Series 5

The fifth series of Thomas & Friends first aired on television in September 1998 in the UK and had twenty-six episodes narrated by Michael Angelis in the UK and Alec Baldwin in the US.

Production
With Series 5, the decision was made to write a full series of original, staff-written stories, without using the Railway Series' books as a source. One reason for this was producer Britt Allcroft's desire to create a theatrical Thomas the Tank Engine film and requested that director David Mitton show off his modelling skills. Season 5 also took on edgier plot lines and included much more action.

Some inspiration for the episodes came from a former LMR manager named David Maidment. In 1997, Maidment met with Steven Wright about the possibility of supporting the Railway Children charity and while Wright told him the series' staff commonly received such requests, they would consider. During their meeting, Maidment relayed stories about his railway experiences working in South Wales and as the manager at Crewe station. Maidment received a call asking if he would allow some of his stories to be used as material – the stories from the Railway Series were frequently based on true events and Allcroft and Mitton preferred this. Maidment agreed and was also asked to review each story to make sure that the railway in the show operated realistically. As a result, Maidment received writing credit alongside Allcroft and Mitton. 10,000 pounds was later donated to the Railway Children for his work.

The design for each new character would be chosen by David Eves and given to David Mitton for approval. For ease of filming, Season 5 would introduce larger-scale versions of the narrow gauge engines and from Season 6-12, these larger models were used almost exclusively. Originally, the character Bertram was supposed to be a tank engine, but financial difficulty in building a new model made them repaint Duke's model with Smudger's face.

Songs

 * Night Train
 * Accidents Will Happen
 * Every Cloud has a Silver Lining
 * It's Great to be an Engine
 * The Snow Song
 * Donald's Duck
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Come for the Ride
 * Harold the Helicopter
 * Percy's Seaside Trip

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Toby
 * Duck
 * Oliver
 * Bill and Ben
 * Stepney
 * BoCo
 * Mavis
 * Skarloey
 * Rheneas
 * Duncan
 * Rusty
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Toad
 * Terence
 * Bertie
 * George
 * Caroline
 * Harold
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Lady Hatt
 * Stephen Hatt
 * Bridget Hatt
 * Mrs. Kyndley
 * The Firelighter
 * The Little Boys
 * Harold's Pilots
 * Jem Cole
 * Farmer Trotter
 * Peter Sam
 * Henrietta
 * Donald
 * Trevor
 * Big Mickey
 * Jeremiah Jobling
 * The Vicar of Wellsworth
 * Refreshment Lady
 * Nancy
 * The Dryaw Policeman
 * Farmer Finney
 * The Storyteller
 * The Butler
 * The Crovan's Gate Policeman
 * The Tailor
 * The Mid Sodor Railway Manager
 * The Ffarquhar Stationmaster and his Wife
 * The Painter
 * The Quarry-master
 * The Railway Board
 * Duke
 * Bulstrode
 * Izzy Gomez ​
 * Douglas
 * Diesel
 * Daisy
 * Class 40
 * Sir Handel
 * Tom Tipper
 * Queen Elizabeth II
 * The Ffarquhar Policeman
 * The Stone-dropping Boys
 * The Barber
 * The Careless Cleaner
 * The Ffarquhar Stationmaster's Children
 * The Injured Sailor
 * S.C. Ruffey

Characters Introduced

 * Old Slow Coach
 * Cranky
 * The Horrid Lorries
 * Old Bailey
 * The Fire Brigade
 * The Special Visitor
 * Mrs. Kyndley's Daughter
 * Tiger Moth's Pilot
 * Derek
 * 'Arry
 * Dowager Hatt
 * The Lighthouse Keeper
 * Bert
 * Bertram
 * Rusty's Ghost Engine
 * Butch
 * Tiger Moth
 * Thumper
 * The Wedding Guests
 * Boulder
 * Harry Topper

Trivia

 * This was the first season of several things:
 * The first season not to have any episodes based on the Railway Series stories by Wilbert and Christopher Awdry.
 * The first season to introduce original characters with no connection to the Railway Series.
 * Alec Baldwin's first season as narrator.
 * The first season not to air on Shining Time Station due to the show ending. Episodes from the fifth season were instead aired on FOX Family's Storytime with Thomas.
 * The first season to use a Proteus 2000 to compose the music.
 * The first season not dubbed in Ukrainian.
 * The first season to air in Canada.
 * The first season dubbed by The Maidstone Studios.
 * The first season in which the phrase, "confusion and delay" is said.
 * According to an interview with David Mitton before his death in 2008, this season was supposed to be a showcase of Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
 * This season features the most songs, at a total of ten.
 * This was also the final season of several things:
 * Britt Allcroft's final season as writer and producer.
 * David Mitton's final season as producer.
 * Angus Wright's last season as executive producer.
 * The last season to premiere in the UK on Cartoon Network.
 * The last season filmed completely in 4:3 full screen.
 * The last season shown in Germany and Spain until the eighth season.
 * The last season to have a railway consultant until the seventeenth season.
 * The last season where Thomas' shocked face had a buck tooth.
 * The last season to have all its episodes released on VHS in the UK and Australia. The two episodes, Bye George! and Something in the Air, were featured on the ABC For Kids compilation VHS, Play Box in the latter country.
 * John L. Wright's last season as editor.
 * This was also the only season of several things:
 * David Maidment's only season as railway consultant and writer.
 * The only season where Donald appears without Douglas.
 * The only season not to appear at Knapford.
 * The only season recorded in Dolby Surround Sound, hence the absence of certain sound effects and music in either the UK or US version of several episodes.
 * Michael Angelis was not credited in the opening titles for the UK narration. However, he is credited as narrator in the Hindi narration, even though it was re-dubbed and Alec Baldwin was credited in the opening titles for the US narration.
 * Starting with this season up to the twelfth season, the brake sound effect from the 1964 film, The Train would be used when an engine puts on the brakes.
 * This season was never shown in Ukraine.
 * This season was filmed in the same room that Tugs was filmed in.
 * The Japanese video game Magical Adventure utilized specially shot footage from this season.

Staffel 5 Temporada 5 העונה החמישית 第5シーズン Seria 5 Сезон 5 第5季