Series 12

The twelfth season of the television series aired in 2008. The twenty episodes were narrated by Michael Angelis in the UK and Michael Brandon in the US.

Episodes

 * 1) Thomas and the Billboard - Diesel obscures Thomas in a photograph of the engines.
 * 2) Steady Eddie - Edward takes the Great Waterton water wheel on the scenic route to show off to his friends.
 * 3) Rosie's Funfair Special/Rosie's Carnival Special - Rosie and Emily are pulling a train for a fair, but Rosie wants to pull it alone.
 * 4) Mountain Marvel - Peter Sam rushes to finish his jobs in order to hear a tale about Proteus from the famous storyteller, Miss Marvel.
 * 5) Henry Gets it Wrong - Henry worries that the workmen are going to cut down the wishing tree.
 * 6) Heave Ho Thomas! - A large new engine called Hank arrives, but Thomas is determined not to need his help.
 * 7) Toby's Special Surprise - Toby wants to make an impression by searching Sodor for something special.
 * 8) Excellent Emily - Emily becomes arrogant after receiving praise from the Fat Controller.
 * 9) The Party Surprise - Freddie decides to reorganise a winter party from Mr. Percival's house to the Wharf as a surprise for Colin the crane.
 * 10) Saved You! - Thomas wants to prove his heroism when he learns a fireman is to be honoured.
 * 11) Duncan and the Hot Air Balloon - Mr. Percival's twins are getting a ride in the Hot Air Balloon for their birthday, but Duncan wants to take them himself.
 * 12) James Works it Out - When James ignores Hector's advice, he gets caught in bad winter weather.
 * 13) Tram Trouble - Toby and Flora are heading a parade at Great Waterton; Thomas thinks Toby would rather lead the event on his own and tries to distract Flora.
 * 14) Don't Go Back - Thomas and Diesel race backwards.
 * 15) Gordon Takes a Shortcut - Gordon gets lost while taking a shortcut and refuses to ask for help.
 * 16) The Man in the Hills - Thomas and the narrow gauge engines collect presents for Mr. Percival's birthday.
 * 17) Thomas Puts the Brakes On - Thomas' brakes malfunction while delivering bricks to repair a bridge.
 * 18) Percy and the Bandstand - Percy is tasked with bringing Lady Hatt to a surprise party - but the unknowing Lady Hatt tells him to go elsewhere.
 * 19) Push Me, Pull You - Skarloey refuses Rheneas' help to pull a train for a puppet show and ends up playing the trucks' games.
 * 20) Best Friends - Thomas tries to avoid telling Percy he has been given a job Percy wants to do.

Songs

 * Engine Rollcall (CGI face version)

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Toby
 * Duck
 * Donald and Douglas
 * Oliver
 * Ben
 * Emily
 * Murdoch
 * Neville
 * Rosie
 * Whiff
 * Stanley
 * Diesel
 * Mavis
 * Salty
 * Skarloey
 * Rheneas
 * Sir Handel
 * Peter Sam
 * Duncan
 * Freddie
 * Mighty Mac
 * Rusty
 * Toad
 * Hector
 * Bertie
 * Jack
 * Harold
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Lady Hatt
 * Dusty Miller
 * The Photographer
 * Alice
 * The Engineer
 * The Dairy Manager
 * Stepney (does not speak in UK version)
 * Harvey (does not speak)
 * Arthur (does not speak)
 * 'Arry and Bert (do not speak)
 * Annie and Clarabel (do not speak)
 * Henrietta (does not speak)
 * Rocky (does not speak)
 * Trevor (does not speak)
 * Alfie (does not speak)
 * Cranky (does not speak)
 * Jeremy (does not speak)
 * Dowager Hatt (does not speak)
 * Mrs. Percival (does not speak)
 * Jenny Packard (does not speak)
 * Sodor Brass Band (does not speak)
 * Bulgy (cameo)
 * Max or Monty (cameo)
 * Farmer Trotter (cameo)
 * Proteus (mentioned, seen as a statue)
 * The Mayor of Sodor (mentioned)
 * Dennis (learning segment)

Characters introduced

 * Hank
 * Flora
 * Colin
 * The Balloon Repairman
 * The Bargeman
 * The Tree Specialists (do not speak)
 * Mr. Giggles (does not speak)
 * Miss Marvel (does not speak)
 * The Fireman (does not speak)
 * The Percival Children (The Percival Twins; do not speak: The rest of them; cameo)
 * The Ginger-haired Boy (cameo)
 * The Blond-haired Boy (cameo)
 * The Teacher (cameo)

Half hour format
When Season 12 aired on PBS Kids, Nick Jr. and Treehouse, each broadcast had 2 episodes from Season 12, a segment dedicated to one of Thomas' friends, and past animated Learning Segments and songs from Seasons 8, 9 and 10 were used.

Good Friends

 * Best Friends
 * Learning Segment: Dot to Dot - Emily
 * Song: H is for Harold
 * Thomas' Favourite Friends - Rosie and Molly
 * Learning Segment: What is Henry Thinking of?
 * Henry Gets it Wrong

Being Careful

 * Thomas and the Billboard
 * Learning Segment: Guess the Engine - Percy
 * Learning Segment: Who Should Take the Telegraph Pole?
 * Thomas' Favourite Friends - Toby
 * Learning Segment: Which Way Should Thomas and Emily Go?
 * Learning Segment: Which Whistle Suits Thomas?
 * Steady Eddie

Good Turns

 * Heave Ho Thomas!
 * Learning Segment: Guess the Engine - James
 * Song: Pride
 * Thomas' Favourite Friends - Henry
 * Learning Segment: Which Engine for Which Job?
 * Toby's Special Surprise

Right Track

 * Don't Go Back
 * Learning Segment: Dot to Dot - Gordon
 * Learning Segment: Over the Bridge
 * Thomas' Favourite Friends - Gordon
 * Learning Segment: Which Track for Henry?
 * Learning Segment: Emily Huffs out of the Station
 * Percy and the Bandstand

Courage

 * Thomas Puts the Breaks On
 * Learning Segment: Guess the Engine - Emily
 * Song: Brave
 * Thomas' Favourite Friends - Neville and Dennis
 * Learning Segment: Getting There
 * Gordon Takes a Shortcut

Presents and Prizes

 * The Man in the Hills
 * Learning Segment: Dot to Dot - Edward
 * Learning Segment: What is Thomas Thinking of?
 * Thomas' Favourite Friends - Harold and Jeremy
 * Learning Segment: Which Load to Which Station?
 * Excellent Emily

Kindness

 * Tram Trouble
 * Learning Segment: Dot to Dot - Toby
 * Song: Responsibility
 * Thomas' Favourite Friends - Edward
 * Learning Segment: Who Can get to the Washdown?
 * James Works it Out

Pulling Together

 * Rosie's Funfair Special
 * Learning Segment: Dot to Dot - Percy
 * Song: Togetherness
 * Thomas' Favourite Friends - Diesel
 * Learning Segment: Which Load for What Occasion
 * Push Me, Pull You

Adventures

 * Duncan and the Hot Air Balloon
 * Learning Segment: Dot to Dot - Thomas
 * Learning Segment: What Does Toby see?
 * Thomas' Favourite Friends - The Narrow Gauge Engines
 * Learning Segment: Percy's Treasure
 * Mountain Marvel

Mistakes

 * Saved You!
 * Learning Segment: Dot to Dot - Gordon
 * Song: Doing it Right
 * Thomas' Favourite Friends - Percy
 * Learning Segment: Surprise Destintions
 * The Party Surprise

Trivia

 * This was the first season of several things:
 * The first season of the CGI Series.
 * The first season where all engines' faces, human characters, animals and environmental surroundings are in full CGI and move.
 * Sir Topham Hatt, Lady Hatt, Alice, The Engineer, Dowager Hatt, Jenny Packard and Sodor Brass Band's first appearance in full CGI.
 * Sharon Miller's first season as head writer.
 * The first season to have twenty episodes.
 * The first season produced and contain CGI by Nitrogen Studios.
 * The first HiT season recorded and edited in 25fps (aside from the end credits).
 * The first Thomas & Friends production since Thomas and the Magic Railroad to have moving people.
 * The first season where Rocky and Cranky appear, but don't have speaking roles in any of the episodes.
 * This was also the last season of several things as well:
 * The last season to use models and clay faces, however the clay faces were only used in background shots.
 * Simon Spencer's last season as producer.
 * The last season filmed at Shepperton Studios.
 * The last season to feature songs by Ed Welch.
 * The TV series veteran Steve Asquith's final season as director.
 * This was the last season to have all of the characters voiced by the narrator until Thomas Goes to New York.
 * Paul Larson's last season until Season 17, as well as the last season he wrote by himself.
 * This was the final season to use the brake sound from The Train.
 * This was the last season to have songs sung by children until The Adventure Begins.
 * The last season to open with Awdry's letter to Christopher in television broadcasts.
 * This was also the only season of several things as well:
 * The only season to use a hybrid model-CGI mix.
 * Dino Athanassiou's only season as CGI director.
 * Pete Atkin's only season as voice director.
 * The only season where Ben appears without Bill.
 * The only season not shown on Japanese TV, but some episodes have been shown exclusively at Thomas Land's 3D Theatre and Video on Demand in Japan.
 * The only CGI season not to have a full voice cast for the characters.
 * Aside from the Teacher and the tree specialists, all of the characters introduced in this season have only ever appeared in their debut episodes.
 * This season contained the 300th episode of the television series.
 * Pierce Brosnan was originally going to narrate this season, but was later replaced by Michael Angelis and Michael Brandon for unknown reasons.
 * In the UK, this season was supposed to be show after The Great Discovery, but was brought forwards for unknown reasons.
 * This season was never shown in Hungary, Norway, Romania, Poland, and the Netherlands.
 * Harvey and Arthur were the only engines not to utilize a CGI face mask. However, two pictures from a magazine story show Harvey with a CGI face.
 * The series cost £2.5 million to make, with each episode taking around five days to film.