Thomas & Friends series 4
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| Thomas & Friends | |
|---|---|
| Season 4 | |
 DVD cover art | |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Cartoon Network |
| Original release | 10 September 1994 – 30 May 1995 |
| Series chronology | |
Thomas & Friends (previously known as Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends) is a children's television series about the engines and other characters working on the railways of the Island of Sodor, and is based on The Railway Series books written by the Rev. W. Awdry.
This article lists and details episodes from the fourth series of the show, which was broadcast in 1994 and 1995. This series was narrated by Michael Angelis for the U.K. audiences, with George Carlin narrating the episodes for the U.S. audiences on Shining Time Station, which was also his last series. This was also the final season where Thomas only appeared in the U.S. as a segment on Shining Time Station, after that it became a program on Mister Moose's Fun Time and Storytime With Thomas. This was the only season in which Carlin's voice changed.
Some episodes in this series have two titles: the original titles from the U.K. broadcasts are shown on top, while the American-adapted titles are shown underneath. It was produced by Britt Allcroft (Thomas) Limited.
Production
Filming
The 4th series saw the introduction of the smaller narrow gauge engines. For ease of filming, series 5 would introduce larger-scale versions of the characters, and from series 6-7, these larger models were used almost exclusively.
Stories
Half of the third series consisted of stories written by the show's staff, but only one original story, "Rusty to the Rescue" (written by Allcroft and Mitton), was written for the fourth series. The episodes which used The Railway Series did take some liberties with the source material, in order to fill the runtime and make the stories more accessible. From series 5 onward, all stories would be staff-written, without using the Awdrys' books as a source.
Stepney, a character based on a real-life engine and used to highlight the preservation movement in the books, was given an entirely different background when he was introduced. This decision carried on into later series, in which he was seen on either a fictionalized Bluebell Railway or as a member of The Fat Controller's railway.
The show had come under fire for having too few female characters, and a conscious decision was made to rewrite Rusty, who was always a male character in the books, as gender-neutral.[1] Thomas' new owners, initially defended the decision, citing Rusty's gender neutrality since Series 4, later releases of the same episode substituted male pronouns in reference to Rusty.
Talent
Initially, each episode was broadcast in installments of the children's television program Shining Time Station. 2 stories from Series 4 were aired in each of the hour-long "Family Specials" in 1995. The rest were broadcast in a 6-episode offshoot called Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales. Later they would air in a new half-hour program called Storytime with Thomas, which also included a Series 5 episode narrated by Alec Baldwin and an episode of Britt Allcroft's Magic Adventures of Mumfie.
Episodes
| Total | No. | UK title (top) US title (bottom) |
Directed by | Source | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 79 | 1 | "Granpuff" | David Mitton | Duke the Lost Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 10 September 1994 |
| 80 | 2 | "Sleeping Beauty" | David Mitton | Duke the Lost Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 12 September 1994 |
| 81 | 3 | "Bulldog" | David Mitton | Duke the Lost Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 14 September 1994 |
| 82 | 4 | "You Can't Win!" | David Mitton | Duke the Lost Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 20 September 1994 |
| 83 | 5 | "4 Little Engines" | David Mitton | 4 Little Engines (Railway Series) by Rev. W. Awdry (based on "Skarloey Remembers" and "Old Faithful") | 25 September 1994 |
| 84 | 6 | "A Bad Day for Sir Handel" | David Mitton | 4 Little Engines by Rev. W. Awdry (based on "Sir Handel") | 2 October 1994 |
| 85 | 7 | "Peter Sam and the Refreshment Lady" | David Mitton | 4 Little Engines by Rev. W. Awdry | 3 October 1994 |
| 86 | 8 | "Trucks" "Rusty Helps Peter Sam" | David Mitton | The Little Old Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 7 October 1994 |
| 87 | 9 | "Home At Last" | David Mitton | The Little Old Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 14 October 1994 |
| 88 | 10 | "Rock 'n' Roll" | David Mitton | The Little Old Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 17 October 1994 |
| 89 | 11 | "Special Funnel" | David Mitton | The Gallant Old Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 13 January 1995 |
| 90 | 12 | "Steam Roller" | David Mitton | The Gallant Old Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 14 January 1995 |
| 91 | 13 | "Passengers and Polish" | David Mitton | The Gallant Old Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 30 January 1995 |
| 92 | 14 | "Gallant Old Engine" | David Mitton | The Gallant Old Engine (Railway Series) by Rev. W. Awdry | 2 February 1995 |
| 93 | 15 | "Rusty to the Rescue" | David Mitton | Original by Britt Allcroft and David Mitton | 7 February 1995 |
| 94 | 16 | "Thomas and Stepney" | David Mitton | Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine by Rev. W. Awdry (based on "Bluebells of England" and "Stepney's Special") | 10 February 1995 |
| 95 | 17 | "Train Stops Play" | David Mitton | Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 16 February 1995 |
| 96 | 18 | "Bowled Out" | David Mitton | Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 20 February 1995 |
| 97 | 19 | "Henry and the Elephant" | David Mitton | The Troublesome Engines by Rev. W. Awdry | 12 March 1995 |
| 98 | 20 | "Toad Stands By" | David Mitton | Oliver the Western Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 19 March 1995 |
| 99 | 21 | "Bulls Eyes" | David Mitton | The Branch Line Engines by Rev. W. Awdry | 2 April 1995 |
| 100 | 22 | "Thomas and the Special Letter" | David Mitton | The 8 Famous Engines by Rev. W. Awdry (based on "The Fat Controller's Engines") | 4 April 1995 |
| 101 | 23 | "Paint Pots and Queens" "Thomas Meets the Queen" | David Mitton | Gordon the Big Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 6 April 1995 |
| 102 | 24 | "Fish" | David Mitton | Really Useful Engines by Christopher Awdry | 8 April 1995 |
| 103 | 25 | "Special Attraction" | David Mitton | Toby, Trucks and Trouble by Christopher Awdry (based on "Toby's Seaside Holiday" and "Bulstrode") | 1 May 1995 |
| 104 | 26 | "Mind that Bike!" | David Mitton | Really Useful Engines by Christopher Awdry | 30 May 1995 |
Characters
Introduced
- Duke (Granpuff)
- Sir Handel / Falcon (Granpuff / Four Little Engines)
- Peter Sam / Stuart (Granpuff / Four Little Engines)
- Smudger (Granpuff)
- Skarloey (Four Little Engines)
- Rheneas (Four Little Engines)
- The Refreshment Lady (Peter Sam and the Refreshment Lady)
- Rusty (Rusty Helps Peter Sam)
- Duncan (Home at Last)
- George (The Steam Roller)
- Nancy (Passengers and Polish)
- Stepney (Rusty to the Rescue)
- Caroline (Train Stops Play)
- The Diesel (Bowled Out)
- S. C. Ruffey (Toad Stands By)
- Champion the Bull (Bulls Eyes)
- Bulstrode (Special Attraction)
Recurring character cast
References
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