DVD Review: A Day On Awdry's Railway

Back in June I said that 'Animal Adventures' was going to be my last DVD to review and then a few days later from the Talyllyn [Taly-k-yn] Railway's twitter page, this took me by surprise and to be honest this made me more excited compare to the DVDs that Mattel Creations had released this year. With it being the 110th birthday of the Rev.W.Awdry this year and the fact that the Talyllyn Railway has a special place within the Awdry family and the world of Thomas, a special DVD, by the railway, had been complied of his Ffarquhar layout, which is now proudly on display at the Narrow Gauge Museum at the Talyllyn Railway in Wales. So let's take a dive into it. But first:

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

A DAY ON AWDRY'S RAILWAY

Told by

The Rev.W.Awdry

Special Features

Awdry Interview

Release Date

17/08/21

Distrubited by

Rheilffordd Talyllyn Railway 

PRESENTATION

The main feature of the DVD is the 'Timetable sequence' made by the Rev.W.Awdry of Thomas' branch line, the MK.2 layout, which was made for exhibition purposes, which is a common thing in railway modelling for those who want to have an accurate working railway. The three sequences are a morning, afternoon and night sequence featuring the original models created by Awdry himself back in his lifetime. His Thomas model was exactly how it was created in 1948. The timetable, judging from the rare pictures shown in the presentation, was done around 1973. The Rev's timetable, written out by *Luci/Chara on twitter, can be found here via a link.

Their was some interesting subtle comedic moments within the sequence such as Mavis showing off Daisy with her work and Percy saying, although censored, some very colourful words about Mavis' shunting up at the quarry, and yes this is canon to the Railway Series, Percy swears! Their were other interesting things too such as the observation saloon coaches being used for enthusiast specials, which is hauled by Stepney in the DVD. However they are often pulled by Bloomer, an engine that Awdry created but is only seen in model form, who was the Fat Controller's contribution to the Stockton & Darlington Railway's 150th in 1975. 

Bloomer's basis is the LNWR 'Bloomer' class locomotive designed by

James McConnell in 1851. His backstory can be seen here.

Bloomer was mentioned in Awdry's 'History of Sodor' lecture about the 'Railways of Sodor' lecture that the Talyllyn Railway had hosted during their Awdry Extravaganza event that they'd held back in August 2021, which was presented by British Railway Historian, TV presenter and Railway Series fan, Tim Dunn. You can buy the lecture's live stream on the railway's website for about £5.00 and you can get the stuff that was shown at the lecture as well. That's about $6.90USD and $9.41AUD and it would be worth it if you're a Railway Series or Thomas fan and not only that but you will be helping out the railway, especially in the times of COVID-19. 

This happened to Skarloey, which happened to Talyllyn. He was placed on a haulage wagon

so that it could run on standard gauge rails.

I'd watched the lecture via live stream back in August and, while condense, it was amazing to hear so much of what Awdry had written such as Neil being saved from the cutter's torch, Bloomer and Skarloey running on standard gauge tracks in a haulage wagon when Neil was all worned out, yes Awdry had written that! Hopefully one day we see all of these lecture notes being compiled into one huge book, kind of like the Rev.W.Awdry and George Awdry's Sodor book from 1987. Their is so much more detail about Sodor and its railway that I would love to see.

Their was one akward bit and that was the sequence when Mavis took the milk van to collect her trucks in the third sequence, however Luke Ryan, a volunteer of the Talyllyn Railway and well-known Awdry expert, had stated that Mavis' sequence was written in the timetable however they didn't have the tape that include that. I was little preplexed by that but I'm glad that it's all cleared up and I would let it slide.

The whole presentation was well done and it was filmed really well with the angles and locations and it really gave such immersiveness that it feels like you are watching a real working railway with Awdry narrating it along with two other people, their names however aren't known but it's been said that they were friends of Awdry. That to me is the magic of model railways. They give you this creative little world that you're in control over. It is more fun when you don't have a timetable but I can see the fun in all that after watching this DVD. 

This DVD is worth the money and, as I said for the lecture, the money goes back into helping out the railway which has a close connection to the Awdry family and the Thomas world. Probably the best Thomas DVD that came out this year.

SPECIAL FEATURES

The DVD has one special feature which is an audio interview of the Rev.W.Awdry about the creation of Thomas and the Railway Series books, how he came up with the Island of Sodor and his model railway. He even added about how the carriages were always female and that Daisy was technically a coach. Although it's kinda strange since Mavis is a female engine and she isn't a coach. However the short interview was interesting and the rare never-before-seen pictures were interesting too of Awdry's railway modelling over the years. 

OVERALL

As I said before, this is the best Thomas DVD that came out this year. The other two while OK at best weren't really the best and although 'All Engines Go!' will be getting DVDs, especially in the US since their hadn't been a new release over their since 2019, however I won't be reviewing them and I hadn't planned on reviewing them since I don't want to waste my money on something that people, outside the fandom, are already hating on. I believe I heard that the Talyllyn are going to make more copies of these Awdry Railway DVDs, though I can't find the tweet that supported that.

I hope more copies are being made because I think Thomas fans will enjoy this DVD. It's simple but it had great charm and it's great to see that despite Mattel's Thomas reboot exisiting, a well known narrow gauge railway is keeping Awdry's legacy alive. 

Thier is more ways to enjoy everything Awdry. If you have twitter you can follow 'The Awdry Study' which would, at times, showcase some rarity once owned by Awdry or as I had mentioned earlier, you can buy the History of Sodor lecture on the railway's shop website. 

This would be my last DVD review and probably my last post for a while until December with my final retrospective post of the DVDs that I had reviewed during the year, despite it being three releases this year. I had fun reviewing these in the past nine years but sometimes all good things have to come to an end. I did say I might re-review the BWBA movie and the series that came alongside with it. But I just can't make any promise to do so. I might as well make a post in regards to the Marc Forster movie, whenever that comes out, since that would be worth something to review. 

Thank you so much for reading these past DVD reviews, even if you agree or disagree with the things I'd said I'm happy that you had taken your time to read them. I will keep this blog up though as I have no plans on closing it down. 

OVERALL RATING

10/10

Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go! - A New Start? Or A New Blunder?

 In October 2020, Mattel had announced that Thomas will get a 'new look, new story structure' after 36 years . Prior to that, the newest change was 'Big World, Big Adventures' in 2018. An attempt at making Thomas interesting towards a 21st century audience, while still maintaining the same canon it had since 1984, by being more culturally and gender diverse by taking Thomas to other countries to meet with different engines and learning different cultures as well as adding in more female characters, considering that Thomas had been criticised by parents since the show's inception that their was a lack of female characters. This was all done to make toy sales for Thomas to go up as it had gone on towards a downward slump, between 2017-2020, and this was done to make TV ratings go up too. Despite the amount of publicity and merchandising, the show failed to meet Mattel's expectations and sadly ended 36 years of continuity, however I believe gracefully with 'Thomas & The Royal Engine', despite that broadcasters had ended it with 'Thomas' Animal Friends', which wasn't a bad episode in my opinion. 

Now here we are months after the traliler had leaked by someone at Mattel, we are at the start of a new series, or in Mattel's case the '25th season'. Could this be a new start? Could this lead to more toy sales for Mattel? Despite Thomas toy sales starting up again since December 2020. Or will this be another failed attempt for Mattel when it comes to Thomas? 

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

PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THERE 
MAYBE SOME MILD SWEARING.

THOMAS & FRIENDS: 
ALL ENGINES GO!

I just can't be bothered sitting through this generic tripe that has the name Thomas slapped onto it. Say what you want about BWBA but at least it was taken care by people who actually cared about Thomas' history and didn't want to tarnish what Awdry had created. They at least had interesting stories that didn't repeat itself over and over again to the point that you would want to ram your head into a goddam wall! Sure I see it's problems that people point out but I would rather watch Big World on repeat than this garbage. That show still kept the continuity, still respected Awdry's root as much as they can and made at least bearable stories to sit through even though some weren't as good.

 After the trailer was leaked I did try to overcome with its existance and would at least give it a chance and after its world debut in Mexico, the first episode 'A Thomas Promise' was a decent opener but it still showcases the generic outcome of it all and the message about keeping your promise is nothing new really. Although it was stupid that Thomas was shocked that he was switched onto the wrong track while racing Diesel when really he has the power to jump onto one track and then the other. It just makes no sense. Yes Whiff was mentioned but I bet it's the name of the recycling plant and has no relation to the character at all.

The second episode however 'Thomas Blastoff' that was a chore to sit through. Remember how we were happy that the three strike formula was gone eight years ago, despite it being used in the early part of S17. Well it came back and good god it was like seeing someone you hate from your high school days that brought back an awful memory. The third episode 'License to Deliver' is another bland repeitive story and the fourth episode 'Rules of the Game' while decent is just something that most kids show do when it comes to no one having fun.

The series before this and BWBA at least have messages that stealing animals is wrong, your friends are still your friends even when you're far apart from each other, not everyone likes to be in the spotlight, forgive and forget and don't try and further the situation. The latter being the message from 'Tit for Tat'. The messages in this show are just your generic kids stuff that kids could learn from their parents or teachers! 

Yes it is a kids show but that doesn't mean it's not bad, people have been saying that when BWBA was a thing. Stop telling people that they can't criticise kids shows or movies because they are made for kids that's how dumb crap gets made that deride children's intelligences. I'd only watched four episodes and while two are decent they can't a hold a candle to what was Thomas & Friends from 1984-2020.

Rather than improving on something that they'd hyped and let the people working behind the show trying out their ideas to make it work, Mattel would just take away everything that the show was and just make it Thomas is a human but looks like a train instead of making Thomas looking and acting like a steam locomotive.

I don't have anything against the people who had animated on the show nor the voice actors, there are some talented people who had made this. I pretty lay the blame on the executives at Mattel who thinks something like this is what children likes, crazy action, sayings like 'epic', missaid words to make it sound babyish to make kids look dumb, shitty puns that are just grating. Instead of just seeing a child watching something that isn't forced on them and see what they like about it. Though I really don't believe the concept of a test audience considering that so many people are different.

To end this short review, I will say this. Saying that this show was '75 years in the making' is a fucking insult to the past 75 years made by people who had made Thomas a success well before Mattel got their hands on the brand. I don't see this show making it towards its 80th anniversary and even if it does it would be a massive rub of salt in the wound if Mattel says they 'care' about Thomas' heritage because this show screams that they don't. 

If toy sales start to plummet then Mattel has no one else but to blame themselves for that potential outcome.

If this reboot fails I would rather have Mattel sell Thomas to another company, I would rather have it sold to Sony Creative Products in Japan since they have a great 30 year track record of licensing Thomas products in the land of the rising sun. 

However if there are people who do enjoy this reboot just let them enjoy it. Harassing someone would not make the show any better and especially on the internet who could be a young kid playing on their parents' phone. 

RATING

 1/10