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 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 4th series of the show, which was broadcast in 1994 and 1995. This series was narrated by Michael Angelis for the United Kingdom audiences, with George Carlin narrating the episodes for the United States audiences on which was also his last series. This was also the final season where Thomas only appeared in the United States as a segment on Shining Time Station, after that it became a program on Mister Moose's Fun Time and Storytime With Thomas.
Two of the episodes in this series have two titles: the original ones from the United Kingdom 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.
The working title for Thomas and the Special Letter was The Fat Controller's Engines. it aired on Nickelodeon UK from March 19, 1999 to March 23, 2001.
Stories
Half of the 3rd 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 4th 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
| No. overall | No. in season | 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 | 21 September 1994 |
| 83 | 5 | "4 Little Engines" | David Mitton | 4 Little Engines 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 | 30 September 1994 |
| 85 | 7 | "Peter Sam & the Refreshment Lady" | David Mitton | 4 Little Engines by Rev. W. Awdry | 2 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 | 9 October 1994 |
| 88 | 10 | "Rock 'n' Roll" | David Mitton | The Little Old Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 14 October 1994 |
| 89 | 11 | "Special Funnel" | David Mitton | Gallant Old Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 9 January 1995 |
| 90 | 12 | "Steam-Roller" | David Mitton | Gallant Old Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 14 January 1995 |
| 91 | 13 | "Passengers & Polish" | David Mitton | Gallant Old Engine by Rev. W. Awdry | 30 January 1995 |
| 92 | 14 | "The Gallant Old Engine" | David Mitton | Gallant Old Engine 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 & 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 & the Elephant" | David Mitton | 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 | Branch Line Engines by Rev. W. Awdry | 2 April 1995 |
| 100 | 22 | "Thomas & 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 & 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
- Stepney the Bluebell Engine ("Rusty to the Rescue")
- The Diesel ("Bowled Out")
- Duke ("Granpuff")
- Smudger ("Granpuff")
- Skarloey ("Granpuff" (cameo) / "Four Little Engines")
- Rheneas ("Granpuff" (cameo) / "Four Little Engines")
- Falcon / Sir Handel ("Granpuff" / "A Bad Day for Sir Handel")
- Stuart / Peter Sam ("Granpuff" / "A Bad Day for Sir Handel")
- Rusty ("Trucks")
- Duncan ("Home at Last")
- S. C. Ruffey ("Toad Stands By")
- George ("Steam Roller")
- Caroline ("Train Stops Play")
- Bulstrode the Barge ("Special Attraction")
- The Refreshment Lady ("Peter Sam and the Refreshment Lady")
- Nancy ("Passengers and Polish")
- Champion the Bull ("Bulls Eyes")
Recurring cast
References
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