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Thomas the Tank Engine Wikia
Thomas the Tank Engine Wiki
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Series 6

Revision as of 14:31, 8 December 2019 by Horseradishy (Message Wall | contribs) (→‎Characters)
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Behind the Scenes

This article is about the series. You may be looking for the digital download release.


The sixth series of Thomas & Friends first aired on television in September 2002 in the UK. Michael Angelis and Alec Baldwin narrated the twenty-six episodes for the UK and US respectively. Angelis also narrated two episodes for the US release of New Friends for Thomas and Other Adventures. Angelis and Michael Brandon later re-dubbed six episodes along with music composed by Robert Hartshorne for the US on PBS Kids and the UK for Nick Jr. in 2005.

Production

After the critical and commercial flop of Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Britt Allcroft was forced to step down as both deputy chairman and director of the company, only to retain sharing responsibilities and become Executive Producer. On the other hand, David Mitton turned over as a camera operator and a script consultant for all script writers during production. Phil Ferhle took the liberty in creating what was supposed to be the first Thomas & Friends spin-off - Jack and the Sodor Construction Company directed by Steve Asquith. Two episodes were to be the gateway to the twenty-six episodic series, but it was cancelled because of financial difficulties and the acquisition of HiT Entertainment, so only thirteen episodes were filmed and stored away. However, the 13 episodes were eventually released on DVD in 2006.

In 2005, Michael Brandon and Michael Angelis re-dubbed six episodes; No Sleep for Cranky, A Bad Day for Harold the Helicopter, James and the Red Balloon, Gordon Takes a Tumble, Toby Had a Little Lamb and Edward the Very Useful Engine, with music composed by Robert Hartshorne on PBS Kids in the US and Nick Jr. in the UK, to make them series nine-styled when they chose episodes from this series for the airings.

Episodes

Screenshot UK title (top)
US title (bottom) 		Written by Original UK release date Episode number #
Salty'sSecret4 Salty's Secret Robin Kingsland 16 September 2002 #01
Salty arrives on Sodor and is dismayed when he is sent to work at the quarry.
File:HarveytotheRescue83.png Harvey to the Rescue Jonathan Trueman 17 September 2002 #02
An engine with a crane on his boiler named Harvey arrives, but the engines think he does not look anything like a normal engine.
NoSleepforCranky77 No Sleep for Cranky Paul Larson 18 September 2002 #03
A story by Salty makes Cranky cranky enough to knock down a shed, forcing him to be stuck with Salty, Bill and Ben for the night.
ABadDayforHaroldtheHelicopter A Bad Day for Harold the Helicopter
A Bad Day for Harold		 David Mitton
Simon Nicholson		 19 September 2002 #04
When Percy reaches a broken signal, Harold comes to take his mail onwards - with disastrous results.
File:ElizabeththeVintageLorry56.jpg Elizabeth the Vintage Lorry
Elizabeth the Vintage Quarry Truck		 Paul Larson 20 September 2002 #05
Thomas is hauling a heavy special when his siderods fall off near an old shed. Inside, his crew discovers a disused vintage lorry named Elizabeth.
TheFogman71 The Fogman David Mitton
Jonathan Trueman		 23 September 2002 #06
Cyril, a fogman, puts detonators on the tracks to warn engines of oncoming mist. The Fat Controller replaces him with a fog horn, which turns out to be more trouble than it is worth.
JackJumpsIn61 Jack Jumps In Phil Fehrle
Jonathan Trueman
Abi Grant		 24 September 2002 #07
Jack the front loader is eager to be really useful but foolishly tries to take a load of rocks up a hill himself, leading to disaster.
File:AFriendinNeed96.png A Friend in Need Phil Fehrle
Jonathan Trueman
Abi Grant		 25 September 2002 #08
Ned the steam shovel knocks the keystone out of a bridge. It begins to fall as Thomas approaches it, so Jack tries to hold it up with his bucket.
File:It'sOnlySnow.JPG It's Only Snow David Mitton
James Mason		 26 September 2002 #09
Thomas is told to deliver a Christmas tree to the Mountain Village with Toby but becomes cross when he has to use his old snowplough.
TwinTrouble56 Twin Trouble Brian Trueman 27 September 2002 #10
Donald and Douglas crash into Trevor's cart and blame the other for the accident. They become so heated that they refuse to work together.
TheWorld'sStrongestEngine74 The World's Strongest Engine David Mitton
Paul Larson		 30 September 2002 #11
Henry has an unfortunate accident, leading to Diesel returning to the railway. Diesel is insistent on proving that he is the strongest engine in the world, much to the trucks' amusement.
ScaredyEngines92 Scaredy Engines David Mitton
Robin Kingsland		 1 October 2002 #12
Halloween rolls around and Thomas, Percy and Duck are sent to the Smelters to collect a special load, where Thomas teases Percy when he gets scared.
PercyandtheHauntedMine69 Percy and the Haunted Mine David Mitton
Robyn Charteris		 2 October 2002 #13
While collecting some trucks, Percy is spooked by a mine that sinks into the ground. Donald and Douglas make him even more frightened when they proclaim it is the naughty gnomes.
MiddleEngine Middle Engine David Mitton
Brian Trueman		 3 October 2002 #14
'Arry and Bert play a trick on Percy by shunting trucks in front of him. Henry accidentally bumps him onto the coal tipper, so James takes over.
JamesandtheRedBalloon72 James and the Red Balloon David Mitton
Jenny McDade		 4 October 2002 #15
Thomas and James become scared a hot air balloon will steal their passengers.
JackFrost14 Jack Frost David Mitton
Paul Larson		 7 October 2002 #16
Thomas warns Percy and James of Jack Frost. James is dismissive, but Percy becomes worried. While spending the night in a siding, snow and ice pile around him and James mistakes him for Jack Frost.
GordonTakesaTumble70 Gordon Takes a Tumble David Mitton
Robin Kingsland		 8 October 2002 #17
Gordon tells Salty it would not be dignified for him to pull trucks. That night, Gordon is sent to collect some from the Docks. He is furious and ends up sent down a rickety, old branch line by mistake.
Percy'sChocolateCrunch73 Percy's Chocolate Crunch David Mitton
Brian Trueman		 9 October 2002 #18
Percy gets cross that he has all the dirty jobs. He desperately tries to not get dirty but has an unfortunate run-in with a chocolate factory.
BufferBother60 Buffer Bother Ross Hastings 10 October 2002 #19
Ben needs new buffers and Bill becomes jealous. This makes him careless and he ends up damaging his own buffers.
TobyHadaLittleLamb67 Toby Had a Little Lamb Jenny McDade 11 October 2002 #20
During a snowstorm, Toby is flagged down by Farmer McColl, whose sheep are due to give birth and urgently need a vet.
File:Thomas,PercyandtheSqueak22.jpg Thomas, Percy and the Squeak David Mitton
Jenny McDade		 14 October 2002 #21
The famous singer Allicia Botti is coming for a concert and Thomas is chosen to take her. Along the way, Thomas and his crew hear a consistent squeak but think nothing of it, until they discover what it really is.
ThomasandtheJetEngine Thomas the Jet Engine
Thomas and the Jet Engine		 David Mitton
Ross Hastings		 15 October 2002 #22
Thomas is given the job of taking a jet engine to Dryaw, but Cranky carelessly turns it on.
EdwardtheReallyUsefulEngine Edward the Very Useful Engine
Edward the Really Useful Engine		 David Mitton 16 October 2002 #23
The big engines believe Edward should be retired but he proves himself useful when both Duck and Gordon need help.
DunkinDuncan Dunkin Duncan Simon Nicholson
Jenny McDade		 17 October 2002 #24
Skarloey, Rheneas and Rusty are sent to work with Duncan at the quarry. Duncan gets too impatient at the incline and ends up falling into a muddy ditch.
RustySavestheDay Rusty Saves the Day David Mitton
Paul Larson		 18 October 2002 #25
The Fat Controller closes Rheneas and Skarloey's line down and sends them to the quarry. But when the quarry will be blasting for two weeks, Rusty decides to use that time to repair the line.
File:FaultyWhistles44.jpg Faulty Whistles David Mitton
Ross Hastings		 21 October 2002 #26
Peter Sam's whistle has been knocked off by a branch. Duncan finds this funny and remarks that an engine is not one without a whistle, unaware his own whistle has become loose.

Songs

Screenshot Title Composers Original release date
JamestheReallySplendidEngine8 James the Really Splendid Engine Mike O'Donnell
Junior Campbell		 24 September 2002 (US; VHS/DVD)
He's a really splendid engine, everybody knows,
But he does go on and on and on, always telling us so...
Trucks20 Little Engines Mike O'Donnell
Junior Campbell		 25 February 2003 (US; VHS/DVD)
Main Line Engines always boast how big they are,
Superior by far...
HorridLorry1 Down by the Docks Mike O'Donnell
Junior Campbell		 22 July 2003 (US; VHS/DVD)
Down by the docks, that's the place to be,
Down by the docks, gateway to the sea...
WinterWonderland2 Winter Wonderland Mike O'Donnell
Junior Campbell		 7 October 2002 (UK; VHS/DVD)
It's a winter wonderland
See the snow lay all around...
Boo,Boo,Choo,Choo1 Boo! Boo! Choo-Choo Mike O'Donnell
Junior Campbell		 20 July 2004 (US; VHS/DVD)
What's that moving in the corner
What's that shadow on the wall...
Never,Never,NeverGiveUp20 Never, Never, Never Give Up Mike O'Donnell
Junior Campbell		 23 December 2004 (CHN; DVD)
If you climb the highest mountain,
Cross the river deep...

Characters

Characters Introduced

Trivia

  • This was the first series of several things:
    • The first series filmed in 16:9 widescreen. However, most of the first six episodes were matted from full screen, but whenever they use Tidmouth Sheds, The Seaside Village, Tidmouth Beach and the church for locations, the scenes are filmed in widescreen.
    • Phil Fehrle's first series as producer.
    • Peter Urie's first series as executive producer.
    • The first series to have a writing team.
    • The first time Robin Kingsland, Paul Larson, Abi Grant, James Mason, Brian Trueman, Robyn Charteris and Jenny McDade wrote episodes for the series.
    • Abi Grant's first series as script editor.
    • The first series to feature Steve Asquith as a director.
    • The first series to have more than two narrators in the English language.
    • The first series not dubbed in German, Greek and Portuguese.
    • The first series to use a Proteus 3 and Virtuoso 2000 to compose the music.
    • The first series where Annie and Clarabel do not speak. 
    • The first series to premiere on Nick Jr. in the UK.
    • The first series since the third to appear on CiTV, marking the television series' return to terrestrial television.
    • The first series to see incomplete episodic VHS releases in Australia.
    • The first series not to feature Wellsworth since its introduction in the first series.
    • The first series where Sir Topham Hatt says "confusion and delay," though the second to feature the phrase because the narrator and other characters said it in two fifth series episodes.
    • The first series where the narrator says, "Luckily, no one was hurt," a phrase that also becomes very iconic for the show.
    • Kate Buckland's first series as editor.
  • This was the last series of several things as well:
  • This series had the most narrators in it out of all series to date.
  • From this series onwards, all stories were written by individuals on a writing staff.
  • This series was broadcast on Nick Jr. in the UK in late 2002, before airing on CiTV in early 2003.
  • On masters of episodes that feature the Gullane endboard, Britt Allcroft is credited as executive producer alongside Peter Urie. On masters that end with either the Nick Jr. UK or HiT Entertainment endboard, Britt Allcroft is not mentioned in the end credits at all.
  • This is the only series of several things:
    • The only model series to have more than one director.
    • The only series until Mark Moraghan's narration of the thirteenth series episode Snow Tracks to have three narrators.
    • The only series in which Thomas does not speak in the premiere (not counting Jack and the Sodor Construction Company), as well as the only series in which Thomas does not appear in the finale.
    • The only series to have Jonathan Trueman, Phil Fehrle and Ross Hastings as part of the writing team (also not counting Jack and the Sodor Construction Company).
    • The only time Simon Nicholson wrote episodes for the series until the tenth series.
    • The only series (currently) to air on Kabillion.

Gallery

Opening

Opening Titles

Endboards

Promotion and Marketing

<< Series 5

Series 6

Series 7 >>

#01 Salty's Secret #10 Twin Trouble #19 Buffer Bother
#02 Harvey to the Rescue #11 The World's Strongest Engine #20 Toby Had a Little Lamb
#03 No Sleep for Cranky #12 Scaredy Engines #21 Thomas, Percy and the Squeak
#04 A Bad Day for Harold the Helicopter #13 Percy and the Haunted Mine #22 Thomas the Jet Engine
#05 Elizabeth the Vintage Lorry #14 Middle Engine #23 Edward the Very Useful Engine
#06 The Fogman #15 James and the Red Balloon #24 Dunkin Duncan
#07 Jack Jumps In #16 Jack Frost #25 Rusty Saves the Day
#08 A Friend in Need #17 Gordon Takes a Tumble #26 Faulty Whistles
#09 It's Only Snow #18 Percy's Chocolate Crunch
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