Thomas And Friends TV Series "Thomas And The Royal Engine" Review

Thomas The Tank Engine as a show had been going on since the eighties with it only ending in 2021 and while many do rightfully think that the last episode of season 24 was the shows final episode; The fact it that's not true as the last episode to be produced wasn't an episode of the show it really was a special made to celebrate the franchises seventy fifth anniversary and that's that very special that i'm going to be talking to you all about today and so then join me as I review the special that marked the end of the franchise with the special in question being called simply just "Thomas And The Royal Engine" enjoy.

The plot of this special is The Fat Controller and Thomas are invited to a special ceremony in London by none other then the then Queen of England herself. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special was in all honesty not that bad. With the specials plot being a decent plot that does do a good job of setting itself apart from when the last few series of the show were all about just by sticking to what worked in the show as while there is mention of Thomas going abroad in the special the special mainly focused on the UK setting. This is something that does work in the specials favor as that's what the fans of the show would want to see in Thomas episode and while yes it would have been nice if the plot did include characters from Thomas's adventures on the whole as this is meant to celebrate seventy five years of the franchise as a whole it's not something that was needed and while it does make from a marketing point of view for Thomas to be the centre of the plot given that it this special was meant to celebrate seventy five years since the release of the first book it would made just as much sense for Gordon , Henry and Edward to take centre stage with the specials plot admittedly being a bit on the thin side as there is nothing to the episodes plot that makes it worthy of being a full blown special in it's own right with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this episode is John Hasler as Thomas , Keith Wickham as Henry and Gordon and Nigel Pilkington as Percy. Also starring in this episode is Teresa Gallagher as Emily , Rob Rackstraw as James , The Thin Clergyman and the Mainland Engine Cleaners , Rachael Miller as Rebecca and Prince Charles , Rosamund Pike as Duchess , Colin McFarlane as Bulgy and Beresford , Keith Wickham as The Fat Controller , Dowager Hatt , Thomas' Crew and the Mainland Stationmaster and Sharon Miller as Queen Elizabeth II.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special was in all honesty not that bad. All of the series regular actors do indeed do a really good job of voicing their characters for what would be the final time in the show with them all getting a small amount of time to show us just why they were good in the show to begin with and as is tradition with Thomas we do have a celebrity voicing a one off character with us having the delightful Rosamund Pike as Duchess with her doing a really good job in the episode as a whole. With the best actor in the whole entire episode being John Hasler as Thomas which granted might be something of a cliche thing to say as he is playing the main character of the show but it's also something that is true as he does get alot to do as the character outside of him of just spouting a few catchphrases with John having a good voice for Thomas as it does capture both his more youthful nature and how wise he is at the same time with this being something that wouldn't have worked if the character had a voice that made him sound to young with John even having some really good charm and charisma that really does shine through in his performance in this special. With the acting that's in this very special really being helped by the fact that the script for this special is just so good that all this specials actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very special. 

Doing the animation for this special is the legends and the greats that are currently over at Jam Filled Toronto. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special was in all honesty not that bad. The specials animation was quite frankly alot more better then what it really had any right to be as by all rights the animation in this special should have been really bad as the animation in season 24 was pretty bad but no infact it's actually alot more better then that as you can tell the makers of this special did put alot of thought and effort in to making the specials animation look as good as it could have been. As while yes the backgrounds do lack alot of detail which does make it hard to work out on if the characters are meant to be on the mainland or on Sodor but on the plus side the characters don't bounce as much when there talking this time around with the characters remaining still which is very pleasant to see and while this specials animation was never going to as good as the animation in a feature film would for the fact that it is a made for TV special there is alot more thought and effort gone into the animation then say something from Paw Patrol as you can see all of the love for the show that the animators have in each and every frame however tho the thing that lets down this specials animation is the fact that we don't get to see alot of different types of environments in the specials as alot of it is set in the country side which does get a bit boring to look at after a while and it would have given the animators the chance to show of more backgrounds if they did give us a more a variety of backgrounds it also would have helped if the specials animation had more of a chance to do some really creative things that show of just how good the animation is. 

As was mentioned at the start of this review whilst the series itself did technically end with season 24 this was the last special to be fully developed. Therefor this is the shows technical final episode as the series would be rebooted with that dreadful All Engines Go right after this special came out with it being weird that after thirty to forty years on the air that the show would come to an end as the Thomas TV series is just one of those shows that you think would never go away as the people that grew up watching it and liking could become fans of it and therefor write episodes for the show and thus inspiring the next generation of kids to do the exact same thing and yet someone possibly and Mattel decided that kids weren't enjoying this show when truth be told they weren't enjoying the bad stories that made up season 22 to 24. With this episode not even feeling like a finale episode as there's no sense of this is the end for the characters that you typically get when your watching the final episode of a show and heck not even all of the characters in the show show up for this special therefor they don't get that big send off moment that alot of the other characters in the special get which is something that makes you wonder if the the choice to cancel the show was made after this special was made as you know that the makers of the special would have gone out of there way to make it feel like a true finale if that was choice was made prior to the special being made but either way it was a bit sad to see this truly iconic show end knowing what comes after it isn't going to save the franchise but is rather going to do more harm to it then good, with the only way for Mattel to fix the mistakes that they made to be just to give us decent stories and that audience that you've lost would have come back as the show and the format wasn't broken.

There is a part of this episode that is shall we say quite infamous as it does feature someone who was then a member of the royal family but not long after recording his opening for the episode would start to distance himself from his family. Look to be fair having a member of the royal family open the episode is a good way to start the episode of as it is about Thomas going to meet them but it is something that hasn't aged all that well given what happens in real life therefor it would have made more sense if they got someone who was still in the royal family to do the opening like maybe Charles of William or maybe even Kate to do it as they are still quite high up in the royal family or maybe one of the lesser known royals as it's not really something that would have required a more well known family member to do it in the first place. Another issue with the episode is that it spends so much time in building up London and yet we spend a a grand total of around two minuets there at the end of the episode with the rest of the episode bein spent on showing the characters going to London which does make you wonder why they chose to shout out London by name and have the characters go there as they could have had the royal party go to Sodor and nothing would need to be changed plot wise and yet by shifting the location to London and not really showing us alot of the location it does make that whole idea feel like the waste of a good idea as it would have been fun to see how the makers of this show interpret something like the London Underground for example or even showing The Fat Controller being driven to Buckingham Palace for his meeting with Thomas being carried by lorry which is something that would have allowed the makers of the episode to give us a few shots of the characters going around other famous London landmarks bottom line being there is alot that they could have done with the London location and yet they don't do it all for no good reason.

Duchess as a new character was pretty fun as she is basically just a female version of Spencer with the thing being that she is forgetful. With her always forgetting something which in the case of this special was forgetting to have her safety valve checked and yet she's also always in a rush and worrying about several different things at once which does make her kind of a fun character and one that if the show did indeed continue you could very easily see her coming back into the show on a semi-regular basis as there are stories that you could tell with her character that don't involve the royal family being there and yet the character only shows up about four times in the whole special this is something that does go to show you that the makers of tis special did know what they doing. As with just four scenes they manage to create a character that does leave an impression on us the audience and while OK fair enough she's not the best written character however this is something that could also be said for alot of the new characters in the latter episodes of the show with Rebecca being a very good example of this as the show barely used her after they set her up as a character and yet here wit Duchess they do have the basis of a good character and yet the character never really appears after this special when it would have been super fun to see her again even in All Engines Go which given how they did the characters on that show would have been where she might have fit in the best. The character is one that did have lots of potential in the show to be a really good character as while she doesn't get alot of screen time in this special the time that she does get does make you want to see her more and see what her interactions with say Gordon would be like or given the fact that she's a female more kinder version of Spencer why not show us what there interactions are like and with the new Thomas reboot coming out in a few weeks why not have or a version of her be apart of the cast for that show and show us more of what her personality is.

Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly twenty two minuets and thirty six seconds. Which was a pretty solid running time for this special to have but at the same time tho this special really could have done with being alot longer then that just to make sure that all of the main characters from the show not only got there chance to say goodbye to the audience but also allow the characters more time in London as you very easily could have gotten this specials running time up to about thirty or forty minuets and with that added screen time it would have allowed for the plot to breathe alot more as with it's actual running time it does feel like that the special is just rushing from one plot point to the next with the special having more then enough plot there to cover that amount of running time in the first place. Yet even with the episode being as long as it is it still doesn't use its running time all that wisely as while the specials plot is as well developed as it was ever going to be the plot still does feel underbaked with this mainly due to the fact that it is now the official series finale as the special does spend alot of time with just The Fat Controller and Thomas and not enough time on adding things to the plot that make it feel more developed with the makers oft his special being more focused on showing us alot of the countryside then it is in giving us a well developed plot. This is something that is also kind of true for the specials character development as while both The Fat Controller and Thomas don't really need any kind of character development due ton them having gotten it in the previous episodes of the show characters like Duchess and Beresford don't get any kind of character development and while it's understandable as to why Beresford doesn't get any as he's only in the one scene Duchess is meant to be a main character and yet she doesn't get any kind of character development with the makers of this special being more focused on giving us references to past episodes then they are in giving the characters some character development but I really will admit that this special really does have some really bad pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is a comedy special that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special was in all honesty really good. With alot of the comedy in this special being more cute then anything else which is by no means a bad things as that is the type of comedy that this show did do best be it Bulgy saying that the mail would have arrived n time if it had been delivered by bus which is very true to his character or Duchess being convinced that Thomas has her coaches bottom line being there are alot of cute and funny moments here in the special. With the best joke in the whole special being when The Fat Controller is getting dressed in the morning and he opens his wardrobe and we see that the only hats he has are the same ones that he wears everyday and yet to top it of even his new hat is just the same hat that joke it just a cute joke that whilst yes you can see it coming as other films and TV shows have done that exact same joke before now it is still a funny joke and it is sone that is oddly befitting for his character as we can imagine him just having rows and rows of the same top hat all over the place and therefor picturing him trying to choose one to wear not just for meeting the Queen but also just for going to work on a daily basis is a pretty funny idea in it's own right and seeing the Thomas team put there own stamp on that joke is something that does make the joke feel kind of new all over again with the rest of the specials jokes being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall as a series finale this special isn't all that good as it doesn't wrap the show up at all but as an anniversary special then it does do it's job of reminding us all of why we fell n love with Thomas in the first place as the special does feel like a special that was written for the fans by the fans in my freaking pinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very special in this very review and a such tat really does mean that this very special really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Amazon . Co . UK and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very special that I used in this very post being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very special with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.

An Unlikely Fandom: The Impact Of Thomas The Tank Engine Film Review

Thomas The Tank Engine the series has been going since the eighties with it only just wrapping up a few years ago and the book the series is based off of has been going the forties. With there naturally being a fandom developing over the years be it from people who loved the show the show or people who read the books with alot of those fans not only being little kids but also being adults and well one of those fans has released a documentary about the fandom as a whole and I thought i'd talk about and so then join me as I review the film that proves you don't have to be a little kid to like Thomas the Tank Engine with the film in question being called simply just "An Unlikely Fandom: The Impact Of Thomas The Tank Engine" enjoy.

With this film being a documentary there really isn't a plot to speak off outside of the fact that the films director is going around not only interviewing people involved with making both the show and also Shining Time Station but also the fans. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. This films plot is genuinely a good idea as it would have been super easy for the plot of the film to just be about the making of the franchise as a whole but to also include things from the fans and the various aspects of the Thomas fandom from the websites to the fan made episodes and fan made models that actually is a really good idea. As the Thomas fandom is perhaps the most creative fandom out there at the very least when it comes to kids media anyway as they don't just limit themselves to drawings and fanfictions some of them will spend months creating a fully animated episode or some will spend months making models to create a full episode in the style of the early seasons of the show with the thing that lets this idea down a bit being the fact that they don't rally delve all that much into the creative process be it from the fan perspective or the perspective of those that made the show whilst this is something that would have made the films plot feel more thought out and be more in like with how creative the Thomas fandom is on the whole with the plot of this film also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this film is Abi Grant , Brandon Stone , Britt Allcroft , Daniel Coffey , Isaiah Ferguson and Jordan Neidert. Also starring in this film is Ken Friedel , Louis Cantone , Luke Ryan , Marvin Jerry , Michael White , Mike O'Donnell , Nicholas Jones , Vinnie Smith , Ricky Imparato , Rick Siggelkow , Samuel Knappett , Thomas Carter , Tom Denham , Tom Jedski , Veronica Chambers , Doug Blaine , Bradley Bledsoe , this films director , producer , editor and cinematographer Brannon Carty , Jadan DiStefano , Eric Drouin , Brandon FitzPatrick , Lachlan Kyle , Christian La Rocca , Hunter Lohse , Robert Magee , Matt Michaud , Jamil Morris , Adam Phelan , William Poletski , Vincent Sekafetz , Stephen Sheredy , Jackie Stitt , Nolan Thunder and Matthew Twillman.

The fact that the makers of this film managed to get as many key people who were involved with the creation of the show as they did is nothing short of a miracle. As they managed to get the daughter of Rev. W. Awdry to appear in the film and share the tale of of how the first book in the series essentially came to be which was something that they never had to do and yet the fact that he makers of this film got her to appear in the film does show you that they have a deep level of love for this franchise which does make sense as Brannon Carty is himself a Thomas The Tank Engine fan with hm even being on good terms with alot of the people that appear in this film with none of the crew that he interviews coming across as being stuck up which they very easily could have done. Heck he was even one of if not the last person to interview show creator Britt Allcroft before she passed away with him even dedicating the film to her that is just something that he never had to do and yet because of the fact that he loved these characters so much he did it anyway and while he of course doesn't mange to interview every single creative person that helped to make the show and the books a success as sadly alot of them are no longer with us it still would have been nice if we got interviews from some of the narrators of the show just to get there perspective on things and heck it would have been nice if as well as well as showing footage from The Magic Railroad if we got interviews from some of the cast members from that film as like it or not they apart of the franchises history now albeit in a small way but not having them in the film does work as well with allowing for more interviews with the fans and giving the fand a chance to show us why thy love this franchise and these characters as much as they do in the first place.

Even tho the films does gave alot of interviews from some of the key people that helped to make the franchise and to keep it alive. This film does feature alot more interviews with the people that share this deep unbridled love for Thomas those being the fans of the franchise and this is where the beating heart of the film does lie as without these passionate fans going against the social grain if you will and not only liking but loving something that was made with little kids in mind then there wouldn't a be a franchise to speak of and yet its due to the fact that we do have these fans that not only own the books but also watch every episode including the bad ones but also own the toys and are willing to do these creative things to show there love for these characters that we have a franchise to speak off. With all of them giving us great insight into not only what there hobby is in the Thomas fandom but for alot of them also giving us great insight into the kind of bullying that they got from kids when they found out that they liked Thomas The Tank Engine with this being something that really hasn't been explored before and it really should be as the one thing that Thomas The Tank Engine always teaches us through it's more villainous characters is that bullying is always wrong and that the bully will always end getting punished because of it with that lesson being something that whom ever those bullies were seemed to have forgotten about as there is nothing wrong with openly liking a show that was made for kids just look at all of the adults today that like Bluey as that show much like Thomas was is a really well written show and yet despite that there will be people out there who see both Bluey and Thomas as being nothing more then shows for babies and will openly mock the adults that like it when there's nothing wrong with liking a show that i actually good.

In what was a surprising move is the fact that they actually got an interview with the writer of what is technically the final the episode of Tomas And Friends Michael White. With him revealing that prior to being a writer of the show he was a fan and had to keep it a secret for almost two years that he had been given the job as a writer for the show with his friends and family only finding out when his first episode "An Engine Of Colors" back in season 22 and heck he was brought back on to write episodes of THAT animated Thomas show with him giving us some good amount of information like the fact that he himself had no idea of how The Royal Engine was going to turn out let alone who they were going to get to open the episode. With him quite frankly being more nervous about writing the anniversary special then anything else which is understandable as it was a big anniversary to celebrate and had the show still be on the air when the eightieth anniversary rolled around there more then likely would have been a special made for that as well, Michael even saying how much of a headache it was for him to write as he struggled to even came with a plot with the special and yet he still put in the work and did the special because of the fact that he was a fan of the franchise with him even saying that he put in alot of throw backs to over scenes in his episodes so that the kids watching it might be tempted to go and watch the classic episodes to see where those references previously came from which in all fairness is a good way to get little kids to watch classic TV with the only things that would have made that segment of the film even better being if he talked about some of the creative choices behind alot of the special and how he feels about it being the last Thomas And Friends episode.

Whilst the Thomas brand isn't as well known today thanks to All Engines Go which never gets mentioned in the film at all. The brand is still loved by a great many people not just here in the UK or in America altho those are the two biggest fanbases for the brand but all around the world which makes it odd that only Australian fans get showcased in this special as there are fans in Asia and in other countries that still love the show and yet they never get mentioned grated since this documentary is essentially just a fan film that was made for the fans by the fans it would've been impossible for the makers of this film to fly to Asia to get interviews with those fans and it would have been a tough ask for them to get Asian fans to fly from Asia to either her in the UK or to America and attend a Thomas themed event. Would it have ben nice if we id get to see people from other countries other then American , the UK or Australia sure it's not really needed to make the film work as the film does still work regardless of if there was Asian people but it would have been interesting to see what creative things that they came up with to help express there love for the franchise as Asian people do have different ways to express there fandom and there love of something then alot of others do as heck one of them might have come up with a Thomas which would've been cool to see and while we do get told of people who created songs and music based ff of either the show or there favorite characters it would have been cool to hear ne of the songs and if it was an Asian person that did create a song then odds are it couldn't have had a fun anime vibe to it.

As the title of film would suggest its all about fandom and what it means to be a fan of something with this film giving us a good idea of what it means to be apart of a fandom that inspires creativity alot more then say the Doctor Who or the Marvel fandom does for example. As none of those fandoms inspires people to create full length and fully cast episodes using just the toys alone and yet with the Thomas fandom that's exactly what we get and it's why the Thomas fandom is this huge creative space as we do get people being creative and expressing there love for for this little blue engine in ways that other fandoms could only dream of doing and yet because of the fact that this is a kids show this fandom will always be looked down upon when in reality it needs to be looked up to. With the film even going to great lengths to show us all of the genuine loves and friendships that people in the fandom have made over the years with alot of them making life long friends that go on holiday together and aren't afraid to just be who they are with this being being something the Thomas series has told us time and time again is an OK thing to be, with the people in this fandom even putting together events on there own not for the show or the books but for the toys with there oddly being a big enough want out there there that alot of people do turn up to the events just to show off there Thomas toys and make new friends out of it this is something that you don't see happen in any other fandom but due to how welcoming and how forward thinking the Thomas fandom is it's something that they do alot of the time in America whereas here in the UK we do get people going to meets ups on railways that helped to inspire railway sights in either the books and the show as we get people going to Thomas events all of which is still a really crazy feet in it's own right.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and twenty four minuets and thirty four seconds. This is pretty much the exact running time that would expect a Thomas documentary to be as alot of stuff in regards to the show was covered in a previous films called "Thomas The Tank Engine Man" with footage from that film being used in parts in this film and therefor the film really only needed to cover things from the fans perspective and what it means to them to be apart of this fandom either in a small way or in the case of Michael White in a fairly big way with the film doing a good enough job of getting across just how much this film meant to those that were making the shows and the books and what it still does mean to those that are fans of both the book and show. However tho this film doesn't really need to be this long as there several dull points in the film that don't really add anything to the film but this is something that could be chalked up to Brannon Carty being a first time film maker and therefor he is of course going to be making some mistakes when it comes to the pacing of this film as we didn't need alot of the stuff with the fans just repeating how Thomas has inspired them to be creative as that does feel like that they were included to either pad the film out or they were friends with the director with alot ot the more interesting stuff like alot of the early Thomas fan made videos not being given the time that they should have gotten. With alot of them only being given a few seconds each at best and alot of the time more shall we say darker videos just being covered in one montage when they could have been given a few more minuets as it would have been interesting to see and hear how and why the makers of those videos came up with those ideas and inspired them to make those darker videos and the first place but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is a drama that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual drama that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual rama thats actually featured / presented to u in this very film was in all honesty really good. With all of the people that were being interviewed really getting across well just what it was that this franchise means to them and while none of them have these big dramatic moments the fact that we do get to find out that alot of them were being bullied by kids just for liking something that is typically seen as being for little kids does show you that they did have to struggle with coming to terms with the fact that they love this show. With the best bit of drama in the whole film being where newly filmed footage of the now late Britt Allcroft plays near the end of the film and she just talks abut the lasting impact of the Thomas franchise and how it manages to only still be relevant to this day be it in this case through the Wonders Of Sodor video game but how it will in some respects always be relevant as both the stories and the characters are timeless as they are these well written stories and character and that is something that absolutely true as Thomas right now as a fandom is still going strong with a united fandom behind it whereas alot of the other fandoms have become splintered and yet a fandom about a blue Tank Engine is still strong and is still united and is more accepting then alot of the fandoms that are meant for adults with the rest of the films drama being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall if you haven't seen this film go on to Youtube and look it up on the Stash - Free Documentaries Youtube Channel as the film really is worth watching as if your a Thomas fans you might see other fans that you know or recognise and if your weren't a fan then really might find some new respect for something you forgot abut in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and a such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7.5 out of 10 from me.

Now then a for where I personally got all of the images that I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review ell then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Amazon . Co . Uk and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very post being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.

Thomas & Friends TV Series "Percy Runs Away" Review

When people think of Thomas & Friends they very rarely if ever think of stories that don't feature Thomas. This is understandable as he is the title character afterall and is on all of the DVD covers therefor it is nice to see an episode of the first season where Thomas basically just has a cameo in the episode and it's that very episode that i'm going to be talking to you al about today and so then join me as I review the episode that sees Percy avoid being a crash with the episode in question being called simply just "Percy Runs Away" enjoy.

The plot of this episode is after Gordon , James and Henry are finally let out of the sheds for causing trouble they meet the engine that has been doing there jobs for them a green tank engine called Percy and him and Gordon have to do all they can to avoid having a major accident. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. While it could be argued that the plot of this episode was reused for the plot of the episode "Percy And The Signal" as they are very similar interms of the plot this episode does get a bit of leeway as it did the plot first. However tho with being said this episode plot still isn't that good as it is a rather thin episode with the episodes plot being so thin at times that it was hard to work out just what the main plot of the episode was even meant to be in the first place as for a long time it does feel like that the episode doesn't have a plot with it only being in the final few moments where something close to a plot does start to show up this is something that would be fine if it was a two part episode as then you could argue that the story is telling a much more bigger plot but it's not if anything it serves as an epilogue to the previous two episodes therefor there still should have been some amount of plot left to tell even if it's something as basic as Gordon learning to become with friends with Percy which yes granted is a basic plot but given the fact that this is at the start of the sow it is something that would work for the plot of an episode with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. 

Starring in this episode is naturally Sir Ringo Starr with him being just as delightfully charming as he always is. With him being able to make what is on paper a really a dull story seem to be all the more exciting due to the fact that he does have alot of enthusiasm not only for the characters but the stories as a whole with this being something that will always make him a joy to listen to in this show as it's something that will always make the narrator come across all the more better and make there love for the stories they are telling feel more real. As kids will always be able to tell when something feels off even if they don't know it it will just be something that stands to them and with Ringo you never really get that feeling as he always does come across as someone who does have a genuine love for these characters which is something that is not to be forgotten about as while Thomas has already attracted people who have love for the stories some of the time that love doesn't always come through whereas here with Ringo it does with it being something that does help to make you buy into him as the narrator as the narrator of these stories should have this love and passion for the franchise and it's characters as they are the ones telling the story in the first place and if they don't believe in the stories to begin with then why should we as the audience end up buying into them at all, yes this is casting 101 but it is something that should be gotten right right from the get go and it is something that the makers of this episode did get right when they cast Sir Ringo Starr in the show so much so that he even reprised the role of the narrator in America something hasn't been since.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. This is something that really isn't all that surprising as this show has always had some good acting when it comes to it's episodes and this episode is of course no exception to this with Sir Ringo doing the best that he can do and while he doesn't elevate the material he was never going to given the fact that he was never a trained actor and there for his acting in any of these episodes was never going to be as good as the acting that we would get from the other narrators. With the best actor in this episode of course being Sir Ringo Starr with him being a really good narrator in this episode as he does have a sense of warmth and charm about him that des make him the right fit for this episode and while of course his acting would get slightly better the more that he's on the show given that the fact that was only the first first series of the show the acting in this episode was about as good as it was ever going to be and while yes it would have helped the episode out alot if they did get an actor to serve as narrator Ringo is really good in this episode with his natural warmth and charm coming through in his performance in this episode. With the acting that's in this very episode really being helped by the fact that this episodes script is just so god that al this episodes actors really has to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of him naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.

When talking about these early model era episodes one of the things that very rarely gets talked about is the actual models themselves. With the models themselves looking really good in this episode as while they are just the basic models for this season the episode does get a lot of range out of them by having them do simple things like having a bunch of trains pass Percy as he makes fun of them which does make the Sodor feel more busy and packed or even things like having Percy drive backwards at the end of the episode which is something that would have been hard for them to do when this episode was being made and yet it is something that does look really good in the episode itself and while there isn't really a scene that shows of the models in any way what we do get to see them do does look really good in the episode itself Even going back to making Sodor look more busy this is a very small thing to have in the episode but given the fact that the show didn't have that many character at his point in time it is something that does help o make the railway feel more like an actual railways where there are things going on all the time so much so that it would be easy to believe that Henry is having his own adventure taking place during the events of this episode as realistically that is something that could happen and while the later model season would have better models the ones in this episode and this season as a whole do work really well and while there other models look better then these ones do the fact that the models in this episode look as good as they do is something that does prove that they have stood the test of time, the only downside being the fact that these are smaller scale models and therefor some of the time they do look like toys granted it's not as bad as the models in the Down The Mine pilot but you can still tell that the team are still trying to find there feet when it comes to the models.

This is one of the early episodes where Thomas basically doesn't do any thing in the episode as he is only in the episode for a short seconds before going off to work on his branchline with Edward. Heck he doesn't even get a line of dialog in the episode yet you don't really miss him either as Percy is still a fun character and while his essentially just a green version of Thomas that s something that does work for him as a character as of course he would be this cheeky little engine that is rude to all of the bigger engines as he is still new on the Island and is therefor still learning about how things work there therefor it does make sense that he would be cheeky still to the bigger engines as the only time he has really seen them was then they refused to leave the sheds. The issue with this is the fact that he is basically just a green version of Thomas and this is where the CGI version of Percy does trump the model era version of him as the CGI Percy does have more of his own personality to the point where you can easily distinguish between him and Thomas where as here in this episode whilst it is understandable that he and Percy are just the same characters there is really nothing to separate the two characters, therefor we the audience don't really miss Thomas when he's not in this episode due to the fact that we essentially have a different colored version of him in the episode but it would have helped the episode out a little bit if the makers of this episode did take the time to give Percy more of a fleshed out Personality as yes he is meant to be the youngest engine on the Island therefor having him act cheeky does make sense in this regard but if he was showen to be a little more wiser as don't forget he has been working with Edward who as we know from this episode does give advice then it would have made sense for Percy as a character to act a little bit more wise as well.

Whilst we don't really get to see Thomas and Percy forming there friendship in this episode which is something that they really could have done we do get to see Percy form a friendship with Gordon. Which was quite frankly refreshing to see as normally we never see Gordon forming a bond with someone this quickly even with Thomas it took them nearly the entire first season for them to become friends and yet here with Percy they are friends by the ed of the episode this is something that might have been helped by the fact that we never actually see Percy tease Gordon in this episode was us only seeing him tease Henry but when all is said an done the friendship between Percy and Gordon is one that did have potential to be a really good addition to the show. With both of the characters being good hard working engines who aren't afraid to sand up for what they believe in and they both are prone to getting upset easily and yet for one reason or another the makers of this show just straight up forget that they are meant to be friends with them putting more effort into pushing the Thomas and Percy friendship which is something that does work but given the fact that they are essentially the same character it makes his friendship with Gordon be all the more interesting as there you never really know what it is that your going to get with the fact that this episode did end with them being friends does say that the makers of this episode did at the very least show an interest in showing them as friends and that bond is something that could have worked and it could have led to some funny interaction later on in the series run and heck they even could have had Gordon act more as mentor to Percy whilst still very much being his friend whereas with Thomas whilst there friendship is good it feel like that its lacking that extra something to make it interesting.

Speaking of Gordon he was used really well in the episode as while he does kind of play a big part in the episodes plot he's not in it all that much. With him only appearing at the start and the end of the episode and yet all of the time that he appears in the episode it doesn't detract from Percy as rather it is something that does make sense as the opening scene is just him , Henry and James vowing to get back to work and that's it and at the end it's him that nearly crashes into Percy after Percy forgets to let the signalman know he's there and again it's him that help Percy out of the bank of earth at the end all of these scenes are scenes that you can't get rid as they all have something to do with the plot where as alot of the stuff with Percy and Edward and Percy making fun of Henry are pointless things. This is a great to use Gordon as he is this bigger then life character who thinks he's really important and therefor having him be the one to help Percy out not once but twice is something that does show you that he can be a big softy when he wants to be and while that ide of the character should never get played up as it is a more less entertaining aide of him it is still a key part of who he is as a character and having hm show that side of himself to Percy is something that does make sense, heck this episode could even have worked as a Percy an Gordon episode as the only thing that you'd need to do to make it work is have more scenes with Gordon in it doing his normal and this case favorite job pulling the express and have the rest of the episode play out the way that it does normally and while it does make sense for the episode to focus more o Percy as he is a new character at this point having be teamed up with a more established character would work just as well with both of the characters having some really fine chemistry together in this episode.

Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly five minuets and thirty two seconds. This is pretty much the perfect running time for an episode like this one to have as there's not really all that much to this episode outside of it's basic premise and therefor giving the episode even just five more minuets which is something that they would have done in later seasons of the show would ultimately do alot more harm to the story then it would good as this is a plot that does work best in the early season five minuet format as it does allow the plot to just get in and get out which is the kind of thing that this plot is really good at doing with the episode having not really enough plot there cover that amount of running time in the first place. With the episode not even using it's current running time all that wisely due to the fact that the episode doesn't take the time to fully develop its plot with there not really being much of a plot in the first place as alot of the early scenes in the episode do feel like filler scenes ass none of them effect the episodes plot in a major with the makers of the episode being more bothered about forcing Thomas into the episode then they are about giving the plot some much needed development. The same thing is also true for the characters developed altho this is a bit more understandable as you could argue that Percy will get his development in other episodes and that Gordon has just got his character development which is something that does make sense as while granted not every episode of this show does need to give them character development it still would have made the episode all the more better if they did get some small amount of character with the makers of this episode being alot more focused of hinting at a friendship between Gordon and Percy then they are about giving either character some character development but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho. 

So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. With the best word that could be used to describe this episodes comedy being cute as that's exactly what it is and for a show like this and for an episode like this that is not a bad thing to be and to be fair to this episode that's all it needed to be as it didn't need to have alot of laugh out loud moments in it it just needed Percy to act his more usually cheeky self and it would have worked just find. With the best joke in the episode being when Percy teases Henry as that is something that this character would do he would make fu of other engines not in a mean way but in a fun and cheeky kind of way and seeing Henry just drive off speechless and what's just happened is something hat does also feel true to his character he is the kind of character who is going to take alot of time to think of a comeback for Percy and odds are he would have spent all day doing exactly that and while having an engine being cheeky to another engine is nothing new for this show it does help that it's another engine and not just Thomas being cheeky with the fact that the episode does know to stop being funny and when to ramp up the action is something that does work as the episode doesn't undercut the tension with a joke something which the later model season would do with the episodes joke even working because of the fact that it does feel like a character driven wit the rest of the episodes jokes being just as good as well in my freaking opinions / at least. 

Overall whilst there other better episodes of this first season out there for an episode that is essentially a nothing episode this episode does turn out to be a pretty fun episode albeit one that does have it's fair share of faults that even die hard Thomas fans will find hard to ignore in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 6 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for here I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Amazon . Co . Uk and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very post being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.

Thomas & Friends TV Series "Emily's New Coaches" Review

Thomas & Friends isn't really known for introducing new main characters with alot of the characters that we met in the first series of the show still being pretty much the main characters of the show when it ended a few years back. Yet n the episode that i'm going to be talking to you all about today that's exactly what they did and the character in question did stay with the show until it ended and so then join me as I review the episode that introduce Emily with the episode in question being called simply just "Emily's New Coaches" enjoy.

The plot of this episode is when new engine Emily arrives to work on the railway she accidentally takes Thomas's Annie And Clarabel with her having to pick her own coaches. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. The episodes plot whilst it is simple in nature it's not delightfully simple as while yes Emily didn't know that she had picked up Thomas's coaches when she passes Thomas later on he very easily could have told her and yet because of the fact that the episode needs him to be upset with her he doesn't do do it for some unknown reason and while this is something that very easily could have been excused if the episode was delightfully as then you could chalk it to the episode being charming. This is something that just isn't the case with this episodes plot as while yes it is a charming plot it is also plot that really should have been alot more better given the fact that it does gave to set up a new character however in this episodes defense the fact that it's not as delightfully simple as it could have been is something that could also be said for lot of the episodes plots moving forward as alot of them do play it perhaps a bit to safe with there plots and this episode is of no exception to that rule as you do know right away where the plot of the episode is going right away and sure enough the episode does hit all of those same plot beats with the plot of this episode not really being really rather entertaining and nor is it really rather engaging either in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this episode is Michael Angelis with the man being just as charming in this episode as he is in other episodes of the show. There is no wonder that he in the longest serving narrator for this show as he is just that good at telling these stories ad adding his own warmth and wit to them with this being something that alot of the other narrators at least from the UK side of things do fail to do and whilst yes alot of them do add there own unique charm to them there's no doubt that when Michael is at his best there really is not stopping him with alot of the UK narrators that came after him basically just trying to copy what he did without adding there own unique touches to that part of the show. Whilst the UK did have alot of narrators and whist alot of people will have fights over who they think is the best one surely Michael taking his whole run into account has to be one of the best due to the fact that he does make even the more dullest of stories feel alive with the same thing being true for this episode as he does have the right kind of voice and the right amount of enthusiasm to make this episode and if he believes in this story and its characters then we the audience end up buying into it as well. Even the fact that he does give the characters there own unique voice which for me is always going to be a plus is something that does make his narration standout as it does make it easier to tell just which character is speaking like for example when he's voicing Thomas he goes for a more youthful sounding voice and when he's The Fat Controller he uses a mor booming voice as that makes him sound like someone who does command your attention and with Emily he does something new by giving her a soft speaking voice with a Scottish accent which is something that is fitting for her character and it's something that does make her stand out.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. As was just said Michael really is just that good of a narrator as he has a voice that whilst it is a bit rough is also kind and gentle and that is something that does make him perfect for the job of narrator in this show as he has to not only tell the episodes story but also treat it as if it was actually happening and that is something that with the wrong type of voice could come across as being either to mean or to scary for the episodes kid audience and yet with him it does sound like he knew what kind of performance to give. With the best actor in this whole entire episode of course being Michael Angelis as even tho the episode is about as safe of an episode as you can get for this era of the show his performance in the episode is still really fun to listen to as we do get to hear him put on these really good performance that for Emily at least would define her character as from this episode on she would always be known as being Scottish whilst both Thomas and The Fat Controller would go through alot of voices after him and yet n this episode you can tell that Michael is not only trying his best to turn in a really good performance but is also having a blast in making this episode with that kind of infectious energy shining through in his final performance in this episode. With the acting that's in this very episode not really being helped by the fact that this episodes script is just so bas as it gives this episode actor absolutely nothing to work with interms of what it is that his actual characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does harm the over all quality of the acting that's in this very episode.

Character wise it's safe to say that much like the episodes plot its characters aren't that well handled either. Out of Emily and Thomas its oddly enough Thomas that is handled all the more better out of the two characters as he is more jealous and angry self in this episode something which is understandable as he does see Emily with Annie And Clarabel but at the same time this version of the character would just stop and tell Emily that she's gotten his coaches but again because of the fact that the episode needs him to be angry they have him almost acting out of character and not do that when that is something that his character would do while granted its not something that he would have done back in series one but due to the fact that he's grown as a character since then he would still know to stop and tell Emily what she's done wrong. Emily on the other hand was handled really poorly as there is nothing to her character that makes her an interesting and this is something that does stay with her character for alot of the series with it only being changed in the shows final series when she's made in charge of safety on the railway, yet here in this episode she's basically a blank piece of paper as there's nothing to her personality outside of the fact she's Scottish and that's it and even then that doesn't make her stand out due to the fact that the show already has two Scottish engines in Donald and Douglas bottom line being that te makers of this episode should have put alot of thought and effort in making her character stand out as you always want to start out with your best foot forward whereas here it felt like that the makers of the episode had no idea of what to do with her and so they just left her as this blank slate of a character that the audience could then use to project themselves onto with this being something that is always a bad sign of lazy and bad writing for a character.

Speaking of Emily whilst she does get better and better as a character the more that the show goes on here in this episode she does kind of feel more like an afterthought. As the episode doesn't show us why she was needed on the railway in the first place and nor does the episode show us how it's improved since she's arrived the episode literally starts with her already on the island and yet if you look at alot of the earlier arrival episodes alot of them do have one thing in common they always show us why this type of engine is needed in the first place therefor we the audience can have a basic knowledge of what it is that this train is going to mainly be doing on the island a well as whom it is that there mostly going to be interacting with. Yet with Emily they don't do that and that is something that does make her feel more like an afterthought as it tells us the audience that the makers of this episode don't care about the character and therefor why should we invest our time into caring about her this is something that could have easily have been fixed by having the narrator say that the island is busy with visitors even more so then usual and therefor they brough in another train to help out which yes granted isn't that good of a reason to have a new engine in the first place but it's better then what they give us in the episode which is nothing. Emily herself does have a rather unique design to her with her mainly having the one big wheel followed by a few smaller ones and a more softer and rounded face which are both things that does help her stand out a bit as a character as there are no characters on the show that do look like her where as both Thomas and Edward for example do have very similar design features however having a unique design isn't enough to make Emily stand out as a character as the character still needs to be a good character and that is something that she just isn't in this episode.

The idea of Thomas getting jealous that someone has taken out Annie and Clarabel instead of him is one that is perfectly fine idea. Where it not for the fact that we've already seen him being happy that someone else was taking them out back when Daisy joined the show but given the fact that she never actually took them out does kind of negate that with the idea itself being a really good idea as it does open up the idea for more interactions between characters that would normally never get the hance to meet in the first place there is however one thing that does let the idea down and that's the fact that we are never given a reason as to why Emily needs to get her coaches in the first place as we are told by The Fat Controller himself that Emily and her driver need to learn the line but we are never told why she needs to get her own coaches first. Then you add in the fact that Thomas does get jealous of Emily quite quickly it does make this idea feel a bit tacked on as if the makers of this episode suddenly realized that they needed to have some sort of conflict and therefor they just added in the fact that Emily picked up the wrong coaches as a way to create some tension between her and Thomas when it really isn't needed as you very easily could have had him get jealous over the fact that the passengers seem to prefer over him something which would work as she was sent to learn the line and it is something that would remain true to Thomas's character and would have felt true to both characters as Thomas is known for getting jealous at other engines and Emily can at times be a bit to proud and seeing them over come those and learn to be friends would make for a really good episode but its something that we don't get to see in this episode with it being something that does make this episode feel about as safe and generic of an episode as it possibly could have been despite it having all pf the potential there to be a really fun episode.

Whilst there are alot of things in this episode that do make it feel a rather safe and generic episode there are signs in this episode of it having the potential to be a really fun episode. Like for example the fact that we get to see other smaller known engines like Oliver appear in the episode whilst more of the well known engines like Percy and Edward are given cameo roles with this being something does allow for the possibility of more unique interactions as we don't usually get to see Emily interacting with Oliver much like how she very rarely gets to interact with both Annie And Clarabel and to the episodes credit it does take as full advantage of that as it could have dine by having Oliver be the one to tell Emily that she's got the wrong coaches. Whilst this does yes bring up another issue as Emily does pass both Edward and Percy you can forgive them for not telling Emily that she has the wrong coaches as for all they could know she might have been told to get them but moving on to the other good thing in this episode that being the fact that we do get to see some really nice country scenery which is something that does add a more calming and relaxing fee to the episode with the episode feeling like a safe episode that you could watch with your kids as unlike alot of series 5 episodes where the engines were put in alot of danger there's none of that in this episode with the episode itself having more of a picture book look to it and whilst yes it could be argued that this does make the episode look safe and generic that is also something that could also be applied to alot of the later episodes of the model era as well with it being something that is put to good use here as its an episode that is meant to feel more relaxing in nature due to the fact that we are seeing a new character for the first time and those don't typically require the look of say series 5 in order for them to work as all they need is a more generic and relaxing look to them and that's exactly what this episode does have going for it.

Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly four minuets and thirty seconds. Which to be fair to this episode is pretty much the bogstandard running time for this ear of the show in the first place and the episode does need that amount of running time as it does have to set up a new character and still tell a decent story and while it does fail in this regard as the episode could have done with being a minuet or two longer just to properly set up Emily as a character given its current running time the episode does do the best with what it was given to work with in the first place with the episode even having the right amount of plot there to really cover that amount of running time in the first place. However tho the episode really doesn't use its running time all that wisely as the episode really doesn't take the time to fully develop its plot with the episodes plot feeling more like an afterthought as it does come across as the makers of this episode were just feeling lazy when they came up with this as they do throw so many things at you plot wise and yet they don't give any of them the room that they need to be fully developed with this having the add on effect of making the episodes main plot feeling like an afterthought with it being made clear as day that the makers of this episode were more focused on having Thomas almost act out of character then there were in creating a good plot. Whilst this is something that doesn't necessarily effect the episodes character development what does effect it is the fact that the episode really doesn't give the characters any scenes where they can grow as characters and while it could very well be argued that that they didn't need it in this episode as they have any of other episodes of the show to get there character development that is something that really only works for a character like Thomas whereas for a character like Emily there really should have been some level of thought and effort into giving her even the smallest amount of character development as that would have made her character stand out but its clear that the makers of this episode put more thought into giving us pointless cameos then they did character development but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho. 

So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. With the episode not really having any laugh out loud moments in it with the episodes comedy instead being cute little moments between the characters like for example Tomas getting up at the thought of having new coaches or Emily getting confused as to why the engines aren't talking to her when she has the wrong coaches none of these moments are laugh out loud funny but they are things that do feel true to who these characters are as characters. With the best joke in the whole entire episode being Thomas just saying that he doesn't won't new coaches and that he won't pick up after he's been told to do which is something that does feel true to his character as it does harken back to the fact that he does truly love and care about Annie And Clarabel and therefor of course he wouldn't want to get new coaches as to him there's nothing wrong with the ones that he has now and him getting upset about it is something that does feel very true to his character but in saying this tho this is something that very easily really could have been sorted out just by having him talk to Emily with the joke itself being one that is a cute joke that does show you just how really angry and jealous that Thomas could get as a character when it involves something that he's truly passionate about with the rests of the episodes jokes being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. 

Overall its been said quite a few times in this review and its going to be said again but this episode is a really safe an generic episode of the show as it gives you all of the things that you expect from this show at time point time and nothing really new to make them seem fresh and new again in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well the boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Blogger and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very post being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.