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Thomas & Friends series 8

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Thomas & Friends series 8
DVD cover art
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of episodes26
Original release
NetworkNick Jr./CITV
Release1 August (2004-08-01) –
24 October 2004 (2004-10-24)

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 Reverend W. Awdry.

This article lists and details episodes from the eighth series of the show, which was first broadcast in 2004. This series was narrated by Michael Angelis for the United Kingdom audiences, while Michael Brandon narrated the episodes for the United States audiences.

This is the first series produced by HIT Entertainment.

Production

Starting with this series, Thomas & Friends broadcast in the United States for the first time as a whole television programme. It had first appeared as sequences from the American television show Shining Time Station from 1989 to 1995.

For the eighth series, Steve Asquith (after 20 years as a crew member) took over as director from David Mitton (who had directed the show since its first series) and Simon Spencer became the producer. In addition, Robert Hartshorne and Ed Welch took over as composers and songwriters after Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell departed. Paul Larson and Abi Grant were the script editors for this series.

This was the first series to introduce a new opening [1] and closing credits, plus a brief description of the Island of Sodor before each episode began.[2]

Also starting with this series, the length of the episodes were increased to seven minutes from the original four-and-a-half minutes.

The series was produced using digital Betacam Sp video cameras, which created a somewhat different look for the show. There was also a subtle shift towards the use of CGI elements, provided by HiT Entertainment's subsidiary HOT Animation,[3] although filming remained at Shepperton Studios.

For the United States broadcasts, other changes include the additions of CGI sequences in mini-segments between episodes, transition effects, and a book opening intro section.

This series was also the first series that saw the use of The Steam Team, the centralised cast of eight characters including Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Toby and Emily.

30-minute episode version

This is an episode format that includes 2 episodes of Series 8 and a short episode from Series 7 in the middle of the airing. In addition, it also includes educational segments and additional songs.

Episodes

No.
overall		No. in
series		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateTV Order
1831"Thomas and the Tuba"Steve AsquithDave Ingham1 August 2004 (2004-08-01)[nb 1]101a
1842"Percy's New Whistle"Steve AsquithJames Mason1 August 2004 (2004-08-01)[nb 2]101b
1853"Thomas to the Rescue"Steve AsquithAbi Grant and Paul Larson8 August 2004 (2004-08-08)[nb 2]102a
1864"Henry and the Wishing Tree"Steve AsquithAbi Grant and Paul Larson8 August 2004 (2004-08-08)[nb 2]102b
1875"James Gets a New Coat"Steve AsquithAbi Grant15 August 2004 (2004-08-15)103a
1886"Thomas Saves the Day"Steve AsquithJames Mason15 August 2004 (2004-08-15)103b
1897"Percy's Big Mistake"Steve AsquithAbi Grant22 August 2004 (2004-08-22)104a
1908"Thomas, Emily and the Snowplough"Steve AsquithAbi Grant22 August 2004 (2004-08-22)104b
1919"Don't Tell Thomas"Steve AsquithPaul Larson29 August 2004 (2004-08-29)105a
19210"Emily's New Route"Steve AsquithJames Mason29 August 2004 (2004-08-29)105b
19311"Thomas and the Firework Display"Steve AsquithAbi Grant and Paul Larson5 September 2004 (2004-09-05)[nb 1]106a
19412"Gordon Takes Charge"Steve AsquithPaul Larson5 September 2004 (2004-09-05)106b
19513"Spic and Span"Steve AsquithMarc Seal12 September 2004 (2004-09-12)107a
19614"Edward the Great"Steve AsquithAbi Grant12 September 2004 (2004-09-12)107b
19715"Squeak, Rattle and Roll"Steve AsquithMarc Seal19 September 2004 (2004-09-19)[nb 2]108a
19816"Thomas and the Circus"Steve AsquithAbi Grant19 September 2004 (2004-09-19)108b
19917"Thomas Gets It Right"Steve AsquithRobin Rigby26 September 2004 (2004-09-26)109a
20018"As Good as Gordon"Steve AsquithAbi Grant26 September 2004 (2004-09-26)109b
20119"Fish"Steve AsquithPaul Larson3 October 2004 (2004-10-03)110a
20220"Emily's Adventure"Steve AsquithPaul Larson3 October 2004 (2004-10-03)110b
20321"Halloween"Steve AsquithDave Ingham10 October 2004 (2004-10-10)111a
20422"You Can Do It, Toby!"Steve AsquithPaul Larson10 October 2004 (2004-10-10)111b
20523"James Goes Too Far"Steve AsquithJames Mason17 October 2004 (2004-10-17)112a
20624"Chickens to School"Steve AsquithPaul Larson17 October 2004 (2004-10-17)112b
20725"Too Hot for Thomas"Steve AsquithPaul Larson24 October 2004 (2004-10-24)113a
20826"Percy and the Magic Carpet"Steve AsquithAbi Grant24 October 2004 (2004-10-24)113b

Characters

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b This episode was first released on the All Aboard with the Steam Team VHS/DVD on 24 May 2004.
  2. ^ a b c d This episode was first released on the Steamies vs. Diesels and Other Thomas Adventures VHS/DVD on 18 May 2004.

Citations

  1. ^ Thomas and Friends - Intro Season 8-10 (YouTube video). TTTEANDFRIENDS. July 11, 2011. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  2. ^ Thomas and Friends - The Island of Sodor (YouTube video). 7omaZb3rk. Feb 26, 2017. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  3. ^ How Thomas the Tank Engine Works
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