Series 22

The twenty-second season (going under the name Big World! Big Adventures!) of Thomas & Friends started airing on September 3rd 2018 in the UK and on September 17th 2018 in the US. It is expected to be released on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon.

Production
Season 22 will mark the first major "reboot" of the franchise since the show switched to full CGI in the thirteenth season. The episodes will keep their eleven minute-long runtime, but will now be broken into seven minute-long stories, with an additional four minutes reserved for a variety of segments like sing-along karaoke songs, music videos or Thomas talking directly with the audience about lessons learned during a particular episode. Among many other changes, Edward and Henry will be removed from the Steam Team to make room for Nia and Rebecca, and the narrator has been replaced with Thomas talking to the audience (however, Mark Moraghan has said that he will still work on the series).

Season 22 will be set after Big World! Big Adventures!. The season will be split into two halves; one half will see Thomas travelling around the world and visiting China, India and Australia, while the second half will take place back on the Island of Sodor. The season will also be released on Netflix, Amazon and Hulu in the fall of 2018.

Songs

 * Engine Roll Call (newly updated)
 * Set Friendship in Motion (different lyrics)
 * The Journey Never Ends

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Toby
 * Duck
 * Bill and Ben
 * Flying Scotsman
 * Harvey
 * Emily
 * Spencer
 * Rosie
 * Whiff
 * Stanley
 * Belle
 * Porter
 * Marion
 * Samson
 * Ashima
 * Rajiv
 * Shane
 * Yong Bao
 * Merlin
 * Nia
 * Diesel
 * Daisy
 * Salty
 * Dart
 * Sidney
 * Paxton
 * Philip
 * The Chinese Diesel
 * Shankar
 * Skarloey
 * Victor
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Henrietta
 * Rocky
 * Judy and Jerome
 * Bradford
 * Hannah
 * The Male Chinese Breakdown Crane
 * Trevor
 * Cranky
 * Kevin
 * Reg
 * Carly
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Lady Hatt
 * Dowager Hatt
 * Cyril the Fogman
 * The Duke and Duchess of Boxford
 * Headkeeper Jack
 * The Teacher
 * The Lady with the Big Hat
 * The Blond-haired Boy
 * Samson's Driver
 * Stephen
 * Luke
 * The Grey Tender Engine
 * Slip Coaches
 * Sir Robert Norramby
 * Oliver
 * Connor
 * Caitlin
 * Timothy
 * Hugo
 * Millie
 * Toad
 * Max and Monty
 * The Deputy Minister
 * Barrow Football Team
 * Charlie
 * Scruff
 * A Diesel Shunter
 * Winston
 * Skiff
 * Peter Sam
 * Duncan
 * Jack
 * Big Mickey
 * Owen
 * Jem Cole
 * Farmer McColl
 * The Thin Clergyman
 * The Ginger-haired Boy
 * Sodor United Football Team
 * One of Dowager Hatt's Friends
 * Albert's Wife
 * Ferdinand
 * Donald and Douglas
 * Ryan
 * 'Arry and Bert
 * Den
 * Bert
 * Rex
 * Oliver the Excavator
 * Ferdinand
 * Hiro
 * Gator
 * Frieda
 * Gina
 * The Brazilian Tank Engine
 * Beau
 * The Arizona Diesel
 * Stafford
 * Etienne
 * Ace
 * The American Crane
 * Lord Callan
 * Daisy's Fitter
 * The Female Chinese Breakdown Crane

Characters Introduced

 * Rebecca
 * Hong-Mei
 * Noor Jehan
 * Tamika
 * Dexter
 * An An and Yin-Long
 * Aubrey and Aiden
 * Lei
 * Isla
 * Charubala
 * The Indian Actor
 * The Indian Director
 * The Tiger Hunters
 * Madeleine
 * Madeleine's Parents
 * Ranger Jill
 * The Indian Breakdown Cranes
 * The Purple Tank Engine
 * The Purple Tender Engine
 * The Chinese Diesel Shunter

UK

 * John Hasler as Thomas
 * Keith Wickham as Edward, Henry, Gordon, Harvey, Whiff, Salty, Skarloey, Sir Topham Hatt and Dowager Hatt
 * Rob Rackstraw as James, Toby, Bradford and the Fat Tiger Hunter
 * Nigel Pilkington as Percy and Trevor
 * Steven Kynman as Duck, Porter, Dart and Paxton
 * Rasmus Hardiker as Bill and Philip
 * Matt Wilkinson as Ben, Spencer, Stanley, Rocky, Cranky, Kevin and the Duke of Boxford
 * Teresa Gallagher as Emily, Belle, Annie, Clarabel, Judy, Lady Hatt. the Duchess of Boxford, Madeleine and Madeleine's Mother
 * Nicola Stapleton as Rosie
 * Olivia Colman as Marion
 * Robert Wilfort as Samson
 * Rufus Jones as Flying Scotsman
 * Tina Desai as Ashima
 * Nikhil Parmar as Rajiv and the Indian Director
 * Shane Jacobson as Shane
 * Dan Li as Yong Bao
 * Hugh Bonneville as Merlin
 * Yvonne Grundy as Nia
 * Kerry Shale as Diesel, Cyril the Fogman and Headkeeper Jack
 * Tracy-Ann Oberman as Daisy
 * Bob Golding as Sidney
 * David Bedella as Victor
 * Maggie Ollerenshaw as Henrietta
 * Tim Whitnall as Jerome and Reg
 * Lucy Montgomery as Hannah and Carly
 * Rachael Miller as Rebecca and Isla
 * Chipo Chung as Hong-Mei
 * Siu-see Hung as An An
 * Windson Liong as Yin-Long and Lei
 * Su-Lin Looi as the Chinese Diesel
 * Sheena Bhattessa as Noor Jehan and Charubala
 * Sanjeev Bhaskar as Shankar and the Indian Actor
 * Rose Robinson as Tamika
 * Mark Moraghan as Dexter
 * Genevieve McCarthy as Aubrey
 * Tim Bain as Aiden and Madeleine's Father
 * Ian McCue as the Thin Tiger Hunter
 * Tariro Mavondo as Ranger Jill

US

 * Joseph May as Thomas
 * William Hope as Edward, Toby, Whiff, Rocky and the Duke of Boxford
 * Kerry Shale as Henry, Gordon, Diesel, Kevin, Cyril the Fogman and Headkeeper Jack
 * Rob Rackstraw as James, Bradford and the Fat Tiger Hunter
 * Christopher Ragland as Percy and Trevor
 * Steven Kynman as Duck, Dart and Paxton
 * Rasmus Hardiker as Bill and Philip
 * Matt Wilkinson as Ben
 * Keith Wickham as Harvey, Salty, Skarloey, Sir Topham Hatt and Dowager Hatt
 * Jules de Jongh as Emily and the Duchess of Boxford
 * Glenn Wrage as Spencer and Cranky
 * Nicola Stapleton as Rosie
 * Teresa Gallagher as Belle, Annie, Clarabel, Judy, Lady Hatt. Madeleine and Madeleine's Mother
 * David Menkin as Porter
 * Olivia Colman as Marion
 * Robert Wilfort as Samson
 * Rufus Jones as Flying Scotsman
 * Tina Desai as Ashima
 * Nikhil Parmar as Rajiv and the Indian Director
 * Shane Jacobson as Shane
 * Dan Li as Yong Bao
 * Hugh Bonneville as Merlin
 * Yvonne Grundy as Nia
 * Tracy-Ann Oberman as Daisy
 * Bob Golding as Sidney
 * David Bedella as Victor
 * Maggie Ollerenshaw as Henrietta
 * Tim Whitnall as Jerome and Reg
 * Lucy Montgomery as Hannah and Carly
 * Rachael Miller as Rebecca and Isla
 * Chipo Chung as Hong-Mei
 * Siu-see Hung as An An
 * Windson Liong as Yin-Long and Lei
 * Su-Lin Looi as the Chinese Diesel
 * Sheena Bhattessa as Noor Jehan and Charubala
 * Sanjeev Bhaskar as Shankar and the Indian Actor
 * Rose Robinson as Tamika
 * Mark Moraghan as Dexter
 * Genevieve McCarthy as Aubrey
 * Tim Bain as Aiden and Madeleine's Father
 * Ian McCue as the Thin Tiger Hunter
 * Tariro Mavondo as Ranger Jill

Trivia

 * This season marks the first of several things:
 * The first season to use the new intro, credits and Set Friendship in Motion as an intro song.
 * The first season to feature the newly updated Engine Roll Call at the end.
 * The first season not to feature Mavis, Stafford or Bertie since their debut.
 * The first season to feature Dart without Den.
 * The first season to feature Thomas as the narrator.
 * The first season where Matt Wilkinson and Rasmus Hardiker voice Bill and Ben since Jonathan Broadbent's depature from the series.
 * The first season since the twelfth season to have seven minutes long episode story segments.
 * Rajiv, Shane and Shankar's first speaking roles in the franchise.
 * This is the final season of a couple of things:
 * The last season to have Lee Pressman on the writing team.
 * The last season to have Micaela Winter as producer.
 * Nikhil Parmar, Siu-see Hung, Windson Liong, Sheena Bhattessa, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Rose Robinson, Genevieve McCarthy, Tim Bain and Tariro Mavondo join the voice cast.