S20 Ep.18: Tit For Tat

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

TIT FOR TAT

Originally Written by

The Rev.W.Awdry

Adapted by
Andrew Brenner

Directed by
Dianna Basso

Produced by 
Ian McCue

Air Date 
23/01/17 - CAN
5/03/17 - JPN 

Plot
One day two visitors come to the Island of Sodor to take pictures of interesting engines; At first Bert finds them very polite; They drive their little purple car along the line, racing ahead of him and stop to take pictures as they go past.

PRO
- The expansion of the story from beginning to end
- Thomas was in character
- Total respect to the two vicars
- I love the television reference by Bert
- The engine crews interacting with the engines

CON
- Teddy Boston's render looks a little bit off
- Seeing Skarloey having a cameo just shows how underused they are.

If anyone is wonder what 'Tit for Tat' means, it means 'the infliction of an injury or insult in return for one that one has suffered.' Like a comeback which happens in this story. I never thought I see the day when an unadapted Railway Series story had become an episode as part of the TV series. This hasn't happened since 'Mind That Bake' in season 4 which was 22 years ago! Sure there was 'The Adventure Begins' but that's a mini DVD special not a TV series episode.

Usually the Railway Series stories are five minutes long but as time moved on the show had expand a more longer running which is about 9mins long and how the way they dragged the story out, it did pretty well. We are given an introduction to the small railway engines and the two vicars, whom are the late Reverend Wilbert Awdry (1911-1997) and the late Teddy Boston (1924-1986) and I will say they have given them most respect as characters. However Teddy Boston's render, the fat clergyman as he was called in the books, looks a bit off to be honest but it doesn't look too bad. Maybe if they use him again for a cameo perhaps they should fix his face up a bit. 

However the Reverend Awdry's render is almost accurate towards the real person himself so well done to the animators at Arc Productions now Jam Filled Productions. 

Thomas was in character even if it was for a few seconds. He doesn't act like a beastly goody two shoes that is bland and uninteresting like we see in 'Three Steam Engines Gruff'. Here we see him whinging that the two vicars weren't taking his photograph as of course he brags about his superiority and it feels very childlike when it comes to kids and their boasting. It was also very nice to see Thomas and the Reverend Wilbert Awdry interacting to each other. Thomas speaking to his creator! 

I also love how we see more interactions of engine and crew this needs to happen more and not just for a few seconds like that they did in 'Long Lost Friend' in S18. It just feels nice to see that throughout the episode, especially the 'Come on, give us a smile!' scene which was funny and adorable at the same time and I do love in the ending that we see the vicars apologised to Bert about their mishaps rather than happen off screen and of course I do like how Bert mention that he would be on television a possible meta reference about the TV series, like they did in the Railway Series books.

I was going to talk about how the Reverend wasn't credited in the title card but thanks to SamtheTrainFan for pointing it out, his name can be seen on the intro credits so they know.

However there are some cons for this episode. I don't know if it's a nitpick but seeing Skarloey just shows how underused they are, the narrow gauge engines. They have been seen this season but come on can we at least see an episode focused on them? Perhaps the settings for the Skarloey railway hadn't been finished yet, which I can understand. 

However in the end, the episode was a great and respectable adaptation that had kept close to the original story and I hope we see more of these in future! Perhaps for Bear we see his story 'Super Rescue' being adapted, please!!!

Rating: 10/10

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
Ryan and Daisy - 7/10
Pouty James - 5/10

Blown Away - 9/10

The Way She Does It - 9/10

Letters To Santa - 8/10
Love Me Tender - 7/10
The Railcar & The Coaches - 9/10

Mucking About - 9/10
Cautious Connor - 10/10
All In Vain - 10/10
Buckled Tracks and Bumpy Trucks - 7/10
Tit for Tat - 10/10

Overall Rating:

149/180

S20 Ep.17: Buckled Tracks and Bumpy Trucks

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

BUCKLED TRACKS AND BUMPY TRUCKS

Written by

Lee Pressman

Directed by
Dianna Basso

Produced by
Ian McCue (HIT)

Air Date

16/01/17 - CAN
26/02/17 - JAP

Plot

It's the hottest day of the year on Sodor and the sun is causing the tracks to buckle and bend; Dowager Hatt arrives with a present for the Fat Controller.

PRO
- A good message about what reflects and absorb heat
- Flynn and Belle's role don't feel forced

CON
- The title could've been more better 

I think what makes the episode strange is its title. In Japan it was called 'Really Useful Hat' and with a title like that it makes sense given that the whole episode was pretty much focused on the Fat Controller and his white safari hat. The episode does have a good educational message about what reflects and absorb heat and with the tracks being painted white, which can happen in real life so very good piece of realism there.

However the title here in the western world just seems odd. Of course their were buckled tracks but they weren't really the main focus as it felt like it was here and there and it felt more like the focus was just on the summer season, another title that might've worked could've been 'Heat Wave'? Although the whole episode just felt awkward and clunky in places with the focus on that hat, then the tracks. However I feel that Belle and Flynn weren't really forced into the story as they did have their use when it comes to fire and there were some funny moments with the Fat Controller and his hat.

But as I said before, the story felt clunky and awkward in places that I don't consider it as bad but not the best episode I've seen this season.

Rating: 7/10

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
Ryan and Daisy - 7/10
Pouty James - 5/10

Blown Away - 9/10

The Way She Does It - 9/10

Letters To Santa - 8/10
Love Me Tender - 7/10
The Railcar & The Coaches - 9/10

Mucking About - 9/10
Cautious Connor - 10/10
All In Vain - 10/10
Buckled Tracks and Bumpy Trucks - 7/10

Overall Rating:

139/170

S20 Ep.16: All In Vain

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

ALL IN VAIN

Written by

Helen Farrall 

Directed by
Dianna Basso

Produced by

Ian McCue (HIT)

Air Date

16/01/17 - CAN
26/02/17 - JPN

Plot

James is delighted to be picked to take the Mayor and Sir Topham Hatt to a ball at Callan Castle and promises to do all his jobs without complaint; James is horrified at the end of the day when he finds a tiny scratch on his paintwork.

PRO
- James' character is tolerable and less flanderised
- James willing to sacrifice his own vanity for a special job 
- The little thumbs up from the painter
- Edward was the right choice

CON
- Edward sound a bit whiny at the start.

This is 'Pouty James' done right! James' character is definitely growing from his previous episode and he is less flanderised than what the previous did for him. He was vain but he did try his best to sacrifice his own vanity just to do a special job that he was given to by the Fat Controller. You don't see him complain or worry about it. Even with the small scratch he knows that he messed up and learned that he should've ignored it. I also love the choice of using Edward to help him and it gives that chemistry between them like the early classic series. You can see his helpful persona and it feels more natural to see him helping James rather than a forced Thomas role. However there are some small things about him that I don't like, Edward. I see that he was a bit whiny about him not taking the mayor usually he wouldn't mind if another engine had taken a job that he would be good with. But to be honest, his 'Here's Edward' line to most fans was considered as cringey even though that it is a part of Edward's character to tease another engine's trait. It shows in 'Cows' and 'Old Reliable Edward'.

There's pretty much one flaw I see in this episode but it I think it can be ignored easily. It had good character growth for James and some good comedic value in it as well. I do like the little thumbs up from the painter, it's small but it brings a bit of a chuckle out. I hope they keep on developing him, James, but I won't hold my breath for it considering a few certain branch line engines had an episode against that.

Rating: 10/10

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
Ryan and Daisy - 7/10
Pouty James - 5/10

Blown Away - 9/10

The Way She Does It - 9/10

Letters To Santa - 8/10
Love Me Tender - 7/10
The Railcar & The Coaches - 9/10

Mucking About - 9/10
Cautious Connor - 10/10
All In Vain - 10/10

Overall Rating:

132/160

S20 Ep.15: Cautious Connor (600th post)

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

ALSO 600TH POST!!

PLEASE NOTE FROM 'MUCKING ABOUT' ONWARDS THESE REVIEWS ARE BEING RELEASED DURING THE JAPANESE AIRING OF THE SHOW. SOME EPISODES THAT AIRED IN JAPAN MAY HAVE ALREADY BEEN REVIEWED.

CAUTIOUS CONNOR

Written by

Andrew Brenner

Directed by

Dianna Basso

Produced by

Ian McCue (HIT)

Tracy Blagdon (Jam Filled)

Air Date

5/12/16 - CAN
19/02/17 - JPN

Plot

While going at high speeds, Connor breaks his coupling rod and fears going fast will break it again.

PRO
- Connor's character development
- Stephen's pep speech
- The camera angles during the pep talk

CON

- I think Edward or Rheneas would've been another good choice

- It would've been better if Caitlin helped Connor

 

When I first saw this I said it was not only Brenner's best script in this season but probably one of the best of the series. It was great to see Connor having some character development and a main role rather than being a secondary character with traits that he just likes being fast. The development that Brenner gave to him was just great to see with Connor actually worried about being fast after an accident which can happen to people in real life. 

The main highlight of the episode to me would have to be Stephen's pep talk. When I first saw this I thought it was inspirational with his words that the steam engines he knew in the past didn't give up when something bad happened, they get back on their wheels and try again. It makes you a bit pumped up and being proud of yourself for who and what you are. The swooping camera angles during the talk were amazing to see too so well done to Jam Filled on that, since they animated the episode. However I think there were some major missed opportunities for this episode. 

While I do love Stephen giving Connor the pep talk, I think it would've been better if you have engines like Edward or Rheneas. Those two engines went through some trouble like Connor went through. For Edward, you have 'Edward's Exploit' where he fought in the bad weather despite his faults to take his passengers home rather than giving up and for Rheneas you have the story 'Gallant Old Engine' where his valve gear was jammed and the Skarloey railway was suffering hardship at the time but Rheneas had brought his passengers home in the wet weather and everyone praised what a fine railway it was and it brought the railway back to popularity again. 

Also while Thomas is given another role in this season, I do see him fit in considering that Ulfstead is on his branch line, as Sam Wilkinson's map from 2014 had placed an extension to the castle. But I think what could've been better if Caitlin was the one that helped Connor to get back to himself again. After all they both love racing each other and they do share a close friendship and the ending of the episode would've been just been characters that were introduced from 'King of The Railway'. But despite that, I never felt bothered by it because the episode delivered very well. 

All in all though, the episode is probably one of the best I've seen. 

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
Ryan and Daisy - 7/10
Pouty James - 5/10

Blown Away - 9/10

The Way She Does It - 9/10

Letters To Santa - 8/10
Love Me Tender - 7/10
The Railcar & The Coaches - 9/10

Mucking About - 9/10
Cautious Connor - 10/10

Overall Rating:

122/150



S20 Ep.14: Mucking About

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

PLEASE NOTE FROM 'MUCKING ABOUT' ONWARDS THESE REVIEWS ARE BEING RELEASED DURING THE JAPANESE AIRING OF THE SEASON. SOME EPISODES THAT AIRED IN JAPAN MAY HAVE ALREADY BEEN REVIEWED.

MUCKING ABOUT

Written by

Davey Moore

Directed by

Dianna Basso

Produced by

Ian McCue (HIT)

Tracy Blagdon (Jam Filled)

Air Date

5/12/16 - CAN
19/02/17 - JPN

Plot

Max and Monty are being so dangerous, they damage Oliver's arm and treads and cause Thomas to derail.

PRO

- I like how Oliver feels like the leader

- Max and Monty feeling sorry for Oliver, for a bit

- Moral: Don't muck about 

- Max and Monty's theme

CON

- Be good to see Mrs. Jenny scolding Max and Monty

So we finally got our first episode with the Pack over ten years after the 'Thomas' Trusty Friends' and 'On Site With Thomas' DVDs. Even though they had appeared in previous Thomas material it was great to finally see them having an episode for themselves in the CG era. 

To me the episode is good, I really like how Davey Moore had given a bit of personality towards Oliver. He feels more like the leader of the pack and the one that reassures everyone, like he did in this episode when his piston was damaged. Hope we see more of that in the future. I also like Max and Monty having a bit of depth as well. They weren't just one dimensional bully characters they do feel sorry for Oliver's damage even if it was shown for a short second of course you see Moore balancing out there dimwitted attitude which keeps them in total character.

The episode to me at least feels like this should've be called 'Saving Time' as Max and Monty dumped there rubbish onto Thomas' branch line to save time and that was some conflict in this episode too unlike the Samson episode. The moral was good too which is of course the title of the episode. It tells kids not to be foolish or getting carried away. Although I think it would've been great if we've seen Mrs. Jenny, it had been nine years since we've last seen her in S12 and you think it would've been better if it were her scolding the two dump trucks. But the policeman works as well too.

Both dubs, UK & US, have different voices and TBH looking at the UK dub that had aired in Japan when this review was published, I much prefer their UK voices as they sound tough whereas the US just make them sound like typical goofballs. The US voices aren't bad but they just don't suitable for them.

I know that Thomas had double side rods when he was derailed but let's be honest, errors are errors. The animators would've had deadlines to meet and much work to make for HIT Entertainment as well as their other clients. They're human beings and pointing out the errors are just nitpicks plus these types of errors are just a blink and you miss it kind of thing. 

I could go on and on and on about how great Renshaw's composition is but every time when there's a new theme for an episode, Renshaw delivered it very well that it deserves a full amount of praise. I pretty much like it more than his Diesel theme, Max and Monty's theme. In the end the episode was good and entertaining to watch.

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
Ryan and Daisy - 7/10
Pouty James - 5/10

Blown Away - 9/10

The Way She Does It - 9/10

Letters To Santa - 8/10
Love Me Tender - 7/10
The Railcar & The Coaches - 9/10

Mucking About - 9/10

Overall Rating:

112/140

 

DVD Review: Tales From The Rails

WELCOME TO THE FIRST DVD REVIEW FOR 2017! AND AS USUAL HERE'S THE WARNING:

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

TALES FROM THE RAILS

Episodes

Helping Hiro

Very Important Sheep

Henry Gets The Express
Toby's New Friend

Diesel and The Ducklings

Bradford the Brake Van
Saving Time

Written by

Mark Huckerby & Nick Olster

Helen Farrall 

Davey Moore

Lee Pressman 
Andrew Brenner

Special Features
'All You Need Are Friends' - Sing-a-long song
Really Useful Engines
The Earl's Quiz
Landmarks of Sodor
Guess Who? Puzzles
The Fat Controller's Tales

Directed by

Dianna Basso

Don Spencer

Produced by

Ian McCue (HIT)

Jennifer Hill (Arc)

Release Date

17/01/16 

It's 2017! While we await for the upcoming 21st season, this year's special 'Journey Beyond Sodor', more of S20 and the 2017 themed DVD 'Extraordinary Engines', the UK was given its first DVD release of the new year entitled 'Tales From The Rails' featuring episodes from S19 and S20. Is this DVD worth it well let's find out!

EPISODES

The episodes are consisted with two S19 episodes and six S20 episodes. The links to my episode reviews are there for clicking to see what I think of them. In my opinion, the S20 episodes make up for the S19 episodes, although there is only one from that season that I like that is on this list. I'm rather quite pleased that Bradford's episode is on this DVD too as it is one of my favourites, although 'Saving Time' to me is probably one of the weaker episodes from S20. 

SPECIAL FEATURES

The DVD opens up with a trailer for the 2017 tent pole themed DVD 'Extraordinary Engines' featuring the new character Hugo the Rail Zeppelin. Of course some of these episodes, that will be on the DVD, had aired in Japan already but they will be released in the US via iTunes this month and then on DVD over there in February. The UK and Australia will await their release dates, although it might be around March. I have already viewed these episodes on YouTube that were uploaded from Japan as they play the UK dub over there as well as their own one so my views of these episodes will come out later.

To my surprise, the intervals are not even part of the DVD run as they are only placed as bonus features. I don't get why HIT Entertainment would edit the DVDs that way rather than being like the US releases where it's the intro, episode, interval and so on until the credits. It would be much simpler and easier to have that rather than episode after episode, a bit of a nice break in between. However the intervals are the usual. 'Really Useful Engines' gives us a background of Duncan and Connor and I do have to say I like it how Duncan's history was mentioned about him being grumpy about not being polished or his passengers etc. 

The Earl's Quiz showcases episodes such as 'Marion and The Pipe', 'Signals Crossed' and 'The Smelly Kipper', although I don't know why they snuck in a US dub clip for the latter on a UK release. 'Landmarks of Sodor' gives such some explantation about 'Ulfstead Castle' although I felt Rob Rackshaw was shouting most of his words during the clip. The 'Guess Who?' puzzles are pretty much what you expect and they're mostly Samson, Winston and Thomas & Rocky. Good for young kids to enjoy. 

And 'The Fat Controller's Tales' are pretty much the same. We see an engine and their episode. Although I do wish they continue using the Railway Series stories. I know they won't be using Mr. Perkins again, I'll explain that soon, but maybe have the Fat Controller in his office reading a book and saying hello to the viewers and introduces us to the Railway Series story with the illustrations from one of the books. The segment as it is now is just like the 'Really Useful Engine' segment where we known an engine and its adventure.

In previous reviews I have been wondering about the Perkins segments and why they are not on the DVDs as usual. Despite being part of the World Tour series back in 2015, even they could've been filmed in 2014, I now have the feeling it was because of the actor Ben Forster's health. I'm pretty sure everyone by now had heard that he had sadly passed away earlier in January due to his battle of cancer, as stated by SiF and his former boarding school on their respective Facebook pages. I think he had retired as Mr. Perkins to look after his health and that's why we never saw that much of him on the DVDs or on YouTube. If that is the case really then it's good that he did that for the sake of his health, retiring to look after himself, and if any of his family members or close friends are reading this, my condolences go out to you, Ben Forster had played such a bright and colourful character that had been enjoyed and would be sorely missed by many Thomas fans young and old. May he rest in peace.

OVERALL

I think the DVD is good. It's got some good episodes from S20 and S19 despite a couple of mediocre ones. The special features are good and interesting too and I think it's money's worth for every Thomas fan young and old. 

OVERALL RATING

7/10

A Retrospective of Thomas & Friends DVDs of 2016

As we end another year, we take a look back at the DVDs that were released during the course of 2016. But first:

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

SOME OPINIONS MAY HAVE CHANGED DURING THE COURSE OF THE YEAR

A RETROSPECTIVE OF THOMAS & FRIENDS

DVDS OF 2016

START YOUR ENGINES!

Review Date: 2/03/16

Rating: 8/10

I still think this did better than 'Spills and Thrills' and 'Dinos and Discoveries'. There are stories that don't feel they are the same with the 'character vs. character' plot line and give out different plot lines like about being who you are in your own right. However, I still find 'Race With You' a meh song and it's sad that Robert and Peter Hartshorne had left the series last year. So who would be the songwriters now? EggPlant aren't really the best at writing songs, not I'm not talking about the fruit. 

I love Philip and his persona but the debut episodes he was given was not entirely good, at the end. I hate how he broke his promise to the Fat Controller that he won't race around again but decided to have a race with Gordon anyway was not punished for it. It would've been better if say Philip loves to race and dreams of racing around Sodor, like Thomas wanting to see the world, but after 'racing' Gordon, the Fat Controller scolded him for neglecting his work. Maybe the writers don't want to show TFC as a harsh person so they wouldn't get the 'communist' tag from the 'journalists',  but when it comes to tell kids the message, they have to show TFC's harsh side to understand the consequences. 

WHALE OF A TALE & 

OTHER SODOR ADVENTURES

Review Date: 30/05/16

Rating: 6.5/10

One year after the US got it as a Wal*Mart exclusive. It's pretty much the same as the US' except for the Mr. Perkins intervals and 'Salty All at Sea' as an extra episode. I'm glad that HIT didn't forget about them (Perkins) as they are entertaining to watch with him reading out the Railway Series stories, but they were released before in the UK version of 'Trouble on the Tracks' last year along with the intervals that were in the US copy. It would've been much better if they had just delete them and given us a new 'Landmarks of Sodor' interval. 

The only difference this DVD has compare to the US copy is that 'Salty All at Sea' was added. But if this were released like the US copy it would've been pointless to release one year after it was released over in the US considering that the episodes are already on YT or stream demand websites after their TV run. But considering that 'The Great Race' was scheduled one week after the UK and Australia releases their version, I hope HIT keeps this up with the generic releases and episode exclusive copies as well.

THE COMPLETE SERIES 17

Review Date: 27/07/16

Rating: 9/10

Ever since 2013/14 I had enjoyed Season 17 with its writing and animation and now three years later after seeing a collection of episodes banded together of a new era from Brenner and Co. this season is still great to watch. It may as well be dated considering the mass amount of upgrading that Arc Productions did in the next two seasons and specials, but there are memorable episodes to this day such as 'Thomas' Shortcut', 'Gone Fishing' etc. there are some bumps here and there and some episodes that I considered as my least favourite are still worthy of a watch. 

WILD WATER RESCUE & 
OTHER ENGINE ADVENTURES

Review Date: 28/08/16

Rating: 3/10

I decided to give this one a proper review back in August and looking back at this 'exclusive' release, this was an entirely pointless release from Target all to promote a Trackmaster train set for the titled episode. This is 'Big Bang Surprise' but with a S19 episode. The title episode wasn't the best but in comparison to the ones its released alongside with, It is the only bearable episode to watch. There are good segments but it's still a pointless release and it could've been better as a barebones release with just the one episode, maybe a trailer for the 2015 special and maybe a Guess Who puzzle with the Trackmaster set.

THE GREAT RACE

Review Date: 5/09/16

Rating: 6/10

It had flaws such as Diesel's subplot, Thomas' bridge jump and the redundancy of Vinnie as the antagonist. But it provide good songs and a relatable moral. Although in comparison it didn't beat the likes of 'Sodor's Legend of The Lost Treasure' but within a 60min limit there probably would've been great potential if HIT and Mattel had expand the time limit to 1hr rather than 60 minutes, but that's not the main problem though. It would've been better if the special was focused on Percy and the moral about losing is OK as long as you tried your best or, probably better, Gordon trying to better than his brother! It could've easily worked on the jealously that has towards his brother, Flying Scotsman. The actual plot within Diesel's clunky subplot had used the overused 'Steamies Vs. Diesel' plot line all for Thomas' crash with no pay off and the hype for the international engines was very underwhelming and I feel it didn't brace the multicultural side of the story that media had been pointing out. It's OK, I don't even hate it, but it had missed opportunities and the movie didn't fit for a character like Thomas.

TINSEL ON THE TRACK

 Review Date: 12/10/16
Rating: 9/10

Probably this DVD had the best Christmas episodes to date. I love the episodes that were made for S20 as they were so creative with great storytelling, characterisation and amazing visuals. It's hard to choose a favourite as Helen Farrall & Davey Moore had both written brilliant episodes. It's also great that they had released three episodes for 'Thomas' Christmas Carol' and 'Full Steam To The Rescue' over in the UK as well.

FULL STEAM TO THE RESCUE

Review Date: 4/11/16
Rating: 7/10

This DVD has the last remaining Thomas episodes from the 19th season and of course they are still a hit and miss to me. However there were two episodes from 20th season that are the Christmas ones and I think they are on the scale from OK to great. However I think the UK releases should be edited in the same way as the US releases. Have the intro, episode, interval, rinse and repeat and then credits as what they do now currently feels a bit awkward. 



ULTIMATE FRIENDSHIP ADVENTURE

Review Date: 3/11/16
Rating: 7/10

It's a surprise to see that this was the only episodic release that has no special features which kinda makes me believe that this felt it was like a last minute addition or maybe they didn't have any intervals or special features at the time, yet last year they had placed previous ones from 'Santa's Little Engine' US DVD on last year's 'generic release'. Despite that there were some good and not so good episodes on this DVD. I'm sure everyone knows that I'm not a fan of some season 19 episodes that were placed on here but there are some good one from that season too, at least in my opinion and there are some good ones from season 20 as well. 

It's a simple DVD with ten episodes and that's pretty much it as there are no intervals and special bonus. There were some good episodes and some, in my opinion, that are not so good. But despite that it was a fine DVD.

---

And so we now come to the end of 2016. What's next for Thomas in 2017? Well there is the upcoming 21st season, now all animated by Jam Filled Productions who bought out Arc Productions back in August 2016 and thankfully with the staff that were part of the former animation studio. There is also the upcoming yearly special 'Journey Beyond Sodor' for the first time being a 70min special. We know little about the plot but not much of its outcome but we know it's about friendship focusing on James and Thomas and some experimental engines. 

There is also the upcoming new character, Hugo, for next year's Spring/Autumn DVD 'Extraordinary Engines'. So to conclude this post I like to wish everyone a happy and safe 2017 and hope you have a great future ahead of you.

-NWR1991