Thomas And Friends TV Series "The Truth About Toby" Review

When alot of people think of Thomas The Tank Engine nine times out of ten they think about the classic model seasons of the show. Yet not alot of them know that the show did carry on really all the way until just a few short years ago in CGI with it really being one of the CGI episodes that i'm going to be talking to you all about today and so then join me as I review the episode that sees Toby run into some trouble at the scrap yard with the episode in question being called simply just "The Truth About Toby" enjoy.

The plot of this episode is when Toby runs out of coal at the scrap yard he has to try and convince passing engines o help him out. 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 about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good with thus episodes being as delightfully dumb and yet simple as you'd want it to be from this era of the show which was something that does work really well for this episode as this is an episode that doesn't really require a deep plot to make it work as something having a plot thats more simple and easy to follow along with is something that does make it work all the more better with this episodes plot really does a good job of just letting the characters be themselves something upon which the later CGI seasons did take great strides in doing and it is something that does work really well in this episode as the plot of this episode as simple as it is works just as well because of how simple that it is with this plot not really being a plot that would work if it was a super serious as that would make the plot be alot less fun an lot less entertaining then what it really should have been as sometimes being a fun plot is alot more important then being super serious as that would feel out of place with this episodes set up and while the show has done super serious and dark episodes in the past they've always had the set up that allowed for that to happen 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 and Keith Wickham as Edward , Henry , Gordon , James , Salty , Stafford and The Fat Controller. Also starring in this episode is Nigel Pilkington as Percy , Rob Rackstraw as Toby and Stanley , Teresa Gallagher as Emily , Annie and Clarabel , Rebecca O'Mara as Caitlin , Steven Kynman as Paxton , Maggie Ollerenshaw as Henrietta , Tim Whitnall as Reg and Mark Moraghan as The Narrator.

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 about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. With all of this episodes actors turning in some really good performances which is something that does make alot of sense as alot of them have been playing these characters for decades at this point and therefor do have a good understanding of just who there version of these characters are in the first place with alot of them like for example Maggie Ollerenshaw having the perfect voice for there character with the best actor in the whole entire episode being Rob Rackstraw as not only does he have a fairly solid voice for Toby but he also gets to show of new sides to this character as all to often we see the brave ad sarcastic side of his character and yet we never really get to the more frustrated side of the character and that is something that Rob gets the chance to show us in this episode and it is something that does come through in his performance as you do sense that Toby is becoming frustrated with Reg with the fact that he does try and hold that back as Reg is  just doing is job is something that make Toby all the more frustrated with him with the acting that's in this very episode really being helped by the fact that the script for this episode was just so good that all this episodes actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and as 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 episode.

For once I really cannot say just who it is that does the animation for this episode as there's no animation company listed anywhere online. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good as while CGI Thomas was in it's very early ears like season 12 early did have some very choppy looking animation to it by the time they got round to this season and Season 20 the show had started to have some actually good looking animation in it with this episode being a good example of that as you get to see the human characters doing things at the docks and you get to all of the characters look really good with the same thing even being true for the backgrounds as well as while this episode doesn't really allow for alot of interesting looking backgrounds due to the fact that it's mainly set at the scrap yard with there being very few locations but the episode does make up for this for giving some really unique looking camera shots like we get to see the camara placed sort of behind and at the side of Edward for a shot which looked really cool and is something that for obvious reasons the model seasons of Thomas just couldn't do and yet here in this episode we do get to see some really good looking shots all of which work well with the episodes already high bar of animation with the only thing that could have made this episodes animation even more better being if we got to see more stuff going on in the backgrounds which yes is a small thing but it's also something that makes the world that this show takes place in feel all the more real and lived in as well.

The big thing in this episode is that when Thomas , Annie , Clarabel , Henry and Edward all see Toby at the scrap yard they assume it's because of the fact that he's going to be scrapped. This is something that they are kind of right to assume as from there point of view that's exactly what it would look like however they then go spreading around the rumor that Toby is going to be scrapped when if just one of them had stopped to talk to either Toby or Reg The Crane to find out what was actually going on then that whole thing is something that could have very easily have been avoided and while it is understandable as to why that wasn't done in the episode as this is a kids show after all and nine times out of ten kids aren't care about logic there just going to care about the characters and that's really it and that's all well and good but at the same time tho this show did used to treat its kid audience with respect and not talk down to them but rather talk to them on a level and while this episode is great improved in that regard when compared to the earlier CGI episodes it still does make you wonder why the makers of this episode didn't bother to fix the issue of not having one of the characters just talk to Toby to find out what's going on as all of the characters do drive past in the episode and yet not one of them bothers to stop and find out what's going with this being something that very easily could have been explained just by having the characters either pulling passengers or being given a very important job to do by The Controller and that was just thought up in less then minuet and yet the makers of this show had go knows how long to come up with something that would make sense for the episode and yet they came up with nothing.

To be frank Reg was bit annoying in this episode as it felt like he was doing everything that he could do to stop Toby from getting help. As while yes he was just doing his job and really nothing more then that he was also not doing all that much to actually help Toby out as he was being very noisy when he was picking things up with his crane and had a bunch of scrap covering where Toby was so passing engines couldn't see him if they wanted to and while having an annoying character is something that can work if it's apart of the story just look at Phillip in the episode "A Shed For Edward" as a prime example of that but the characters did always know when to stop being annoying and start being helpful just look at Toby in the two episodes he did with Mavis back in season 3 where he actually gave her good advice on how to travel past a certain in the line where as here Reg just felt like he was being annoying just so the plot can happen which isn't fun to see as there was no way in heck that he couldn't have yelled out to quite literally any of the engines that pass him and Toby and as for there help as he could see the engines coming and the engine could quite literally hear and see him with even Edward yelling hello to him and yet he does nothing to help out his friend with it feeling like that this episodes Davey Moore was just stuck and couldn't come up with a good way to include this character and have them be apart of the story and so then he just had Reg essentially not do anything except for get on Toby's last nerve and that's really it which isn't enough of a reason to justify him being in the episode ads while yes it does give Toby someone to talk to in the episode it also makes you wonder why he doesn't get help for Toby the first chance that he can.

Seeing Toby's more frustrated side was something that was refreshing to see as for alot of the CGI series we only see the side of him that's two old with his old sarcastic side and his brave side very rarely if ever coming out. Yet in this episode we get to see a side of him that was fun to see with that being him just constantly getting frustrated with Reg something which is fun to see as Toby doesn't really come across as the kind of character who would get frustrated with someone as if anything that would be someone like Percy or Gordon for example as they very quick t anger if you say or do something that might upset but Toby never really gets annoyed with anyone with really the only time that Toby might get annoyed with someone being in the season 20 episode "Toby's New Friend" where Phillip follows him around thinking that Toby is just like him with the fact that he does get frustrated in this episode being something that does make you wonder why we've never really seen this side of him as we know he can be brave and sarcastic but seeing him get frustrated with someone is something that would allow for more fun and funny scenes with different characters as now we have a whole other side to his personality that could be used for some really good stories and could be used for some really good character interactions as well like it would be interesting to see him get frustrated with characters like Gordon or Emily as it's in there nature to have these big egos something which could quite easily clash with Toby's more down to earth way of doing things just like it would be interesting to see someone calm him down a bit when he gets a bit to frustrated like why not have Trevor The Tractor have a chat with him like he did with Thomas back when they first met or why not have him talk with Bertie as both of those characters can calm other engines down quite easily.

Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly eight minuets and forty six seconds. This is something that's pretty much the bogstandard running time for this show with the show actually getting more screen time over the years with this episode having the right amount of plot there to really cover that amount of running time and yet in saying this tho this episode really doesn't use it's running time all that wisely as the episode really doesn't take the time to fully develop it's plot as the episode is more focused on having things happen for non reason then it is on fully developing it's plot as there's no reason why Toby couldn't get his coal and there's no reason why he or Reg couldn't yell out of the other engines and there's no reason why those engines couldn't just stop and talk to him all of which are things that could have been talked about and made more clear if the plot of the episode was more developed with this even affecting the episodes character development as while it could be argued that the characters get there development in other episodes which would be a fair point to make as all of this episodes characters do appear in other episodes of the show and therefor they don't really need to have character development in every single episode it still would have been nice for the characters to get some sort of character development as then it would have shown that the characters are more then willing to grow with the extra running time that alot of these episodes did have and yet for one reason or another the makers of this episode chose not to give the characters any form of 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 having some decent jokes in like Toby forgetting to go and get his side plates mended at the end of the episode to even him forgetting to get coal something which could be argued is a joke with even alot of the scenes that Toby has with Reg having some decently funny jokes in them with the best joke in the episode being when Reg lifts up a car to wave to catch the attention of other engines only for him to drop it and end scaring Henry away because of it something which does work as Henry is meant to be the character that is more often then not the one that's most afraid of anything and everything with it also showing just how smart that Reg is as it's him that comes up with the idea to wave something colorful to catch the other engines attention it's just not something that does work out all that well for all involved with alot of this episodes bein g cute and funny jokes that will make little kids smile which given that this is aimed at little kids is something that does make sense as all of the episodes jokes do have to appeal to them and to be fair that's where this episode does shine as they will find all of the jokes in this episode to be really funny it's just that it would have helped the episode out quite alot if the episode did have some more outwardly funny moments in it as Reg can be a really funny character when he's given funny things to say and do in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall this is a decent episode that does give us a new side to Toby with it showing us that the makers of this show are more then willing to create good stories with this show again something which we do see quite alot more in the CGI era of this show with this episode being a prime example pf that 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 thigs 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 6.5 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 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 review 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 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 are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.

Thomas And Friends TV Series "Wrong Road" Review

Thomas The Tank Engine And Friends is a show that had been going on since the early eighties with there being twenty four series of the show. With there being alot of episodes that could be described as being very much not all that much happens episodes with the episode that i'm going to be talking to you all about today being one such an episode and so then join me as I review the episode that pretty much spells out it's entire plot in it's episode title with the episode in question being called simply just "Wrong Road" enjoy.

The plot of this episode is when smaller engine Edward and big engine Gordon accidentally switch lines one night Gordon finds himself at the docks with some mischievous twins. 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 with the episodes plot being given away right in the episodes title and yet it is still a fun plot to see play out as while yes nothing all that much happens in this episode plot wise it really didn't need to have all that much happen in it in the first place as all you needed was the basic set up and some little explanation as to how they ended up on each others tracks in the first place and that's really it to be fair that that's exactly what this episodes plot does give you altho to be this plot does feel like that it's the first of a two part or even three part story and after watching the following episodes as well it really isn't as the plot of this episode doesn't affect the plot of the next two episodes either with this episodes plot being a standalone episode which is fine but it makes you wonder why they chose to end the episode how they did in the first place as that makes it feel like it's a set up for the next few episodes and yet with all that being said this episodes plot is still quite enjoyable to watch due to how simple it is as that allows the characters to be there usual charming selves with the plot of this episode 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 of course Sir Ringo Starr with him being just as delightful and full of live in this episode as he is in the rest of this shows second series. With him not really taking the same approach that he takes in he first series where it's like he's reading us a book where as here it instead feels like that he's putting on a performance as he makes all of the episodes characters be very full life and that is something that does work really well for him and while he doesn't change his accent in this episode that again is something that does work as the voices his uses for both Gordon and Edward are the end one that he used for hem in the first series with them coming across as being his natural speaking voice with the only difference being that he does make Gordon sound a bit pompous at times which is fine for his character with Ringo having the perfect voice for this type of show as this is meant to be a very calming show and therefor having this silky smooth voice is something that does work as it makes you feel more relaxed and it makes you feel more at ease with the show as well whereas if you had somebody who is a more well known established actor but has a more rough and gruff voice come in to do the show it just wouldn't work as while yes you would get a much more better performance out of the actor but you really would also lose the shows more relaxing tone in the process which doesn't really seem worth it for a show about talking trains with Ringo really being as good of a fit for the show at this time but in saying this tho it would have been nice to him do the narration for alot of the shows really more dangerous episodes just to see how well his voice mixes with the tone of one of those episodes.

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 while the show did have basically just the one actor for alot of it's run the person telling us the story still has to put in a performance and can't just read the story like you would a book and nothing more then that with this being something that alot of the Thomas narrators be they for the UK or the American dun fully understood as all of the narrators for the show do give us a performance with Ringo in this episode being by default the episodes best actor as while he doesn't give the characters unique voices he really does have to do as you can still tell by how he delivers certain lines when he's talking as Gordon or as Edward like for example when he's playing Gordon the lines are delivered matter of factly and when he's voicing Edward he delivers the lines in a more playful manner and while yes it would have been nice if he did give Edward a more older sounding voice as he is meant to be one of the older engines on Sodor it's also something that's really needed all that much either with the acting that's in this very episode really being helped by the fact that the script for this episode is just so good that all this episodes actor has to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out naturally which is something that really foes help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this episode.

Character wise the episode does fair about as well as it was ever going to with the fact that the episode only has a handful of characters with only two of them being main characters. As while Gordon and Edward are the main focus of the story it's really Gordon who is the lead character and the character that the episode follows the most which is something that does work well enough for this episode as we do see Gordon's more pompous side come out in this episode which is really fun to see but the episode it does feel underbaked as they straight up forget about Edward as when we see him leave the station that's the last time he appears in the episode when it would have made the episode more fun to watch as well but given that his characters is always looking in the bright side of things maybe it does make sense that they not focus that much on him in this episode as you wouldn't be able to get anything funny out of him with both of the episodes main characters being written as well as could be expected as even tho the episode doesn't really reveal anything new about them as characters as a duo Edward and Gordon are pretty fun characters to watch with them both being written in character and feeling like themselves and seeing Gordon interacting with Bill and Ben near the end of episode does make up for the fact that we don't get to see him and Edward together for very long with Bill and Ben being there typical cheeky selves and heck the only character who doesn't really get that much to do in the episode is Boco and even then it's more due to the fact that he only appears in the episode in the final few minuets where as given that Boco is more of a father figure to Bill and Ben it would have been interesting to see him interacting more with Gordon in this episode.

As is the case with alot of the episodes in these very early episodes of the show the scenery here in this episode just looks really good. As while yes granted the second season had a lot less detail in the shows backgrounds then they did in the first season we still do get alot of really good looking scenery in this episode with us getting a decent look at a small section from Edward's branch line with the hills in the background adding in some implied distance which was nice to see and while we sadly don't get to see alot of Edward's branch line in the day time in this episode as alot of the episode does take place at night it is still nice that the show did this nice little piece of worldbuilding by showing us a part of the island that we never got to see in the first season of the show with the only thing that could have made the scenery in this episode be all the more better was if they did what they did in the first season of the show and have those little extra details in the background that you wouldn't really notice like how cool would have been to have seen someone in a fishing boat underneath the bridge or to see a few people mountain climbing yes these are small things but they also help to make this part of the island feel more populated as just from the brief shots of it that we see in this episode Edwards branch line looks like there's no people there when we know for a fact due to it appearing in other episodes that that's just simply not the case contrast this with when we see Thomas's branch line in the first series we nearly always see a lot of people there doing things all of which really makes that part of the island really feel more populated and yet here in this episode with Edward's branch line it really feels alot more empty when showing people doing things would help it feel more populated then what it already is in the first place.

Whilst the show has always had plenty of atmosphere in it's more spooky episodes here in this episode it also creates alot of really good atmosphere at the main station. With there being plenty of fog and the fact that we have alot of human characters not just The Fat Controller and or two others there as well as the fact that the lights from it's ceiling are hanging quite low down all of which do combine to make for a really atmospheric looking set that could be used as the set from noir type of film or episode as that's the impression that it gives of and to be fair it is something that does work quite well for the episode as we don't get to spend alot of time at the station in this episode when compared to other episodes therefor we the audience don't really have the time to let it all sink in before the episode is moving again with the episode even making great use of the new big thin for this season which was a moving camera something which we never really got in the previous season and yet here it's used in a really effecting way by moving behind Gordon's passengers at the station which is something that does make it look like there are alot of people there which is something that does make sense given just what type of train that Gordon is getting ready to pull with the smokey atmosphere really making the scene look like something you would see in a Hollywood film and not like something that you'd expect to see in a kids TV series and yet when the episode does get back to it's plot by showing Edward now travelling along the main line it kids of looses that atmospheric look as while we do have the moon out in full display which is always good for some atmosphere it also makes the episode appear to be a bit more cheaper as well.

Look to be frank there was no need for Boco to appear in this episode as he doesn't add anything to the plot. With his only purpose in the entire episode being to stop Bill and Ben teasing Gordon and that's it which was something that really wasn't needed as they would have stopped teasing him anyway due to the fact that there drivers would have told them to stop doing but because of the fact that the plot needs Gordon to meet a diesel engine it does mean that Boco has to appear in the episode and while it was nice to see him it is something that makes you wonder why the show didn't do more with him as a character as while he essentially filles the same role that Mavis would later fill in the CGI era of the show in that he's essentially just a parental figure to Bill and Ben the show never really gave him much of a personality like it would have been interesting to see him interacting with characters like Thomas or James for example or even have him interacting with Daisy would have been fun as then we could get to see if he listens to her and becomes more lazy as a result of that thus showing that he is easily persuaded or we could have him show of how brave his by stopping a runaway train of trucks in someway just anything would have been nice and yet this episode doesn't take the change to do any of that it and instead has him be more a father figure to the twins which is fine enough as that's what he needed to be for this episode but there's no reason why Edward couldn't have filled that role or why Toby couldn't have played that role in this episode as they both older engines and both of whom have worked with trucks before so it would make sense and interms of Edward it would have been a fun little way to get him back into the episodes story as well.

Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly five minuets and thirty one seconds. Which is pretty much the exact grand total running time for this show at this point in time with this episode really having more then plot there to really cover that amount of running time in the first place yet even so this episode doesn't use it's running time all that wisely as the episode really doesn't fully develop it's plot as well as it perhaps could have done which granted might be more due to the fact that it does have a short running time but the episode could have taken then time to show us things like why Gordon hates diesels pulling main line trains as we already know why he want pull trucks in the first place but given the fact that he meets a diesel that he likes at the end of the episode we still could have found out why he doesn't like diesels pulling main line trains however the episode really doesn't have that much character development either as Gordon never really gets over his hatred of diesels pulling main line trains as the episode doesn't really give him a scene where he realizes that he was wrong for his hatred and grow as a character granted there is a chance that his character development does come in other episodes of the show but interms of this episode he gets nothing which would be fine if Edward got any development as a character but the episode just straight up drops him as a character and yet with the added screen time they don't really give Gordon any kind of character development whatsoever 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 tought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. With this episode having some really funny jokes in it all of which whilst yes they are cute jokes become funny because of the fact that they are character driven jokes and therefor it is easy to picture this episodes characters acting the way that do in this episode as that is something that helps to make the jokes be alot more funnier then what they really should have been with the episodes best joke being when Gordon wakes up at the harbor the next day and starts getting teased by Bill and Ben as they call him scrap that should get tossed in the water as they refuse to believe that it's actually him due to the fact that he said branch lines are ugly which is a nice little joke as it is something that they would say just to wind up other engines with the fact that Gordon does genuinely think that Boco saved his life being something that makes the joke all the more funnier as while he is the strongest engine on Sodor he's also not the brightest engine there is as well with him believing that Boco has saved him being something that does feel true to his character with the episode having alot of really good jokes in it all of which work because of how charming that the characters are with that charm being something that makes what could have been really dull jokes somehow not only work but become all the more funnier as they do feel very true to the characters in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. 

Overall whilst not alot really happens in this episode this is a still a fairly solid episode that does show you just how charming that this show about talking trains can be and while the episode isn't a must watch it is still a fun episode that both kids and adults will find some level of enjoyment out of 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 his very episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a gran old score of exactly a 6.5 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 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 review 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 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 are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.