S20 Ep.6: Saving Time

I had this done before I went over to America earlier in November. It's good to see milkshake not leaving these episodes back longer than what they did for S19 last year. But despite that here are my views on the latest episode: 

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

SAVING TIME

Written by

Andrew Brenner

Directed by
Dianna Basso

Produced by
Ian McCue (HIT)

Air Date
21/11/16 

Plot
Samson boasts to the other engines that he has been given a very special job taking stones from the quarry to the docks. But when he learns that Thomas has been assigned the same task, Samson tries to find another way to show everyone that he’s very important. He decides to take more trucks than he should, insisting that it will save time. But with so many heavy trucks, Samson can’t get over Gordon’s Hill! 

PRO
- Sir Handel's brief classic persona
- Moral: Sounds good but does it deliver?
- Thomas' cheeky persona

CON

- I think Samson might need more development, hopefully in future

Samson can be quite a divisive character among some people from the fanbase. To be honest I do like Samson but I think Philip is getting some proper development at the moment with examples like 'Toby's New Friend' and him in 'The Great Race', we never saw him boasting about his race with Gordon stating that he was 'the fastest' but more about him stating that we can do anything we want to if we just put our minds to it and that his optimism but naive self was showing that. 

The moral, the way that I see it, feels like 'It may sound good but does it deliver?' It sounds good for Samson to save time by taking more trucks but it didn't deliver because of the weight of the trucks and the obstacles that are ahead of him. It's a good moral for kids to think before we act. I do like how Thomas delivers his cheekiness to Samson, it's great to see that rather then him being the typical hero of many stories so good work for Brenner on that and he didn't really feel forced in this episode either. Yes he could've been easily replaced by different engine like maybe Stanley but it just felt natural for Thomas to be there. 

Of course there was Sir Handel from what I can see was his S4 persona, with him laughing at the engines and their quarrel. Of course it was on a minuscule second but it was nice to hear that sound again and plus Keith Wickham had improved his voice for Sir Handel too. A bit squeaky but less nasally. 

Even though I do like Samson and he can be a loveable buffoon, I do wish to see the writing team build up his character in the future. I personally don't want to see him as a one-dimensional character in the coming years, hopefully if the writing team bring on an episode with him and his new brake van Bradford we might see that happening, after all this episode by TV schedules in Japan and North America is set before Bradford's episode. Bradford and him could make a great duo together with Bradford's army style persona and Samson's head strong appearance. Hopefully the team does a good job on that. At the end of the day, the episode was not bad but it could've been much better. It's nice to see Samson again in it as the main role though I do wish we see more development of his character. It might've worked better if it were Samson being tricked by Diesel or Sir Handel as long as they have a reason why to trick Samson like what Diesel did to Hiro in 'No More Mr. Nice Engine'. The story was plain and a simple slice of life story. Not a bad episode but not what consider as memorable among other S20 episodes.

Episode Ratings:

Sidney Sings - 8/10

Toby's New Friend - 7/10
Henry Gets the Express - 10/10
Diesel and the Ducklings - 8/10
Bradford the Brake Van - 10/10
Saving Time - 6/10

Overall Rating:

49/50

I will review more episodes of S20 until I get back from America in December. 

DVD Review: Full Steam To The Rescue

THESE OPINIONS ARE MY OWN AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FAN BASE

FULL STEAM TO THE RESCUE

Episodes

Thomas the Babysitter

No Help At All

The Other Side Of The Mountain

Wild Water Rescue

Rocky Rescue

Goodbye Fat Controller

Written by

Becky Overton

Davey Moore
Andrew Brenner

Special Features
Bonus episode: The Christmas Coffee Pot
Bonus episode: Over The Hill
Really Useful Engines
The Earl's Quiz
Landmarks of Sodor
The Fat Controller's Tales
Guess Who?
Music Video: Glynn's Christmas Wish

Directed by
Don Spencer
Dianna Basso

Produced by
Ian McCue (HIT)
Robert Anderson (Arc)
Tracy Blagdon (Arc)
Jennifer Hill (Arc)

Release Date

24/10/16

Distributed
HIT Entertainment

So after a long wait, we finally get the last six episodes of the nineteenth season that had aired in Japan back in January 2016. One of the episodes that was released on DVD was 'Wild Water Rescue', as a Target exclusive for a Trackmaster train set over in the US. However we finally have all of these episodes in good quality footage.

This was originally suppose to come out before my 'Ultimate Friendship Adventure' review, however UFA came out before I got my copy of this DVD:

EPISODES

The episodes consist of the last remaining S19 episodes that were aired in Japan back in Jan.2016. My views of these episodes can be seen with the link provided above. The episodes that I do like from this DVD, as mentioned in my 'Ultimate Friendship Adventures' review are 'Thomas the Babysitter', 'No Help At All' and 'Goodbye Fat Controller' and of course my least favourites are the other three. My views though on 'Wild Water Rescue' had changed as the story felt rather plain but it's not a terrible episode with its moral in the end.

SPECIAL FEATURES 

The special features are the same as what they are in the 2016 Christmas DVD over in the US. So my views on them can be seen here. However for the UK audience they were however treated to two bonus Christmas episodes from the 20th season. The next three will be available on the UK's 'Thomas' Christmas Carol' which comes out later this month. I don't know why but I believe it could be because of Channel 5's scheduling for the show? After all they had aired the Christmas episodes of S19 in January 2016 and I think the people behind Thomas might have thought to give these episodes out in time for Christmas, I don't know. But I hope this means we see the UK and US being in sync with each other when it comes to the Christmas releases *fingers crossed*, hopefully the generic releases too maybe. The S20 Christmas episodes will be kept aside during S20's TV run.

OVERALL

The episodes in my opinion are a hit and miss to me but there are fans that would enjoy some of these stories. It's great to see the two episodes from S20 having a spot on this DVD too and the special features can be entertaining for the young audience and for the older audience too. The DVD itself is alright but maybe the DVDs for the UK should revert back the same way as the US ones with just the intro, episodes and intervals and then song and credits. It flows nicely in my opinion.

RATING:

7/10

DVD Review: Ultimate Friendship Adventures

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

ULTIMATE FRIENDSHIP ADVENTURE

Episodes

Sidney Sings

Toby's New Friend

Henry Gets the Express

Diesel and the Ducklings

Saving Time

No Help at All

The Other Side of the Mountain

Rocky Rescue

Goodbye Sir Topham Hatt

Thomas the Babysitter 

Written by
Andrew Brenner
Helen Farrall 

Lee Pressman

Davey Moore

Directed by
Dianna Basso

Produced by

Ian McCue

Distributed by

Universal

Release Date
1/11/16 - iTunes

8/11/16 - DVD

So here we are, the final Thomas DVD release for 2016. To me though this one was strange. The strange thing is that Universal hadn't advertise this as a digital download on their website, they only said that it'll be release on DVD with no mention of it being released for digital download. It wasn't until Michael M, great composer on YouTube and nice guy, had messaged the official Thomas Facebook page about it and placed it on Twitter. 

The question is why didn't Universal advertise it? They did with previous titles before and they hadn't done a preordering thing since 'The Great Race' whereas two years ago when they first started they did that with the yearly specials and episode releases. It's been two years and are the people at Universal that lazy with the Thomas stuff? But aside from that little issue, This DVD features for the first time, the US dub of the remaining last episodes of season 19 and five S20 episodes which are shown for the first time on DVD, although S20 is currently on air in North America on PBS Kids and those four S20 episodes had been broadcasted on TV in the UK. So, here is the final Thomas DVD release and final review for 2016!  

EPISODES

The episodes consist of five episodes from the recent 20th season with four episodes that had made their debut on UK television back in September 2016 and one is awaiting to air on UK, Australian and North American television as well. I had already expressed my views on the first four S20 episodes and the links are provided above. In short those four episodes are pretty good and it gives S20 the ultimate feeling that the entire season would probably be better than S18. 

The DVD also consists of five S19 episodes and these are released for the first time in America. These episodes had been released on television in Japan in January 2016 and had also been released on 'Full Steam to The Rescue' over in the UK back in October 2016. There are some good episodes but some are not, in my opinion. The good ones from the 19th season on this DVD are 'Thomas the Babysitter', 'No Help At All' and 'Goodbye Fat Controller',  you can see why in the links provided above and of course the least favourable episodes in my opinion are 'Rocky Rescue' and 'The Other Side of The Mountain' and once again, my views are provided in the links above. 

The episode 'Saving Time' however will be left aside during S20's TV run. 

SPECIAL FEATURES

N/A

OVERALL

Yeah so the DVD felt like maybe a last minute idea to release something for the North American audience or maybe they didn't have any intervals at the time of making it, I don't know. But overall I think it was an alright DVD. There are episodes that many fans might or might not enjoy, however the best outcome for the iTunes version is that we have crystal clear HD and Arc's animation is beautiful to look at. 

RATING:

7/10

I will be putting my S20 reviews on hold at the moment as I will be heading over to America to visit my sister and her husband. I have the Christmas episodes and 'Saving Time' filed away in my drafts and since I don't know when the air dates for Australia's broadcasting will happen, I have a feeling it would most likely air while I'm over in the United States. I know that S20 is currently airing over in America at the moment, but I most likely won't have time to review what episode airs when I'm over there and I don't think it would be brand new ones as well. 

DVD Review: Tinsel on the Tracks

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

TINSEL ON THE TRACKS

Episodes

Letters to Santa
The Christmas Coffee Pot
Railcar & Coaches
Over the Hill
Love Me Tender

Written by

Helen Farrall

Davey Moore

Special Features

'Glynn's Christmas Wish' Sing-Along Music Video

Guess Who puzzle

Directed by

Dianna Basso

Produced by

Ian McCue

Release Date
11/10/16 - iTunes

18/10/16 - DVD 

It's been a strange year for the US when it comes to the DVD releases of Thomas & Friends. Last year they were given the Spring episode exclusive DVD, The Adventure Begins, the Wal*Mart Exclusive, Big Bang Surprise disguised as S19 DVD, a S19 Christmas DVD and a generic release with three S19 and S18 episodes as well as the usual annual special. All their in the 70th Anniversary year and yet this year, they only got 'Start Your Engines', this year's special and now this year's Christmas release and the upcoming 'Ultimate Friendship Adventure' with ten episodes all together with five from S19, except for 'Wild Water Rescue' and five episodes from S20.

But nevertheless, the US has finally got some new S20 episodes with lots of surprises shown. Not only do we see Donald and Douglas back after their debut in last year's special but Glynn the Coffee Pot engine is making his TV series debut after 'The Adventure Begins' the 70th anniversary special from 2015. Considering he was called off as 'pointless' by some, I'm glad to see that they hadn't wasted his render. Hopefully this means we see Jerome and Judy make their TV series debut too, who knows what we see in this season? 

EPISODES

As usual, the episodes shown on this DVD will be reviewed once they are on TV during Season 20's run. That is until whenever ABC Australia airs them, although most likely around the Christmas week. But in short, these would have to be the best Christmas/Winter episodes I've seen yet. Much better than the previous ones, with an exception that they haven't topped 'Last Train for Christmas', although that's my opinion.

SPECIAL FEATURES

So in the DVD, the intervals are 'Calling All Engines!', 'The Earl's Quiz', 'Landmarks of Sodor' and 'The Fat Controller's Tales' or Sir Topham Hatt as he's known in North America. The CAE! segment featured Samson and Scruff and as usual these are nice. Showing kids the other engines of Sodor and knowing there personalities and purpose on Sodor and what makes them really useful. 

The Earl's Quiz showcase three questions for kids. The episodes featured are 'Marion and the Dinosaur', who owns the number four on the railway with footage from 'The Adventure Begins' and 'Henry's Hero', although they could've at least shown Henry from TAB as well but beggars can't be choosers and the last one featured the episode 'Duck in The Water'. 

We see another 'Landmarks of Sodor' segment and this time focusing on Brendam Docks. I like these segments as they feel like old railway documentaries, I'm kinda going to repeat myself on why I like these things. Though it's kinda sad that they featured Porter saying that he's important, of course for his uses at the docks, but hopefully the writers develop him more on his character, I'm hoping this season but I have some doubts over it considering that they'll be focused on the 2015 special's newbies as well as Hugo in the 2017 DVD 'Extraordinary Engines'. 

The last segment and probably one of my least favourites and that is 'The Fat Controller's Tales' why? Because it feels like Calling All Engines again and it's basically recapping an episode, not that it's bad but it's repeated on TV at times, on demand stream sites and of course DVDs and digital downloads. It would be nice to see maybe more Railway Series being used, maybe use them different as it doesn't have to be Mr. Perkins. Like maybe have them recapped through various engines such as Thomas telling the viewers at the time he once teased a tractor named Terence or Duck stopping trucks that were a runaway from Gordon's Hill. Have the art pictures shown along with some music etc. I'm open to new ideas though but maybe something that's not repeatable. 

Now for the special features we see another song by Eggplant. This time it's all about Glynn the Coffee Pot Engine and his Christmas Wish, which is based upon the episode 'The Christmas Coffee Pot'. To be honest, Eggplant made hit and miss songs, of course 'Race With You' is probably there most controversial one among fans, although I'm not a fan of it, it was a hit and miss to me. However this song is..in my opinion, not a bad song but more of an OK but nice and far more better than 'Race With You' and 'Hear The Engines Coming', seriously as I said before for the latter I hate that song and definitely one of the least creative songs ever, but I digress. The song, Glynn's, has basically recapped the whole episode but you could just watch the whole episode for it but the music was nice and very Christmassy. The lyrics are nice but there line 'Christmas is a time for things' is probably showing that they're not even trying to create a good song. I think it was nice but not among the best songs I've listened too. 

To be honest, when it comes to the songs, we had been shown with 'Sodor's Legend of The Lost Treasure' and 'The Great Race' that Andrew Brenner can write songs and they are far more better than what Eggplant can write and we have other singers such as Mark Moraghan, the narrator of the show and he has a fantastic voice and Teresa Gallagher as well one of the voice actors as well, in fact most of the VA's have a great singing voice as shown in this year's DVD special. So why have Eggplant? If the production team are opening up to new ideas maybe they should give the writers and the narrator a try when it comes to the songs. 

The Guess Who puzzles are just your typical Thomas puzzles and the characters featured are Gordon, Thomas & Rocky together, Rusty and Winston. It's good for kids as usual though in the end. 

OVERALL

This DVD is far more better than the US' 'Thomas' Christmas Carol' last year. The episodes are worth every penny with the writing, characterisation and strong continuity. The intervals are good, except for The Fat Controller/Sir Topham Hatt's Tales and while the Glynn song is not the best it's better than 'Snow Place Like Home'. It's also good to hear that these episodes will also be on the UK's 'Thomas' Christmas Carol' and hopefully two more on 'Full Steam To The Rescue' around October/November 2016, if it happens for the latter maybe the UK might be in sync with the US when it comes to upcoming episodes next season. Fingers crossed.

The DVD comes out to the American audience next week on the 18th but I think it's better to buy them on iTunes if you want the clear quality of 1080p or Amazon Video, since it came out last week on the American website.

RATING:

9/10

S20 Ep.5: Bradford the Brake Van

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

BRADFORD THE BRAKE VAN

Written by

Lee Pressman

Directed by
Dianna Basso

Produced by
Ian McCue (HIT)
Tracy Blagdon (Arc)

Air Date:

9/09/16

Plot:

When Bradford the Brake Van arrives from the mainland, Thomas is delighted to work with him as he is excellent at keeping the Troublesome Trucks under control. He is also a real stickler for the rules, which keeps making Thomas late, but when Thomas decides to go off without him, he gets into trouble.

PRO
- Bradford 
- Moral: Safety comes first
- Rob Rackshaw's acting
- Chris Renshaw's composition
- Samson and Bradford could make a great dynamic

CON
- Maybe Bradford could've been scolded at for his overzealous behaviour
- Samson could've been the star
- Bradford's reason to stay on Sodor.

I think out of all the episodes we've seen this week, this one is the best one of them all. First off there's Bradford a stickler for rules. You might say it's Fergus repeating 'Do it right!' a thousand times but Bradford never repeats a sentence over and over again like the logging looneys he has an army type character and Rob Rackshaw just nails his performance. His voice acting is a lot like Windsor Davies from 'It Ain't Half Hot Mum' a British comedy show by the same people who did 'Are You Being Served?' Windsor Davies played as Battery Sargent Major. I guess Rob is a fan of the show? 

The story had provided a good moral that safety comes first before being on time and once again Chris Renshaw did another great composition for the episode and the music sounds almost like something out from 'The Great Escape' a very army band style sort of music. Brilliant!  

The crash though can be kind of disappointing to fans who look forward to it but I'm alright with that. In the end this was a great episode.

Even though Samson can be annoying he is a good character too in the end and with him being stubborn and headstrong I guess him and Bradford would make a great dynamic together based on their personalities. Please writers bring Bradford back again, he's already a favourite of mine!

But although this is a great episode it does have its flaws. I do understand that fans think it's kind of weird that the Fat Controller told Thomas that safety is more important than being delayed. But if you look at it in context he may have scolded an engine for being delayed but a railway can be very expensive when it comes to accidents along the way when it comes to being on time. 

I can also see why the Fat Controller could've scolded Bradford for his overzealous behavior and while yes Bradford is passionate about railway safety I think he could've been given a word to by the Fat Controller or Thomas or the other engines for his behaviour and tell him that he should do only if it's urgent. I also think Samson could've easily worked as the main character, as I mentioned earlier, with his stubborn and headstrong attitude, hopefully for a future episode. Plus Bradford didn't really had a reason to stay on the Island he was just there with Samson. Could've been better if it was about Samson doing things on the Island while Bradford looks after his or anyone else's trains. 

But despite these flaws I still considered this is a great episode and probably of the best of all time. Oh yeah and there faced box wagons, it's a small thing but it's great to see that again.

Episode Ratings:

Sidney Sings - 8/10

Toby's New Friend - 7/10
Henry Gets the Express - 10/10
Diesel and the Ducklings - 8/10
Bradford the Brake Van - 10/10

Overall Rating:

43/50

And like last year, Channel 5 had shown a small portion of new episodes from the recent season and will be going back to repeats of S16 and to me it is no surprise considering that it all happened last year with Season 19. Who knows when they will air more episodes within the UK, hopefully they air the new Christmas episodes in December rather than January, however three Christmas episodes from the 20th season will be on the UK's 'Thomas' Christmas Carol' DVD which is great and hopefully HIT and Mattel keep up with it. 

So who knows when more of Season 20 will air? Maybe we should await Japan's schedule like last year or Australia's? Well we'll just have to wait and see.

S20 so far is very good and I look forward to more in the coming months, hope they don't leave it for too long. Anyway on with September 27th with the Christmas episodes.

S20 Ep.4: Diesel and the Ducklings

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

DIESEL AND THE DUCKLING

Written by
Lee Pressman

Directed by
Dianna Basso

Produced by
Ian McCue (HIT)
Tracy Blagdon (Arc)

Air Date:
8/09/16

Plot:

Diesel always likes to appear rough and tough in front of Arry and Bert, but Thomas discovers that he is a big softie when it comes to baby ducklings. Diesel promises to be nice to everyone in exchange for Thomas's silence. How long can he keep it up?

PRO
- Diesel's theme from Chris Renshaw
Diesel's driver being the rough and tough guy
- Moral: It's OK to show your soft side
- Diesel's characterisation

CON
- I think Thomas' role should've been given to Duck
- Thomas was kind of hard on Diesel

This was...a rather strange episode but not in a bad way. Lee Pressman's stories can be considered as 'Miller-esque' at times and that is the same person who wrote 'Gordon and Spencer' back in S7, a personal favourite of mine. But his episodes so far are not that bad. I like 'Diesel's Christmas Carol' but that episode makes it feel like Diesel will be good for good and then he reverts back to his devious ways. But how the way they handled his character here is works much better here. He tries to be nice but his old habits often comes back, a bit like 'Duncan the Humbug' from S18. However while Thomas' role doesn't seem, as how the Reverend Wilbert Awdry would put it, 'crane shunted' here. I think Thomas was kind of hard on Diesel, yes he doesn't like that Diesel was being rough and tough but it really doesn't fit for a character like him considering he's the voice of reason character.

I think maybe Duck would've fit in that role as of course he and Diesel had a history together and it would've been better if both engines have a lesson to learn. Duck could've learnt that revenge can't be sweet and Diesel with the same moral as shown in this episode. 

I love the small moments from Arc Productions and probably one of the best small things they added was Diesel's driver grabbing the brush from Percy's driver. It was a just a hilarious moment to look at and once Chris Renshaw did another great composition for the show and it sounds thematic. While I always love the Hartshorne's music and no offence if they are reading this but I never really liked how their themes were just there in the previous episodes and specials. There were times when there music were at that moment but when it comes to a certain character it really felt like random. 

The moral is something good as well and never had been shown through a Thomas episode before about that it's OK to show your soft side. Something that I think anyone can relate to. In the end it's a strange but rather enjoyable episode and yes it was nice to see 'Arry and Bert having some dialogue but they were just there being Diesel's mates and that's it.

Oh yeah and there was some rhyming in this episode. To me I don't see as something from the Miller/Barlow era but more of a football chant. Yes the rhyming does remind everyone of that era but let's be honest the rhyming here is more bearable rather than hearing three times too much that you want to bang your head on a wall. The chant, as I call it, in this episode was just here and there. 

Episode Ratings:

Sidney Sings - 8/10

Toby's New Friend - 7/10
Henry Gets the Express - 10/10
Diesel and the Ducklings - 7/10

Overall Rating:

32/40

S20 Ep.3: Henry Gets The Express

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

HENRY GETS THE EXPRESS

Written by

Helen Farrall 

Directed by
Dianna Basso

Produced by

Ian McCue (HIT)
Robert Anderson (Arc)

Air Date:

7/09/16

Plot:

When Gordon is late, the Fat Controller asks Henry to pull the Express. Despite his misgivings, he is a huge success. Meanwhile, Gordon is not happy that he has to take over Henry's work, which he thinks is beneath him, and decides to go on strike.

PRO
- Henry's characterisation
- A nice throwback to 'Edward and Gordon'
- John Hasler's Rheneas
Moral: You must do as you're told

CON
- A missed opportunity for Bill and Ben interacting with Gordon
- Why not make Henry's express duties alongside Gordon permanent?
- Maybe the episode could've been another two parter.

Even though I've enjoyed 'Henry Spots Trouble' because of its relatable storyline to the target audience, preschoolers, about chicken pox despite him being a worrier and 'The Beast of Sodor' while the same as the former it did have a great moment of Henry standing up against the abominable snowman which turns out to be the Fat Controller. This episode in my opinion is, so far, probably one of the best episodes we had this season. Helen Farrall was absolutely spot on with Henry's original persona, while although I said his vanity and pompous attitude is the same as James and Gordon, I think him being the friendly giant is one of the best traits they gave him in the TV series despite they gave that to Hiro and Murdoch. 

The dynamic between Henry and Gordon is amazing and it has the classic series or Railway Series vibe since the two big engines work so well together. I also like that Henry manipulates Gordon about the Flying Kipper, just a funny moment and it did provide a good moral about that you must do as you are told when it comes to say like a parent or guardian. 

I will say though that I think it was a missed opportunity for Bill and Ben to interact with Gordon and tease him about pulling trucks it would've had that 'Wrong Road' feeling towards it despite how small it would've been. But I'm not that worried or peeved off about it. In the end, this was a great episode.

I will also say why not have the Fat Controller rearrange the timetable to let Henry work alongside Gordon to pull the express, be a good thing to see throughout the series. A bit like the Fat Controller saying in 'Thomas Gets Bumped' that he'll rearrange the timetable so that he and Bertie can work together more.

I think maybe this episode could've worked maybe as another two parter, like 'Diesel's Ghostly Christmas'. Have this episode focus on Henry and the express and the next one focusing on Gordon and trucks and his strike. Gordon's strike was more of a fit he was pulling like a bratty child but maybe the blame would have to be the episode description from Channel 5.

Also this is John Hasler's first episode as the new voice of Rheneas since Ben Small left the show. I think his new voice is great and while it is different it does manage to be a bit like Hasler's counterpart. I love it!  

Episode Ratings:

Sidney Sings - 8/10

Toby's New Friend - 7/10
Henry Gets the Express - 10/10

Overall Rating:

25/30