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Thomas the Tank Engine Wikia
Thomas the Tank Engine Wiki
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Series 22

Revision as of 01:10, 12 December 2019 by TheEngineShed (Message Wall | contribs) (→‎Trivia)
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This article is about the series. You may be looking for the special.

The twenty-second series of Thomas & Friends aired on 3rd September 2018 in the UK and on 17th September 2018 in the US.

Production

Development

Series 22, alongside Big World! Big Adventures! marks the third major reboot of the franchise, following the introduction of the Steam Team in Series 8 and the show switching over to full CGI in Hero of the Rails. Both productions were the result of the market research Mattel conducted with audiences around the globe. It was about how Mattel could keep Thomas & Friends relevant in a competitive market, as well as reversing declining toy sales. The one suggestion Mattel was intrigued with came from a child declaring "Thomas is a train but he never really goes anywhere". This evolved into Thomas travelling around the globe and learning about different cultures.

The episodes retained their eleven minute-long runtime, but were 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 segments of Thomas talking directly with the audience about lessons learned during a particular episode. Additionally, all episodes have a fantasy sequence and six of the seventeen development goals Mattel chose from the United Nations are featured. Among many other changes, Edward and Henry were removed from the Steam Team to make room for Nia and Rebecca in order to move the gender ratio among the main cast to a 50/50 split between male and female characters, with an episode focused on addressing their removal. Toby was also quietly dropped from the Steam Team for the same reason, and the narrator was replaced with Thomas in a first person perspective. Despite this, Mark Moraghan has said that he will still work on the series. In School of Duck, he voiced an old coach named Dexter who was converted into a school classroom. He also now portrays a character in live-action segments named Mr. Evans, replacing the late Ben Forster's role as Mr. Perkins a year after Forster died on 2nd January 2017 after following a battle with cancer.

Series 22 is set after Big World! Big Adventures! The series is split into two halves: one half with Thomas travelling around the world, visiting China, India and Australia and one half taking place on the Island of Sodor.

Episodes

Screenshot UK title (top)
US title (bottom) 		Written by Original UK release date Episode number #
File:NumberOneEnginepromo2.jpg Number One Engine Davey Moore 3rd September 2018 #01
Thomas gets into trouble when racing with Hong-Mei, another blue, number one tank engine.
ForeverandEverpromo Forever and Ever Andrew Brenner 4th September 2018 #02
Gordon has a tantrum about all the changes the Fat Controller made to the railway.
ConfusionWithoutDelaypromo3 Confusion Without Delay Davey Moore 5th September 2018 #03
Rebecca, a big new tender engine, comes to the Island of Sodor and works so hard not to be late that she keeps leaving stations too early.
TrustyTrunkypromo2 Trusty Trunky Becky Overton 6th September 2018 #04
Thomas is very surprised when an elephant comes to his rescue.
WhatRebeccaDoespromo What Rebecca Does Davey Moore 7th September 2018 #05
Rebecca is worried that, unlike the other engines, there is nothing special about her.
ThomasGoestoBollywoodpromo Thomas Goes to Bollywood Becky Overton 10th September 2018 #06
When an action movie is filmed on the Indian railway, Thomas is desperate to be involved.
ThomasintheWildpromo Thomas in the Wild Davey Moore 11th September 2018 #07
Thomas is excited about taking a film crew to a nature reserve, but gets distracted in finding a giant panda in the wild.
ThomasandtheMonkeyPalacepromo Thomas and the Monkey Palace Becky Overton 12th September 2018 #08
Thomas is pulling a truckload of coconuts when he encounters some cheeky monkeys.
AnEngineofManyColorspromo An Engine of Many Colours Michael White 13th September 2018 #09
After a crash, James is waiting at the Steamworks to be repaired and gets worried he will be repainted a different colour.
OutbackThomaspromo Outback Thomas Tim Bain 14th September 2018 #10
Thomas sees Shane taking passengers on an outback adventure and is impressed by Shane's showmanship - and decides to do it himself.
File:SchoolofDuckpromo2.jpg School of Duck Lee Pressman 17th September 2018 #11
When a storm destroys a classroom at Harwick School, Duck tries to find a coach to take the children in.
TigerTroublepromo Tiger Trouble Becky Overton 18th September 2018 #12
When Thomas learns that tourists come to India to try to see tigers, he wants to see tigers too.
SeeingisBelievingpromo Seeing is Believing Andrew Brenner 19th September 2018 #13
Thomas' friend Merlin comes to Sodor from the Mainland for the first time and Percy wants to see him.
ApologyImpossiblepromo Apology Impossible Becky Overton 20th September 2018 #14
Philip learns that sometimes even the smallest engine's actions can make them the bigger engine.
File:TheWaterWheel(episode)promo.jpg The Water Wheel Davey Moore 21st September 2018 #15
Thomas thinks he has been given a very silly cargo until Hong-Mei explains that it is a very important water wheel, made from bamboo.
SamsonandtheFireworkspromo Samson and the Fireworks Lee Pressman 5th November 2018 #16
Samson is terrified of fireworks and when he mistakes the sound of a warning detonator for fireworks, he is so frightened that he races off into the fog and gets lost.
RunawayTruckpromo Runaway Truck
Runaway Car		 Davey Moore 3rd December 2018 #17
Thomas tries to save an accident-prone truck who is racing down the tracks.
Thomas'AnimalArkpromo Thomas' Animal Ark Lee Pressman 10th December 2018 #18
It's Christmas and the boiler at the Animal Park breaks down, so Thomas needs to find a way to keep the animals warm.
CycloneThomasPromo Cyclone Thomas Tim Bain 17th December 2018 #19
Thomas wants to be just like Isla, a Flying Doctor's plane, who transports Dr Claire to remote places where it is hard for patients to get to hospitals or doctors for treatment.
File:KangarooChristmaspromo.jpg Kangaroo Christmas Tim Bain 22nd December 2018 #20
Thomas is in Australia for Christmas and is disappointed that it is different from Sodor. But in the meantime, he must help a little girl retrieve her toy kangaroo from a real one.
ThomasandtheDragonpromo Thomas and the Dragon Davey Moore 5th February 2019 #21
Thomas is terrified when he is given the honour of bringing a dragon to the Chinese New Year celebrations.
RosieisRedpromo Rosie is Red Davey Moore 14th February 2019 #22
After the engines tease Thomas that Rosie is his "special friend", he acts rudely towards her.
TheCaseofthePuzzlingPartspromo The Case of the Puzzling Parts Davey Moore 18th February 2019 #23
Sidney is shunting a flatbed of engine parts, but he cannot remember what he is supposed to be doing with them. Paxton thinks this sounds like a kind of mystery that can only be solved by a Special Agent.
BanjoandtheBushfire Banjo and the Bushfire Tim Bain 19th February 2019 #24
Thomas offers a lift to a ranger while working in the Australian Rain Forest. Thomas is excited to learn from her about all the animals that live there, but he is too loud and impatient to be very useful.
File:CountingonNiapromo.jpg Counting on Nia Lee Pressman 20th February 2019 #25
When the Fat Controller asks Nia to take Thomas' coaches, Annie and Clarabel and pick up passengers from Knapford Station, she has great trouble finding the right platform.
HuntTheTruckPromo Hunt the Truck
Hunt the Car		 Michael White 15th May 2019 #26
Bill and Ben's latest game consists of hiding trucks and making other engines hunt for them.

Songs

Characters

Characters Introduced

Cast

UK, AUS and NZ

US and CAN

Trivia

  • This series marks the first of several things:
    • The first series to use the new intro, credits and Set Friendship in Motion as an intro song.
    • Yong Bao's first speaking role in the TV series (not counting Big World! Big Adventures!).
    • The first series to feature the newly updated Engine Roll Call.
    • The first series since the fourteenth series dubbed in Swedish.
    • The first series since the fifteenth series dubbed in Finnish.
    • The first series since the eighteenth series dubbed in Danish.
    • The first series since the nineteenth series dubbed in Norwegian.
    • The first series to feature Thomas as the narrator.
      • Because of this, this is also the first series since the sixteenth series to have a different narrator in both the UK and US dubs, as well as the first since said series to not feature Mark Moraghan as the narrator.
    • The first series to feature the new Steam Team - Thomas, Gordon, James, Percy, Emily, Nia and Rebecca.
    • The first series in which Dart appears, but without Den.
    • The first series in which Rasmus Hardiker and Matt Wilkinson voice Bill and Ben respectively, since Jonathan Broadbent's departure from the series.
    • The first series since the twelfth series to have seven minute long story segments.
    • The first series since ninth series where Maron station does not appear.
    • Flying Scotsman's first appearance in an episode since the third series and his first full appearance and speaking role in an episode.
    • Ashima, Rajiv, Shane, Yong Bao, Merlin, Nia, The Chinese Diesel, Shankar and Charubala's first appearances in an episode.
    • Rajiv, Shane, Shankar and Charubala's first speaking roles in the franchise.
    • The only series to feature Lei, Tamika and Isla to date.
    • Cyril the Fogman's first appearance in full CGI.
    • Vicarstown Sheds' first appearance in full CGI.
    • The first time the Aquarium Trucks appear in the CGI Series, as well as their first appearance in the series overall.
    • The first series to feature Learn with Thomas segments at the end of every episode.
    • The first series to have episodes written by Michael White and Tim Bain. It is also the first series to have episodes written by Becky Overton since the nineteenth series.
    • The first series not to receive any DVD releases in the United States.
    • The first series to use a fantasy sequence in every episode.
    • The first series in which Donald and Douglas do not appear since their returns in Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure.
    • The first, and currently only series in the television series to date, in which Bertie does not appear.
  • This is the only series for a few things:
  • This is the final series of a couple of things:
    • The last series in which the remaining original members of the Steam Team - as well as Bulgy and Bertie - do not have added details, which they gain in the next series.
    • The last series to have Lee Pressman on the writing team.
    • The last series to have Micaela Winter as producer.
    • The last series where Thomas appears physically in all the episodes.
    • The last series to have episodes written by Andrew Brenner before leaving his position as head writer.
  • Two days before the UK broadcast on Saturday 1st September 2018, Number One Engine, Forever and Ever, What Rebecca Does, and Banjo and the Bushfire were first shown at the Princess Anne Theatre (BAFTA) in London.
  • Rufus Jones, Tina Desai and Hugh Bonneville return to the voice cast.
  • Nikhil Parmar, Siu-see Hung, Windson Liong, Sheena Bhattessa, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Rose Robinson, Genevieve McCarthy, Tim Bain, Tariro Mavondo, Shane Jacobson, Jass Patel, Jessica Hann, Charlie Barnard, Mia Hope Gaywood, Holly Hazelton, Innis Robertson-Pinnell and Damon Denton-Snape join the voice cast.
  • This series introduced a new sequence used at least once in almost every episode, featuring an engine backing up to the selected rolling stock and a close-up of their couplings being hooked, followed by a close-up of their whistle being blown (horns for diesels and a bell if they have one) before the start of the main plot.
  • Davey Moore wrote the most episodes in the total of nine episodes written, whilst Andrew Brenner and Michael White wrote only two episodes, making both write only two episodes each this series.
  • The mist surrounding the frame in the fantasy sequences is 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.
  • Emily is the only current Steam Team member to not get a starring role this series.
  • Apart from Thomas reading the titles aloud and talking directly to the audience before and after the stories, Forever and Ever, What Rebecca Does and Apology Impossible are the only episodes this series to not feature narration.
  • Many episodes from this series have been released in audio format on Amazon's US website and on Spotify. An unknown narrator explains what is happening during some scenes of each episode. The only episodes that have yet to have audio versions released are Forever and Ever, Thomas and the Dragon, Thomas' Animal Ark, Thomas and the Monkey Palace, Kangaroo Christmas, and Banjo and the Bushfire.

External links

<< Series 21

Series 22

Series 23 >>

#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
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