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Thomas & Friends series 12

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Thomas & Friends (series 12)
Series 12
DVD cover art
Release
Original networkFive
Original release1 September –

26 September 2008
Series chronology
← Previous
Series 11 (2007)
List of episodes

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 twelfth series of the show, which was first broadcast in 2008. [1] This series was originally planned to be narrated by Pierce Brosnan, replacing Michael Angelis and Michael Brandon for the UK and US narrations, respectively. However, Brosnan withdrew from the series for unknown reasons, and the series was released with Angelis narrating the UK releases and Brandon the US releases.

Most episodes in this series have two titles: the original titles from the UK broadcasts are shown on top, while the American-adapted titles are shown underneath.

Production

Filming and animation

Series 12 marked the beginning of Thomas & Friends' transition into CGI (Computer-generated imagery).[2][3] Characters' faces were animated through CGI with the aid of motion capture animation - the physical models' molded faces were replaced by targets in order to fix a computer-animated face in post-production. Static models of people and animals were replaced by 3D animations. The animation was provided by Nitrogen Studios, the studio contracted for future full-CGI episodes. This change marked the movement of production of the show from the United Kingdom to Canada,[2][3][4] although the model scenes were still filmed at Shepperton Studios. This was the last series where Ed Welch provided the music, while Robert Hartshorne continues to compose the music afterwards.

HIT Entertainment's Senior Vice President of Production and Programming, Christopher Skala, stated that the change, aside from budgetary reasons, was intended to convey more emotion and flexibility through the stories. Skala claimed that, of his focus group, even those who felt that Thomas, as an institution, should not be changed in this way ultimately responded positively to the demonstration of the new animation techniques.

Closed captioning for the 30-minute version of the show was produced by CaptionMax.

Episodes

# Total UK title (top)
US title (bottom) 		Directed by Written by Original air date TV order
1302"Thomas and the Billboard"Steve AsquithMark Robertson1 September 2008505a
2303"Steady Eddie"Steve AsquithSharon Miller2 September 2008505b
3304"Rosie's Funfair Special"
"Rosie's Carnival Special"		Steve AsquithAndrew Viner3 September 2008511a
4305"Mountain Marvel"Steve AsquithSharon Miller4 September 2008512b
5306"Henry Gets It Wrong"Steve AsquithAbi Grant5 September 2008504a
6307"Heave Ho Thomas!"Steve AsquithSharon Miller8 September 2008506b
7308"Toby's Special Surprise"Steve AsquithSharon Miller9 September 2008506a
8309"Excellent Emily"Steve AsquithPaul Larson10 September 2008509b
9310"The Party Surprise"Steve AsquithSimon Spencer11 September 2008513a
10311"Saved You!"Steve AsquithPaul Larson12 September 2008513b
11312"Duncan and the Hot Air Balloon"Steve AsquithMark Robertson15 September 2008512a
12313"James Works It Out"Steve AsquithSimon Spencer16 September 2008510b
13314"Tram Trouble"Steve AsquithSharon Miller17 September 2008510a
14315"Don't Go Back"Steve AsquithSimon Spencer18 September 2008507b
15316"Gordon Takes a Shortcut"Steve AsquithWayne Jackman19 September 2008508a
16317"The Man in the Hills"Steve AsquithSharon Miller22 September 2008509b
17318"Thomas Puts the Brakes On"Steve AsquithMark Robertson23 September 2008508a
18319"Percy and the Bandstand"Steve AsquithPaul Larson24 September 2008507b
19320"Push Me, Pull You"Steve AsquithSharon Miller25 September 2008511a
20321"Best Friends"Steve AsquithAnna Starkey26 September 2008504b

Characters

Introduced

  • Hank (Heave Ho Thomas)
  • Flora (Tram Trouble)
  • Colin (The Party Surprise)
  • The Bargeman (The Party Surprise)
  • The Percival Twins (Duncan and the Hot Air Balloon)
  • The Tree Specialists (Henry Gets It Wrong)

Recurring character cast

References

  1. ^ [1], My DigiGuide - Five schedule
  2. ^ a b [2], Licensing.biz, "Hit reveals new look for Bob and Thomas"
  3. ^ a b [3], Worldscreen, "Thomas, Bob Take CGI Route"
  4. ^ [4], Nitrogen Studios website
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