Series 22

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

Production
Season 22 marks the first major "reboot" of the franchise since the show switched to full CGI in the thirteenth season. The episodes keep their eleven minute-long runtime, but are now 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 were 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 is set after Big World! Big Adventures!. The season is split into two halves; one half sees Thomas travelling around the world and visiting China, India and Australia, while the second half takes 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
 * The Grey Tender Engine
 * Luke
 * 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 Tree Specialists
 * The Bird Watcher
 * A Schoolgirl
 * 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
 * Hiro
 * Gator
 * Frieda
 * Gina
 * The Brazilian Tank Engine
 * Beau
 * The Arizona Diesel
 * Stafford
 * Etienne
 * Ace
 * The American Crane
 * The Female Chinese Breakdown Crane
 * Lord Callan
 * Daisy's Fitter

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 AUS and NZ

 * 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, Philip and the Angry Man
 * Matt Wilkinson as Ben, Spencer, Stanley, Rocky, Cranky, Kevin and the Duke of Boxford
 * Rufus Jones as Flying Scotsman
 * 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
 * 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, Isla, The Teacher and some Australian Passengers
 * Chipo Chung as Hong-Mei
 * Siu-see Hung as An An and Chinese Women
 * Windson Liong as Yin-Long, Lei, the Male Chinese Breakdown Crane, the Chinese Guard and Chinese Men
 * 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
 * Jass Patel as a Concessions Worker

US and CAN

 * 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, Philip and the Angry Man
 * Matt Wilkinson as Ben
 * Rufus Jones as Flying Scotsman
 * Keith Wickham as Harvey, Salty, Skarloey, Sir Topham Hatt and Dowager Hatt
 * Jules de Jongh as Emily, Lady Hatt and the Duchess of Boxford
 * Glenn Wrage as Spencer and Cranky
 * Nicola Stapleton as Rosie
 * Teresa Gallagher as Belle, Annie, Clarabel, Judy, Madeleine and Madeleine's Mother
 * David Menkin as Porter
 * Olivia Colman as Marion
 * Robert Wilfort as Samson
 * 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, Isla, The Teacher and some Australian Passengers
 * Chipo Chung as Hong-Mei
 * Siu-see Hung as An An and Chinese Women
 * Windson Liong as Yin-Long, Lei, the Male Chinese Breakdown Crane, the Chinese Guard and Chinese Men
 * 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
 * Jass Patel as a Concessions Worker

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.
 * The first season to feature Thomas as the narrator. Because of this:
 * This is the first season since the sixteenth to have a different narrator in both the UK and US dubs.
 * This is the first production since Thomas and the Magic Railroad to have a first-person narrative.
 * The first season to feature the new Steam Team - Thomas, Gordon, James, Percy, Emily, Nia and Rebecca.
 * The first season not to have Edward and Henry as part of the main cast. However, Toby is still retained in the new version of Engine Roll Call.
 * The first season in which Stephen and Sir Robert Norramby appear, but do not speak since their introduction.
 * The first season in which Harold, Stephen Hatt and Bridget Hatt do not appear since their returns in the thirteenth and fourteenth seasons respectively.
 * The first season in which Glynn, Mavis, Norman, Stafford, Mike and Captain Joe do not appear since their debuts. It is also the first season of the television series in which Bertie does not make an appearance at all.
 * However, Stafford still appears in the newly updated Engine Roll Call.
 * The first season since the eleventh season to have Rosie speak in more than one episode.
 * The first season in which Dart appears without Den.
 * The first season in which Rasmus Hardiker and Matt Wilkinson voice Bill and Ben since Jonathan Broadbent's departure from the series.
 * The first season since he joined the voice cast in King of the Railway not to have Mike Grady as part of the cast. It is also the first season since they joined the voice cast in the eighteenth season not to have Joe Mills and Tom Stourton as part of the cast.
 * The first season since the twelfth season to have seven minute long episode story segments.
 * Flying Scotsman's first appearance in an episode since the third season and first speaking role in an episode.
 * Ashima, Rajiv, Shane, Yong Bao, Merlin, Nia and Shankar's first appearances in an episode.
 * Rajiv, Shane and Shankar's first speaking roles in the franchise.
 * Cyril the Fogman's first appearance in full CGI.
 * The first season since the eighteenth season not to have any episodes written by Helen Farrall.
 * 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.
 * Although they did not appear in the main episodes and only appeared in the end segments: Donald, Douglas, Oliver, Connor, Caitlin, Timothy, Ryan, Iron 'Arry, Iron Bert, Den, Hugo, Millie, Bert, Rex, Toad, Oliver the Excavator and Max and Monty all appear in stock footage of several episodes.
 * However, Hugo does make a stock footage appearance in Forever and Ever, Oliver, Toad and Oliver the Excavator do make stock footage appearances in Trusty Trunky, Bert and Rex do make stock footage cameos in Kangaroo Christmas, Max and Monty do make stock footage appearances in Hunt the Truck, Caitlin does make a stock footage appearance in Cyclone Thomas, Iron 'Arry, Iron Bert, and Farmer McColl do make stock footage cameos in Banjo and the Bushfire and Donald and Douglas do make stock footage cameos in Counting on Nia.
 * Tina Desai, Hugh Bonneville, Oliver McCue and Ashna Kapur return to the voice cast.
 * Nikhil Parmar, Siu-see Hung, Windson Liong, Sheena Bhattessa, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Rose Robinson, Genevieve McCarthy, Tim Bain and Tariro Mavondo join the voice cast.
 * This season introduced a new sequence used at least once in almost every episode, featuring an engine backing up to the selected rolling stock, and a closeup of their couplings being hooked followed by a closeup of their whistle being blown (horns for diesels and a bell if they have one) before the start of the main plot.
 * The mist surrounding the frame in the fantasy sequences are very similar to classic cartoon thought bubbles. Depending on who is having the fantasy, it is white for steam engines (and rolling stock) and black for diesels.