| This article is about the Thomas & Friends episode. You may be looking for the All Engines Go song or the magazine story. |
- "My new friend Hong-Mei and I make a great team! After all, what could be better than two number ones?"
- ― Thomas
Number One Engine is the first episode of the twenty-second series.
Plot
While working on the Chinese Railway, Thomas is late picking up An An and Yin-Long. Later on, when he is working on the line, he brags to them about being the fastest No. 1 engine, but Hong-Mei begs to differ that she is the No. 1 engine. The two of them decide to race together to see who is the fastest, but while racing, Thomas is going too fast on a different track and is not looking, so he derails and realises how silly he is. Hong-Mei soon comes to help Thomas back onto the tracks and both the engines realise that it is okay for both of them to be No. 1 engines.
Characters
- Thomas
- Yong Bao
- Hong-Mei
- An An and Yin-Long
- The Chinese Guard
- Annie and Clarabel (fantasy)
- Sir Topham Hatt (fantasy)
Locations
- China
- The Mainland (fantasy)
- Island of Sodor (fantasy)
- Vicarstown Bridge (fantasy)
Cast
UK
- John Hasler as Thomas
- Teresa Gallagher as Annie and Clarabel
- Keith Wickham as the Fat Controller
- Dan Li as Yong Bao
- Chipo Chung as Hong-Mei
- Siu-see Hung as An An
- Windson Liong as Yin-Long and the Chinese Guard
US
- Joseph May as Thomas
- Teresa Gallagher as Annie and Clarabel
- Keith Wickham as Sir Topham Hatt
- Dan Li as Yong Bao
- Chipo Chung as Hong-Mei
- Siu-see Hung as An An
- Windson Liong as Yin-Long and the Chinese Guard
Trivia
- Going by production order, this is possibly the first episode of the twenty-second series.
- This is the first episode of several things:
- The first episode released under the Big World! Big Adventures! rebrand.
- The first episode that uses the new intro and outro titles.
- The first episode to feature an on-screen character (Thomas) as the narrator since the fourth series episode, Granpuff and the first production since Thomas and the Magic Railroad to have a first-person narrative.
- The first episode that does not take place on Sodor and the first episode to take place in China.
- The first episode to feature fantasy sequences.
- The first episode to feature the song, The Journey Never Ends at the end.
- Yong Bao's first appearance in an episode.
- The first episode since the seventh series episode, Three Cheers for Thomas not to have the Engine Roll Call at the end.
- The first episode since the twelfth series episode, Best Friends to have a running time of seven minutes, ten years ago.
- The first episode since the twentieth series episode, Skiff and the Mermaid dubbed in German.
- The first episode since the nineteenth series episode, Diesel's Ghostly Christmas dubbed in Norwegian.
- The first episode since the eighteenth series episode, Millie and the Volcano dubbed in Danish.
- The first episode since the fourteenth series episode, Henry's Magic Box dubbed in Swedish.
- The first episode since the fifteenth series episode, Fiery Flynn dubbed in Finnish.
- The first episode to not be narrated by Aku Laitinen in the Finnish Dub.
- The first episode since the sixteenth series episode, The Christmas Tree Express to be to have two separate narrators for the UK and US.
- The first episode produced, dubbed and aired by Tooniverse (CIC Media) in South Korea since the tenth series episode, Thomas and Skarloey’s Big Day Out.
- The first episode to have Han Shin, Kim Myung-jun, Kim Chae-ha, Kwon Seong-hyeok, Jeong Yu-jeong, Lee Sang-ho, Yu Yeong and Hong Seung-hyo as part of the voice cast in South Korea.
- The first episode directed by Ji Min-jeong since fifteenth series episode, Fiery Flynn in South Korea.
- The first episode translated by An Ju-hyun in South Korea.
- The first episode recorded and mixed (CIC Media) by Park Ji-hye in South Korea.
- The first episode video edited by Song Chan-mi in South Korea.
- The first episode that the Ukrainian dub was never released in Ukraine but it was released in Poland because of the some political reasons in Ukraine, Poland accepted to bring a lot of Ukrainian refugees and they are so near in geography.
- The first episode to focus on one of the 6 chosen Sustainable Development Goals due to Mattel's partnership with the United Nati. In this case, it was Goal #5: Gender Equality.
- This was the only episode where Annie, Clarabel and the Fat Controller appear in an episode set in China, making this the only episode set in China to have Teresa Gallagher and Keith Wickham as part of the voice cast.
- Siu-see Hung and Windson Liong join the cast.
- The Fat Controller as the moon is a parody to the moon in Le Voyage dans la Lune, which translates to as "Journey to the Moon" from French.
- Before its UK broadcast, this episode was shown at the Princess Anne Theatre (BAFTA) in London alongside Forever and Ever, What Rebecca Does and Banjo and the Bushfire on Saturday 1st September 2018.
- On Nickelodeon in the US, this episode was originally paired with Thomas in the Wild. Some time later, it was repaired with Forever and Ever in future airings.
- At the beginning of the episode, Thomas repeats the phrase "I'm late" similarly to the White Rabbit in the Lewis Carroll book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Goofs
- Throughout the episode, Hong-Mei's brake van switches between a BR 20 Ton Brake Van and an SR 25 Ton Brake Van.
- Most of the ground is not flattened properly.
In Other Languages
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Home Media Releases
UK
AUS
- Here Comes the Steam Team!
GER
NOR/SWE/DK/FIN
- Here Comes the Steam Team!
Merchandise
- Magazine Stories - Number One Engine (2025)
Episode
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6ugzpl
| #01 Number One Engine | #10 Outback Thomas | #19 Cyclone Thomas |
| #02 Forever and Ever | #11 School of Duck | #20 Kangaroo Christmas |
| #03 Confusion Without Delay | #12 Tiger Trouble | #21 Thomas and the Dragon |
| #04 Trusty Trunky | #13 Seeing Is Believing | #22 Rosie is Red |
| #05 What Rebecca Does | #14 Apology Impossible | #23 The Case of the Puzzling Parts |
| #06 Thomas Goes to Bollywood | #15 The Water Wheel | #24 Banjo and the Bushfire |
| #07 Thomas in the Wild | #16 Samson and the Fireworks | #25 Counting on Nia |
| #08 Thomas and the Monkey Palace | #17 Runaway Truck | #26 Hunt the Truck |
| #09 An Engine of Many Colours | #18 Thomas' Animal Ark | |