in S17. As I said before, S18 was a big improvement to what we got last season. The music sadly still feels generic and there to fill in the background although still catchy. 

I'm still planning on reviewing S19-21 but those will wait until next year, hopefully they get released early.

OVERALL RATING

192/260

NWR Editorial: More Info of 'S25'

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

MORE INFO OF 'S25'

Back in Sep/Oct 2020, Mattel announced that Thomas is going to have a new show which will be focused on him along with new animation from Nelvana Studios, famous for its Rupert Bear cartoon from 1991-1997 as well as other shows too. As of  November 23rd, here in Australia, SiF were part of a conference about the new show and while there hadn't been information about the visuals, voice actors etc. There had been some new information in regards about the new show, so I'll embed the tweets here: 

I'm in the conference call now - it's definitely a reboot.

— SiForums and Fansite! (@SiFansite) November 22, 2020

Stretching, squashing, JUMPING!!! no Drivers or Firemen, humans to be relegated to background, Sir Topham Hatt to be comedic foil and only human to interact with the engines...

No storyteller either. 😬

— SiForums and Fansite! (@SiFansite) November 22, 2020

 Since we now know this is going to be an entierly new show, I find it odd that Mattel are calling this S25. Heck I'm susprised that the media who'd picked up on the story about the new changes a month ago didn't say 'reboot' and the word had become a dead meaning nowadays by them. I'm a bit heartbroken because after 36 years, then again we had S8-16 which is considered a reboot but more of a soft one, the stories of the past are meaningless now, to the eyes of Mattel of course. With the stretching, squashing and jumping of it all, I guess now we can say Thomas had indeed stooped towards Chuggington level here, the movement from S21-24 look alot more realistic now compare to the idea of it all for 'S25'.

I'm not surprised that we won't see Thomas with his crew since they were hardly relevant since S8 and honestly I can live without that since nowadays the engines do things by themselves. I'm surprised that humans are going to be relegated to the background but then again they were like that for a few years with an odd interaction here and there for story purposes. 

But my biggest complaint is that the Fat Controller is going to be a prop for comedy once again. We saw that in S21 and it was grating! The Fat Controller is suppose to be an authority figure, he suppose to be looking out for his engines like a father would to his children. I know that his character gets criticised for being a 'dictator' for some strange reason, but many people, including Christopher Awdry, the son of the Rev.W.Awdry, says that children do like having authority around them and I believe that too because it helps us to know our rights and wrongs. It's such a big shame that Mattel thinks he would be good for comedy, but what would happen if kids would find boring and annoying in 104 episodes! 

While I'm writing this post mainly as an older fan, I do understand that Mattel are gearing this show towards its target audience to try and get toy sales back up and running for Thomas. But I don't know how kids would be able to respond to this? I believe there are some who will enjoy it and I say that's great but I don't think Mattel would get the numbers they would hope for, especially from the autitisc audience after nearly 20 years of associating with Thomas because kids with autisum understood the emotion expressions and the colour of the engines. The only show that I know is fast paced is 'Paw Patrol', the show that Thomas is competing among other shows, and there are some autistic fans of the said show. I'm no expert in this field so I'm not going to make any guesses on why it appeals to them but I know they like the show. Maybe there might be some who will enjoy it but I know this is going to be something big for them to digest.

They have ended the conference early, no new images nor visuals of the new show. I have audio recording and a friend has taken notes, which I'll use to relay the details.

Details of characters, actors, stories etc have not been divulged, but expect a very different Sodor in 2021

— SiForums and Fansite! (@SiFansite) November 22, 2020

In this last tweet, we know we're going to expect a different Sodor but I'll be fine with that since the Island of Sodor had gone through some many different iterations in the past 75 years. The true one will always be the Railway Series and over the years we had seen different looks of Sodor while also trying to hold true to what was shown in the books. But the show had taken some liberties over the years, like Elsbridge being the junction instead of Knapford Junction, the branch line sheds for Thomas, Toby and Percy is located at Tidmouth instead of Ffarquhar. Tidmouth being a smaller clone to Knapford since the latter was the big station instead of Tidmouth and the terminus for the Skarloey Railway is not a wharf like in the books. So I'm fine with a different Island of Sodor. 

Whatever the new show will bring is what it will bring. I'm not going to signing any petition nor am I going to be linking one here because they honestly just don't work for a TV show, name me one that had worked. I will probably watch some episode to give it some chance but I honestly don't see this to be a major success, if it is I'll be surprised. On the plus side, at least for my series I don't have to think what decade the new season will fit into for continuity purposes and that the new series and its stories will be non-canon and would only exisit as a TV show like I did with Smudger, yes I know he's somewhat beloved but he'll never be part of my series so end of! 

I don't know if I'll be reviewing 'S25' or 'S26' since I don't feel like reviewing it after all of this and I'll probably won't buy any of the DVDs of the new show if it doesn't turn out to be good, maybe for a family member of mine if they enjoy the show but I still won't be reviewing them. I'll review upcoming S24 DVDs still but after that, maybe my blog would enter a hiatus until the Marc Forster movie comes out, after all I do need a bit of a break from all of this sometimes, lol.

If all of this fails, then Mattel should sell Thomas to another company since they had too many chances with it. Reason why I gave 'S25' the quotation marks, because why call it 'S25' when its entierly new?

DVD Review: Marvellous Machinery

I know I said once that I was waiting for Australia's release but since ABC went with 'A Colourful World' instead this year, I bought the UK copy back in September 2020. But here is my DVD review, but first: 

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

MARVELLOUS MACHINERY

Written by

Paul Larson & Laura Beaumont

Episodes

A New Arrival

World of Tomorrow

Sonny's Second Chance

Kenji On The Rails

Directed by

Joey So:

A New Arrival

World of Tomorrow

Directed by

Ian Cherry:

Sonny's Second Chance

Kenji On The Rails

Produced by

Ian McCue (HIT/Mattel)

Tracy Blagdon (Jam Filled)

Special Features

Meet the Characters - Sonny

Song - How Does It Work

Release Date

28/09/20 - UK

Distributed by

HIT/Mattel Creations - UK

HIT/Mattel Creations/ABC Kids - AUS

EPISODES

One thing different about the DVD is that they had merged the episodes together to make it as a movie, and I seem to remember on a Village Cinema website in Australia earlier this year in March that there was going to be a screening of this special, this was before the COVID-19 epidemic was turned into a global pandemic. So maybe this is what we were going to get if there weren't any pandemic. I can tell that the editing felt a little awkward in some transitions, perhaps they could've extend some of the scenes to give it some better flow. The only transition that I find smooth was from the end of 'Sonny's Second Chance' and then onto 'Kenji on The Rails Again'. I also think it was a little odd to have Thomas say the title of the first part of the two parter special, they could've deleted that like they did with the other ones, perhaps maybe they forgot to edit it out but those are just nitpicks. However the way it was set kinda reminds me of the day of the movies from 2005-2018 where they had a full story and a song at the end.

Looking back at the two part special, I still liked it despite its over the topness. It was far more entertaining and a tad more memorable than 'Digs and Discoveries' & 'Steam Team to the Rescue', despite the use of the fear of replacement story, but it never really felt hammered down unlike some episodes. The stories were entertaining as well as its message that just because something better was made doesn't mean that the things in the past aren't useful. Plus I liked the retrofuturistic style they went with and it was a pretty common thing in the 60's, which is visually implied in the show. I understand that not many people like it because it wasn't what Awdry had envisioned but neither was S5, Magic Railroad etc. even if people have the nostalgia goggles for those things. I will say this in regards to the upcoming 25th season next year, I hope they do take Thomas to Japan, as implied by Hiro in Kenji's episode, but I find it to be a long shot. But the information about the new season is a bit scarce. To read more of my views, please click the links provided above. 

SPECIAL FEATURES

Honestly, the special features have become bare bones in the last few years. All we got were a song and a video about Sonny and that's it. You think with this being Ruth's first apperance in the special they added her video too along with Kenji? Heck Kenji had one episode to himself and it was apart of this special! Perhaps they'll be in a future release next year. I wish the special features have more variety like they were between 2013-2016. 

OVERALL

I think the DVD is worth it for kids who enjoy the fast pace nature and over the top actions, however I don't think it would be suitable for children on the autistic spectrum and I don't how they feel of the new changes to the show from 2018. Sadly I don't think Mattel would know either because they'd donated money to the infamous 'Autistic Speak' organisation where they treat autisum as a disease rather than spreading awareness, and to think they had a character from the show who had autistic traits. But I digress. We know now that this would be the last DVD for 2020 and it's strange that we hadn't got the S21 collection this year whereas the last few years we had them on DVD. I have a feeling that more people would rather stream them than buy a physical copy since kids would have the episodes already from the other releases, hence why they were released on Amazon Prime in the UK and US and Stan here in Australia this year instead. But I could be wrong and maybe we might get a release next year instead. We know certaintly that it isn't COVID delaying it since we had other DVDs released in this past year. 

OVERALL RATING

7/10

With 2020 finally coming to an end and with no new DVDs coming out until early next year, look out for my yearly retrospective post of the DVDs that were released in 2020 on December 31st. In the mean time, my S18 reviews are still in the works and I would bring more reviews between S19-21 soon after that.

CGI Series Re-Review: Series 17 (2013)

2013 was an exciting time for the older Thomas fandom. A new production team had come in and took over the series creating an era that would be developed by a team who were trying to bring Thomas back to its glory days while trying to bring something new to younger audience. At the same time, Mattel had officially taken over HIT Entertainment and its properties, including Thomas. But years after its official broadcast around the world and its DVD release in 2016, does the series still hold up? Let's find out, but first...  

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

SERIES 17 (2013)

Written by

Andrew Brenner

Lee Pressman

Davey Moore

Paul Larson & Laura Beaumont

Directed by

David Baas

Produced by

Robert Anderson (Arc Productions)

Ian McCue (HIT/Mattel)

Haliam Jabbour (HIT/Mattel)

Told by

Mark Moraghan

EPISODES

STEAMIE STAFFORD

I remember when this episode first came out, people didn't really like and I was sort of half and half on it back in 2013. Watching it now, it's not as bad as people had thought it was. While the story was quite simple, it was interesting to see the writers tackling a story to a character that was just introduced the previous year, 2012, and would fade away into obscurity because they do. While Stafford's persona didn't shine as much, I think it was good of him going through some character development starting off as an engine wanting to make some noise but then realises in the end that he should be proud of being who and what he is. I will say though him going off making chuffing, puffing and whistling noises did get repetitive over time. So yeah, I didn't think this was a bad episode but not really a perfect one.

Rating: 6/10

GORDON RUNS DRY

When this episode was new, everyone praised this episode and while it was a good episode it wasn't anything great. I loved how Andrew Brenner had nailed Gordon's arrogance, boastful and proud nature, feels like him in the classic series. But of course Gordon running out of water and filling up a couple of times did get a bit repetitive as well. I don't really have any other problem with the episode though and while this was a good episode, it was pretty simple and straightforward. 

Rating: 7/10

THE LOST PUFF

I like Paxton in this episode with his dimwitted behaviour and I like how they took a character who's not that intelligent about something and would believe something is real. If this were written at the time of the early CG era (S13-16) they probably would've added Percy as the character since he's suppose to be the idiotic one that needs to know everything because he's not smart enough and yet he's a steam engine. It was a good episode and it has a nice message about how silliness can lead to trouble.

Rating: 7/10

KEVIN'S CRANKY FRIEND

This episode seems average to me and I think if they had the idea at the time could've introduced Big Mickey here instead of leaving it four years later. Cranky was in a situation and maybe perhaps Big Mickey offers to help but Cranky refused and keeps on making a mess and keeps on delaying ships and engines with him doing all of the work. I mean, how the way he was introduced in S21 was just jarring and was purely there as fan service. If he were introduced here it would feel more natural and needed. However it's all wishful thinking now. I do like the episode but it was kinda repetitive with Cranky messing up and Kevin clearing up. However the dynamic between Cranky and Kevin was good. But overall it was just average. 

Rating: 5/10

SCRUFF'S MAKEOVER

Another average episode but not a bad episode in my opinion. I like that Lee Pressman had, although it was shortlived, brought back the Henry, Gordon and James dynamic with them looking down at the other engines because of their superiority, although I'm kinda glad they didn't go forth with that as over the years some journalists have criticised Thomas for having that sort of thing, but then again in real life their is a sort of superiority and class conflict in today's society. But to me as an older fan it had that nice dose of classic series into it. There was some repitition with Scruff wanting to do a different job but it's not as awful as S13-16 where the repitition was just mind numbingly painful to sit through. It was good to see Scruff being a bit worried about his looks but it gave a good message that dirty or clean it's better to be useful. 

Rating: 6/10

TOO MANY FIRE ENGINES

I liked this episode with its message of how two is better than one, which the Fat Controller had justified to the inspectors in the episode. I also like how Flynn went through dilemma about his own worth, thinking that Belle is good enough to be a sole firefighter until he realises in the end. Belle and Flynn aren't great characters and are more gimmicks because of their water hoses and canons. Perhaps if the story was tweaked maybe given Flynn and very charmistic persona, given that he's a hero, but with him breaking down and not getting their in time his ego started to bruise and then go through his dilemma about his worth until he realises that two are better than one. It would've brought some great character development in my opinion. 

Rating: 7/10

CALM DOWN CAITLIN

To me this is where S17 feels different compare to the first six episodes. There was not much repetition with the dialouge, although the whole 'please be considerte' dialouge was a bit annoying to hear a few times but then again it worked in this episode because the engines were trying to get through to Caitlin that she's working at night and that people are sleeping and don't want to be distrub. It's like they saw 'The Early Bird' and made it better. It was also fun seeing Caitlin being this excitable engine whose heart was in the right place of course but just loves doing something that isn't too common for her, we've all at least been like her before so it makes her relatable. 

Rating: 9/10

WAYWARD WINSTON

I never liked this episode when it was new but looking back at this episode for a while, it wasn't that bad. I find it ironic now that the episode's message is saying that vehicles need a driver and yet after the episode's release, the engines often go off on their own without the need of their crew. It was a nice message along with being careful what you wish for but the whole driver thing gave me a bit of a chuckle. One other thing I liked about this episode is the Fat Controller taking responsibility, it was quite rare to see something like that as, from my memory, he took responsibility for not listening to Percy's warning in 'Percy Gets it Right' in S7. I like this because it showed that the Fat Controller is a human being in the end and not this dictator that some journalists have been shallowly thinking of.

I think one minor improvement could've been done visually with Winston trailling off. His face shows he more likely knew he would be a runaway but maybe have him actually being worried that he was a runaway since it never had happened to him before. This still isn't a top favourite but it isn't bad either.

Rating: 6/10

NO MORE MR. NICE ENGINE

I think this episode could've been more of a Diesel Vs. Hiro episode, I mean it technically is but it didn't felt like one. I think what could've made it more like that is have Diesel and Hiro arguing who thinks how trucks can be handled. Have Hiro being cool, calm and collective about them and trying to ignore them and have Diesel being tough on them even though they were behaving themselves. This was a good episode but maybe it could've been better.

Rating: 5/10

AWAY FROM THE SEA

What I like about this episode is how the fear of replacement trope was turned around. Instead of a steam engine fearing a diesel was going to replace them, you have a diesel fearing that a steam engine was going to replace them. We never saw that in any Thomas episode, heck not even in the Railway Series books! It just felt more refreshing to see something new, shame that they never went with that idea again and see how any diesel would react to such an idea. Plus with Salty fearing about going to the quarry again, that makes it even more refreshing whereas usually they would fear about being scrapped. A personal favourite of mine. Porter, despite being his debut episode, though didn't really shine through as a character in the episode personality wise. But a solid good episode none the less.

Rating: 9/10

THOMAS' SHORTCUT

Seven years had passed since this episode had debuted and it still holds up very well today and aged like fine wine. One of the best things from S17 was that they brought something different that hadn't been used in Thomas for quite sometime outside of the whole 'steam vs. diesel' conflict and of course one of those things was the 'road vs. rail' conflict, although Thomas and Bertie's conflict was pretty much done in good faith as friends. It was a bit repetitive with Thomas trying to find a shortcut but it didn't feel as annoying as like the first few episodes. It had a nice message that we should stick to the road we know and how taking shortcuts can lead to trouble. I'll never forget my reaction when I first saw Harvey in full CGI, I won't say here because there was a bit foul language. But it was a great surprise and I do miss that unexpected moment in the show when no leaks were made, the episode was broadcasted out here before the 'Spills and Thrills' DVD was out in 2014. To me this was a solid episode and probably the best of S17.

Rating: 10/10

THE SMELLY KIPPER

I didn't really liked this episode when it was new and kinda still don't like it. I had never really liked the whole spooky story opening scene but I realise now that it was trying to set up the whole story. Although maybe the set up could've been better if you have James criticising the kipper train and he was the only engine capable enough to do the job because Henry had broken down and was at the works or busy elsewhere and had to pull the train for him, and he was recommended by Henry. I think that could've been better set up because I think the episode kinda lost focus on its message, at first it was about James being brave and then it kinda went with the message that we should fulfill our promises to someone in need. Then you have the rest of the episode playing out to that moral. This wasn't a bad episode, it tried its best but it could've been better. 

Rating: 4/10

GONE FISHING

There's something about it that was more relatable from Harvey. We are all different in terms of strength and size and some people can be terrible to us. But we should let it slide and not let it bother us and be more confidence in ourselves and not worry what some people think we are capable of doing, everyone is different and unique and that's what makes us great. A really good solid episode from Andrew Brenner here.

Rating: 10/10

THE AFTERNOON TEA EXPRESS

I think the episode could've trimmed down the narration a bit as there was so much of the narrator telling us what we see visually. We know that Stephen is old and we know that Stephen is slow. But at the same time, there might be some visually impaired children who watch the show and rely on the depth of narration to have something that explains what's going on. While I understand other people's frustrations with the episode itself that's just the feeling I get when I watch this episode or any episode with the fattening of narration, so that's why I'm not going to too harsh towards it. Plus this episode made me realise back then that although Thomas was based around on railway accuracy, this isn't by a member of the Awdry family anymore, and it hadn't been since 2011 after Christopher wrote the last Railway Series book, I would say 1996 but we have two more books in 2007 and 2011. Yes engines being on the same track would never happen in real life, especially an engine like Rocket would never be allowed on a main line in the modern age due to its speed limit. But story comes first and you need something that would work for a character that would later become something conflicting in order for them to learn a lesson. The episode itself wasn't too bad. It was simple but at the same time not too memorable. I would say there are some traits of the 'Miller/Barlow' era in this episode such as Jam at the docks and then a spare just in case if another engine messes up the first order. But I'm glad that had been toned down to the point it doesn't exist anymore.

Rating: 6/10

HENRY'S HERO

I remember the hype for this episode because it was to be debut return of Duck, the character that everyone wanted to be incorporated into CGI for years and finally he'd returned for a short cameo. I can't remember if people had like the episode because of him though but I remember the big reaction for his return. The cameo was fine, Duck was in character but that's pretty much it really. He was just there. As for the episode, I like the character dynamic between Henry and Hiro in this episode. Henry had some worry about the bad coal and I feel that it brings a good message that we must look after our health and safety. He wasn't acting like a wimp or anything, he had the right to be concerned about the bad coal and what it could do him. Hiro had showcased that he's determined and would take the risk but then realises in the end that he should've waited. But you understand his commitment to get the job done for the Fat Controller. For Henry though in the end, he knew that if Hiro could do the job on the bad coal then so can he. It had a nice message about determination. In the end, it was a good episode. 

Rating: 8/10

LUKE'S NEW FRIEND

I still love the episode, it was a very nice one with Luke wanting to be with the deer at the quarry only. But the episode also points out how a quarry is no place for an animal like a deer and they also added how dangerous it is visually with the deer being on Owen and not to mention the entire place is filled with engines, explosives, not much fresh air to breathe in thanks to the dust and large cranes carrying stone. Perhaps maybe to make the episode more emotional perhaps have Luke being stuck only in one place while the rest of the Skarloey engines went away back to the sheds away from the quarry, making him feel very lonely. It would make his friendship with the deer and him letting it go in the end more emotional and it would give the message that its dangerous for animals to be in a quarry and no matter how near or far, they are still friends. However I do love the episode.

Rating: 9/10

THE SWITCH

I think maybe to spice up a bit more of a rivalry between Luke and Millie is probably have them being a bit boastful about their own work and what makes it more important than the other. It was there in the episode but it didn't feel much like one. Like maybe have Millie thinking Luke's job was easy and Luke the same. For the latter he was confident about doing Millie's work and with Millie maybe you can have going in full of confidence as well. However the episode was still good and I like it how it gives the message that all jobs are different. All in all, another good episode from Davey Moore.

Rating: 8/10

 

NOT NOW, CHARLIE!

I remember not everyone liking the ending of this episode when the narrator says that Charlie would never tell another joke again but it didn't last long and while I understand that it destroys any sort of character development, I feel that they did that because Charlie's trait is to have him telling jokes. Plus we had many characters who learn something and sometimes go back to their original trait because its there to stir up conflict. As much as I love for characters to grow, learn and develop, I think its more easier for a show or movie that is one whole continuing storyline rather than an episodic series. Plus the ending makes Charlie more human, we all can't fulfill our promises and we can always get back into a habit. This is probably the best Charlie episode, and probably the only one since he never had any great episodes to begin with. It's nice to see him going through some consequence for once instead of laughing, joking and causing trouble and never got a scolding for it. Seriously, even BWBA can make a S13-16 look like total garbage and I do seriously mean that. The story kind of remind me of 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf', where a boy played a trick to people that a wolf is coming until when an actual wolf came no one believed him. Just like with Charlie and the elephant. Charlie joked about elephants until a real one escaped from the animal park and he warned about to the other engines but they didn't believe him because they thought it was a joke. In the end, a great episode for Charlie and its nice that he went out on a high note.

Rating: 9/10

THE THOMAS WAY

A nice way to introduce Duck to the younger generation, although we would learn that years later that kids don't actually resonate with Duck, according SiF's twitter page. I think I can understand why, you have the steam team characters (e.g - Thomas, James, Percy etc.) who would often have flaws and would make plenty of mistakes over each episode. Duck however is more sensible and although this episode showcased that being stubborn can lead to trouble and not everything can go your way, a sensible engine like him wouldn't try and do that again whereas the main characters would make more mistakes due to whatever personality traits they were given, perhaps kids might've found Duck boring? That's just how I see it, I would love to know the real reason if there is one. Anyway despite that, the episode was good and I seem to remember not many people like Thomas' character in the episode but I feel like he was only trying to make Harold happy after his accident by showing him the sites of Sodor, I think what they should've done was to maybe give it more explanation if they were going with that. I will say it was good but not a huge favourite of mine. Plus that little easter egg of Duck's S6 model surrounded by Paddington yards was a nice little treat still.

Rating: 8/10

THE PHANTOM EXPRESS

As much as I am a fan of Keith Wickham, I really didn't like how he voiced James and Percy in some parts of the episode, they sound too robotic in the UK dub at this time. Probably because I'm so used to Nigel Pilkington and Rob Rackshaw now since they'd taken over Keith's roles as James and Percy and they have something more natural in their voices. Keith Wickham is still a great voice actor but I think he's more better voicing characters that share his voice in both dubs, he sounds more flexable and natural and it shows. As for the episode I do like the James and Percy dynamic, the foggy dark atmosphere of the castle grounds and I also like how Stephen is this wise old engine with some snide remarks but he still gets nervous about somethings. There are some moments I think that should've been 'show don't tell' moments like Percy thinking that James' puffing sound was Stephen's but we had the narrator saying; 'But it wasn't Stephen, it was James.' The visual of James puffing around the corner and we see his cheeky face is enough to tell the audience that it was him. I know I said that there might be some visually impaired kids who watch the show but you also have the sound effects that they would identify the characters with, particulary the whistles. In the end, this was a good episode.

Rating: 7/10 

THE FROZEN TURNTABLE

I still honestly like Gordon being selfish in this episode as it gives that message out to kids that we must share and not think of ourselves over others. The three strikes scene was a wee bit repetitive with the various request of accomodations from the other engines (i.e - Victor at the Steamworks). But unlike 'Gordon Runs Dry', it didn't last too much of the episode and the latter was more focused on Gordon and him getting the consequence for his actions. It was a good solid simple episode and probably the best Gordon episode from S17, yes better than 'Gordon Runs Dry'. 

Rating: 7/10

PERCY'S LUCKY DAY

The story is a tad predictable as it's very common in children stories; someone has an unlucky day, got a good luck charm, lost it and it turns out you don't need a lucky charm after all. The episode was good none the less and had some great moments like Bill and Ben bickering, Percy mistaking a green handkerchief as a green flag is something like 'Wrong Road' etc. In the end it was a nice Percy story and I feel that it can be quite suitable for him. But it feels very so-so to me.

Rating: 5/10

NO SNOW FOR THOMAS

Here we have Thomas misbehaving and being cheeky, something that had been lacking before the events of S17. Yet two years later, Amazon parents hated this depiction of Thomas and afterwards we got a mediocre character who can be a bit more of a goody-goody. I think Thomas should've behaved more cheeky and misbehaving because it adds conflict to his own action and would give kids that idea that not everyone is perfect and that we must own up to our behaviour just as what this whole episode showed with Thomas and his snowplough. Emily was actually good too and this was more of a secondary role for her and she works better here as one, she showcased a bit of bossiness here and there but her other traits too had a shine. I still think her bossiness would work better for her when it comes to conflict though. The episode was good in the end.

Rating: 7/10 

BILL OR BEN?

This was a fun episode, Bill and Ben were in character and it was nice that Connor got a chance to shine with some personality compare to his appearance in King of The Railway. Not a great character by any means but you can tell he had a competitive attitude but he was fair when he knew one of the twins won't be any faster than him. I really have no problems with this episode at all.

Rating: 10/10

THE MISSING CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS

It's quite odd to see Diesel 10 in an episode after seeing him in two, atrocious, movies and 'Calling All Engines!', yeah I know everyone doesn't like the latter because apparently Diesel 10 being nice is bad even though at the time MRR was barely referenced in the TV series at all, more likely due to rights issues with Sony as they own the movie, it's a bit complex to explain it all so I digress. But I would say he was given much more better justice in term of character in this episode, he's not evil but more of a battler for the inequalities between steam and diesel. It's nice to see that from him then being a generic bad guy diesel who hate steam engines and think they are superior. I will say that episode did have some conflicts like D10 bullying Paxton, Sidney's wheels and the missing decorations and some of them don't seem relevant to the main title. Perhaps maybe if the plot was more focused on D10 and his way of wanting Christmas his way by bullying the other diesels and have the diesels standing up towards him telling him what Christmas means and have them go off and celebrate it with the steam engines and then you have D10 celebrating all on his own realising that he had been selfish and apologised, perhaps maybe if it works have him being terrible to Sidney by ignoring him about his wheels and on his lonesome, he saw him and decides to be nice to him as well as the other diesels. This wasn't a bad episode but could've been better.

Rating: 6/10  

SANTA'S LITTLE ENGINE

The small facial expressions from Winston give me a chuckle like how he was shocked that the Fat Controller came up with the idea of driving Winston as Santa's sleigh and when the Earl said he made his mind up you can see the relief coming from Winston, a nice way of expressing the reaction of the characters instead of the narrator telling you exactly what's going on, show don't tell. I do like the focus towards the Fat Controller in this episode and you can see how reserved he was over the Earl's plan which makes him very human. There's really not much else to say and this episode was a nice way to end the 17th season.

Rating: 8/10

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And so that was S17, does it live up today? Hmm, I'm kinda 50/50. While the writing in some episode is still great to sit through, I feel that some episodes, particularly the first six episode really feel that they belong to the likes of S13-16, I'm not saying they are bad but I feel that some of the repetition in those episodes were so obvivous and that the production team found these scripts and retooled them to make them more bearable to sit through. 'Gordon Runs Dry' was a favourite of mine back when it was new with Gordon's characterisation but the dialouge in the episode and the three strike formula really feels like a 'Miller/Barlow' era script. I really don't see it as a top favorite anymore like I used to. The first six really came off as a slow start for me but by the time when it got to Caitlin's episode that's where things really began to pick up speed and was becoming a bit more interesting.

The visuals are good but they kinda gave me this plasterscene/playdo kind of vibe towards the engines and the backgrounds, I think the weird lighting had to do something with the way some of the characters look, I think it's great though how two years after this Arc Productions had brought in much more better visuals, but we'll get to that later. 

The music, I like Robert Hartshorne's music but if there's one problem I have with his music during his time in the show and that is how the music is just there to fill in the background. I do miss the indiviualism of the themes for some of the characters and while Hartshorne has talent, the music just sounds generic. It feels like Bruce Faulconer for the english dub of the 'Dragon Ball' series how the music was just there. At times some of his music can work in some scenes but other times like Goku turning Super Sayian for the first time, the music was just your generic hard rock soundtrack to make it look edgy or cool.

The voice acting was good but when watching the UK dub, I feel some of the dialouge sounded more robotic, particulary from Keith Wickham and Ben Small. As much as I like them and do see talent within them, I'm glad Wickham had improved over the years but it was also sad to see Ben Small not having his contract renewed, I still think HIT/Mattel should've let him stayed on as his other characters like they did for Wickham. I have seen a few US dubbed episode and would say that their dialouge sound more natural compare to their UK counterpart and I know that because usually the US voice actors are the first ones to act out the characters. Although I can also see some of the fandom's criticism of the idea of having two dubs and I think nowadays, Thomas can work with a UK dub in both countries. We live in a world now where kids can hear an english accent thanks to YouTube and of course their are shows like 'Peppa Pig' and 'Bluey' where they keep the respective dub to a US market and it turns out fine in the end.

I think it was great that the production team brought back characters like Duck, Bill and Ben though and I really have no quarrel with that.

S17 was a good season, but it didn't really gave me that same impact that it once did back in 2013. It feels a bit dated in some aspects but it's far from the worst. Be sure to look out for my S18 review, can't say when that will be out what with life getting in the way, but it'll be out when its done.

OVERALL RATING

189/260