Line #128 Trivia/ThomasAndFriends


1	* For trivia related to ''Literature/TheRailwaySeries'', go [[Trivia/TheRailwaySeries here]].
2	* For trivia related to ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriendsAllEnginesGo'', go [[Trivia/ThomasAndFriendsAllEnginesGo here]]
3	----
4	* ActingForTwo:
5	** Thomas and Percy were both voiced by Martin Sherman in the US from Seasons 13-18, and they have lots of scenes with each other. Diesel also had the same US voice actor from Seasons 17-18.
6	** The three big engines (Gordon, James, and Henry) plus Harold, Kevin, and Mr. Percival are all voiced by Kerry Shale in the US, until Season 19 when Rob Rackstraw [[TheOtherDarrin took over]] for James. As did Sir Topham Hatt before his UK voice actor took over as of Season 19.
7	** In the UK dub, Keith Wickham has voiced about half the male cast ([[CrossDressingVoices and Dowager Hatt]]) at some point. This is most prominent in ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventureBegins'', where he voices every important male character except Thomas.
8	** Edward and Toby are both voiced by William Hope in the US.
9	** Joe Mills voices Oliver, Toad, and Douglas. The first two have several scenes talking to each other.
10	** Glenn Wrage voices Cranky and Spencer in the US.
11	** Since Season 19, John Hasler voices Thomas and Rheneas in the UK dub, [[TheOtherDarrin replacing Ben Small in both roles]].
12	** Most of the female characters (Emily, Rosie, Mavis, Lady Hatt) are voiced by Theresa Gallagher in the UK and Jules de Jongh in the US; in the case of the middle two, Rosie's voice was replaced by Nicola Stapleton as of ''Journey Beyond Sodor'' while Mavis switched to her UK voice in the US as of Season 17.
13	* ActorSharedBackground:
14	** Togo Igawa is Japanese, just like his character, Hiro.
15	** Like her character, Ashima, Tina Desai is also from India.
16	** Victor, a Hispanic engine, is voiced in the US dub[[note]]and, since ''Blue Mountain Mystery'', the UK dub as well[[/note]] by Hispanic American actor David Bedella, who, like the character, is also fluent in Spanish (although Victor is Cuban, and Bedella is actually of Mexican descent).
17	** Flying Scotsman ([[NonIndicativeName who, despite his name, is actually from England]]) is voiced by English actor Rufus Jones.
18	** From ''Big World! Big Adventures!'' onwards, the international engines all have voice actors with a relation to their specific country.
19	*** New main cast member Nia is from Kenya. Her voice actress Yvonne Grundy is a black British actress who was born in Kenya. Her [[NonSingingVoice singing voice]] in the special, Patricia Kihoro, is also Kenyan-British.
20	*** Kwaku is voiced by Abubakar Salim who is also of of Kenyan descent.
21	*** Yong Bao finally gains a voice in the special, voiced by Asian-British actor Dan Li.
22	*** Ace the daredevil racing car is from Australia, and is voiced by Australian singer Peter Andre.
23	*** Shane, another returning international, is now voiced by Australian actor and presenter Shane Jacobson.
24	*** Shane's coaches Aubrey and Aiden also have voice actors with Australian ties. Aubrey is voiced by Australian actress Genevieve [=McCarthy=] and Aiden is voiced by writer Tim Bain, who was born in Australia. Tamika the Australian railmotor engine is also voiced by another Australian actress, Rose Robinson.
25	*** Carlos' voice is recast with Mexican-born actor Gabriel Porras.
26	*** Hong-Mei, a blue Chinese tank engine is voiced by Chipo Chung, who is Zimbabwean-Chinese.
27	*** Hong-Mei's twin coaches, An An and Yin-Long are voiced by Siu-See Hung and Windson Liong, who are also British actors who are both part-Chinese.
28	*** An unnamed Chinese Diesel is voiced by Su-Lin Looi, another Asian-Brit actor.
29	*** Rajiv, Noor Jehan, Charubala and Shankar's respective voices (Nikhil Parmar, Sheena Bhattessa, Sanjeev Bhaskar) all have an Indian background.
30	*** Gina is recast with Anna Francolini, a British actress of Italian descent.
31	*** Lorenzo and Beppe are [[ActingForTwo both voiced by]] Vincenzo Nicoli, who is also Italian-British.
32	*** Duchess, the titular royal engine in the special ''Thomas and the Royal Engine'', is from England, and so is her voice actress, Creator/RosamundPike.
33	* ApprovalOfGod:
34	** Former co-composer Mike O'Donnell has gone on to praise UpsideNow's Thomas Reorchestrated: Sodor Symphony project (which orchestrates much of the Season 1 music) in a [=YouTube=] comment below one of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4Kv1vTBh20 the tracks]]. Mattel also appears to approve of the rearrangements too, as the official Thomas and Friends Website/YouTube account has placed two of the tracks in a playlist dedicated to fan content.
35	** Mike O'Donnell has also praised insaneintherainmusic's [[https://youtu.be/YYob4uDjEKI remix of the main theme]]. Series creator Britt Allcroft has also shared and praised the remix on her [[https://www.facebook.com/BrittAllcroft/posts/2355288664505594 Facebook page]].
36	** WordOfSaintPaul example: Martin Sherman, the US voice of Thomas and Percy from 2009-2015, revealed in a 2020 interview that he approved of the "Big World! Big Adventures!" rebrand.
37	* BannedInChina: "Henry Spots Trouble", a Season 19 episode revolving around Henry having a fear of chickenpox, was pulled from reruns in Australia due to parents complaining to the Creator/AustralianBroadcastingCorporation (the show's primary broadcaster in Australia since Season 1) that the episode was promoting an anti-vaccination message (refusing to get vaccinated is often considered a taboo subject in Australia), due to The Fat Controller's line near the end of the episode where he tells Henry that chickenpox is "nothing to be afraid of". Despite the episode never being rerun on ABC Kids since the incident, it has still been released on DVD.
38	* {{Blooper}}:
39	** The restored versions of the older episodes [[SpecialEdition make some changes]] that [[DigitalDestruction show errors not present in the original versions]]:
40	*** Episodes that are recropped tend to reveal props not meant to be seen, such as the edge of the set or hands pulling the engines with fishing wire.
41	*** The nighttime shots in "The Flying Kipper" were framed lower in the restored versions. It can be assumed that it was done to hide studio equipment.
42	*** At the end of "Break Van", Douglas has his nameplate, despite not being given it yet. The original versions edited the nameplates out, but the restored versions use an unedited version of the clips.
43	*** The restored version of "Coal" features Henry accidentally backing into the station wall before shooting forwards for a second take.
44	** Even within the original cropped versions, someone with a keen enough eye can notice switchboxes, props, or even crew members' hands pushing the engines in some scenes. Oops.
45	** Sometimes engine's faces will placed improperly or have the wrong facial expression (in "Thomas and Trevor" for example, Thomas' facial expression is one same happy face model throughout the entire episode, no matter what emotion the narration claims he expresses).
46	** Similarly, take a look at the moment in "Coal" where the Fat Controller says he will have to replace Henry if his troubles continue. He looks happy about it!
47	** Some shots before and during Henry's special coal arc feature him in his new shape early. Similarly, some shots after his rebuild show him in his old shape (likely because the crew mixed up the footage).
48	*** Speaking of which, during the crash that caused him to be rebuilt, he can already been seen partially with his rebuild parts. Specifically, he has his top feed.
49	** Arc Productions, as beautifully as they animated, made many silly errors during their time on the show: points being set the wrong way, Oliver and Duck being out of proportion with their surroundings (and in one instance, Duck towered over Oliver when they're roughly the same size), brake vans and trucks changing on a whim or disappearing altogether, so on and so forth.
50	* CelebrityVoiceActor: The franchise has been doing this since the very beginning.
51	** The very first narrator for the series was Music/RingoStarr.
52	** Creator/GeorgeCarlin narrated seasons 3 and 4 in the US, and also redubbed the previous two seasons.
53	** Creator/AlecBaldwin narrated season 5 and 6 in the US, and even played Mr. Conductor in ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndTheMagicRailroad'' as a nod to the character's portrayal in ''Series/ShiningTimeStation''.
54	** Creator/PierceBrosnan guest-narrated ''The Great Discovery''.
55	** Creator/OliviaColman voices Marion.
56	** Creator/JohnHurt played Sailor John in ''Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure'', [[spoiler: and in keeping with [[ChronicallyKilledActor his trend]], the character is given a DisneyDeath by the end of the film]]. The same special also featured Creator/EddieRedmayne as Ryan and Creator/JamieCampbellBower as Skiff, the latter of whom reprised the role in the series itself.
57	** Tina Desai voiced Ashima in ''The Great Race''. Reprises the role once again in Season 22.
58	** Hugh Bonneville voices Merlin in ''WesternAnimation/JourneyBeyondSodor''. He also reprises the role in Season 22.
59	** Peter André voices Ace in ''WesternAnimation/BigWorldBigAdventures''.
60	** Shane Jacobson [[TheDanza voices Shane]] in Season 22.
61	** Creator/RosamundPike voices Duchess in Season 24.
62	* ChannelHop:
63	** In the US, the show moved from Creator/PBSKids to Creator/NickJr. After the show left Nick Jr. at the very end of 2019, it eventually moved to Creator/{{Netflix}} in 2020.
64	** It was previous aired on [[Creator/UniversalKids PBS Kids Sprout]] until 2015 when [=NBCUniversal=] took over the ownership and became Sprout.
65	* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: PBS' description for "Too Many Fire Engines" stated that, "Belle thinks he's not needed after inspectors question the need for two fire engines and Flynn beats him to two fires in a row." In the actual episode, it's Flynn who thinks he isn't needed, as Belle beats him to two fires in a row. Also in the description, Belle is referred to as the opposite gender.
66	* CreatorBacklash:
67	** While the Awdrys often cooperated with the show on early seasons, and even wrote some new novels for extra material, Rev Awdry was rather critical of its first attempts at original stories due to their lack of realism towards railways, most infamously "Henry's Forest", as well as "crane shunting" Thomas into unlikely stories to keep him the main character. Christopher Awdry also disliked some of his newer stories to contribute to the show, as well as being forced to make more Thomas-centric stories to tie in on its main character. Allegedly the Awdrys' ties with the show were more or less severed after the reverend wrote angry letters to Mitton and Allcroft about the state of the third and fourth seasons, considering them to be acting "pompous" with his work.
68	** [[DownplayedTrope To a lesser extent]] original director David Mitton, who was cynical about the CGI transition, but otherwise had faith in the series going on after his departure.
69	** [=HiT=] story executive Sam Barlow admitted that the constant rhyming theme of the early CGI seasons (especially Season 15) probably wasn't a great idea.
70	** Neil Ben has commented on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjQmfyC1PMI The Engine Inspector's review]] of "Wonky Whistle", an episode that he wrote which is reviled by the fanbase. In his comment, he mentioned that while he was amazed that he got recognized for it, he still finds it a real shame, since the script he wrote looked very different to the final product, and he has done some pretty good things in his career before and since.
71	--->''But Mr Engine Inspector, I promise never to use a cheap rhyme,''\
72	''to make sure my scripts are all fine,''\
73	''when I write in future I'll take my time''\
74	''and denounce all responsibility saying "that script's not mine!"''
75	* CreativeDifferences:
76	** Wilbert and Christopher wrote Sodor as idealistic, but also grounded in reality, with many stories taking influence from real-life (many of the incidents in the books were inspired by real events that were thoroughly researched), and Sodor itself developing and growing as an actual rail network throughout the publication history of the stories, having strong roots in the real-life heritage and preservation movements. Britt Allcroft however, saw Sodor as a timeless place that rested within a child's imagination, essentially an idealized, fantastic locale, a vision best seen in ''Series/ShiningTimeStation'', which depicted Sodor exactly as that through the character of Mr. Conductor, and overall showed rail travel in a sort-of dream-like state. One of the reasons ''Henry's Forest'' was so reviled by Wilbert, besides the above realism break mentioned above, was due to Henry showing interest in trees, something that Awdry found ridiculous for a steam locomotive, while Britt was all for Henry showing a softer side, and didn't see any problem in the engines showing more human traits.
77	*** In general, Wilbert and Britt seemed to have different visions for Thomas. Wilbert saw his stories as "engines in the real world who happen to be alive", while Britt saw Thomas and the world of Sodor as a [[NotHyperbole magical]] realm of escapism.
78	** Martin Sherman would depart from the series due to low wages, and voiced his feelings on a [=SiF=] blogpost. [=HiT=] would then threaten legal action if it wasn't removed, leaving Sherman feeling "bullied and silenced."
79	** Prince Harry's role in the marketing introduction for "Thomas and the Royal Engine" was criticised by Britt Allcroft. However, the next day, Allcroft quickly clarified that her "concern was, in no way, about the actual writing of this story", and passed on good wishes to the writer, Michael White.
80	* CreatorCameo:
81	** Post-Season 17 series producer Ian [=McCue=] has voiced several minor characters since Season 19, including a monster, a poacher and a thief.
82	** Voice director and former head writer for the series Sharon Miller voiced the Queen in "Thomas and the Royal Engine".
83	* CreatorsFavorite:
84	** Percy is creator Britt Allcroft's favorite character.
85	** Ex-head writer Andrew Brenner's favorite characters are James, Toby, Bill, and Ben.
86	** The original narrator, Music/RingoStarr, said that his favorite character to narrate was Gordon, because it allowed him to use a deep voice, while his favorite character overall is Diesel.
87	** Former narrator Mark Moraghan says that Percy and Cranky are his favorite characters.
88	** Toby, Percy, Sir Topham Hatt, Thomas, and Diesel were among Michael Brandon's favorite characters to narrate.
89	** Michael White, a PromotedFanboy who wrote several episodes for the show, has stated that Edward is his favorite character.
90	** Stephen is railway consultant Sam Wilkinson's favorite character.
91	* CreatorsPest:
92	** Despite having a lot of merchandise, Daisy was like this for both sides of the show in the US and UK. For the US, Rick Siggelkow didn't like how her two episodes in the second season portray women as a negative trait due to how she got away with work on her debut story (even though she was called out afterwards). And because the show was already underfire by parents in the UK, Rick decided to skip her episodes in ''Series/ShiningTimeStation'', although her episodes are allowed to be on home video as Britt wanted to re-record the first two seasons with George Carlin. The only episode of Daisy that was allowed in ''Shining Time Station'' (specifically, the short-lived ''Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales'' spin-off) was "Bulls Eyes", though this was after Rick was done working for the show. In the UK, Daisy was like this to the staff members who operated the models, as she was troublesome to work with, hence why she didn't appear that much during the model era.
93	** Henry is also notably hard to handle from the writing team's point of view, due to his huge shift in personality after Season 8. In Season 22, he is DemotedToExtra and replaced in the main cast by Rebecca. Henry's appearances since his departure have also mostly been limited only to brief cameos, suggesting the problems regarding writing him continue to plague the writers. Coincidentally enough, he was also this for Rev. W. Awdry for the ''The Railway Series'' as well (go to the [[Trivia/TheRailwaySeries trivia page for the books]] for more info on that).
94	* CrossDressingVoices: Keith Wickham as Dowager Hatt.
95	** In the Japanese dub of the series, Thomas, Percy, Bill and Ben are all voiced by women.
96	* TheDanza:
97	** Timothy is voiced by Tim Whitnall.
98	** Sailor John is voiced by Creator/JohnHurt.
99	** Shane is voiced by Shane Jacobson (as of Season 22).
100	* {{Defictionalization}}: Numerous railways hold licensed events known as "A Day Out with Thomas" that feature full-sized and fully-functional replicas of Thomas himself. Other replicas include James and Toby.
101	* DenialOfDigitalDistribution: Seasons 8-11 and 13-15 haven't had any sort of digital release in the United States.
102	* DevelopmentHell: A DarkerAndEdgier CGI movie, to be directed by [[WesternAnimation/{{Nine}} Shane Acker]] and be set during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, was announced in the early 2010s, but nothing came of it.
103	* DigitalDestruction: The "restored" versions of the first few seasons make the image bigger and more colorful, but at the cost of revealing set pieces and studio equipment that was meant to be cropped out. Additionally, many shots were either removed or replaced with alternate takes. A notable example is in "Coal", where Henry hits the signal box and rushes forwards to the crew could film another take.
104	** Another example with Henry: the entirety of his run in "The Flying Kipper" has the camera situated at a lower angle than the original, this time intended to ''hide'' studio equipment.
105	** The masters of Thomas episodes that air on PBS Retro are dual mono with only the left audio channel represented for some reason.
106	* DuelingDubs:
107	** Ever since the beginning, there's been both a UK and US dub of the show. It's pretty much become tradition at this point, [[GrandfatherClause despite the practice largely falling out of favor with other shows imported from the UK]] (it's much cheaper for distributors to just air shows as-is).
108	** The first two seasons had a total of ''three'' dubs: Ringo Starr's original UK dub, his US dub with re-recorded lines and {{Bowdlerization}}, and George Carlin's US dub for later home media releases.
109	* EarlyBirdRelease: Most (but not all) episodes of Series 3 were issued on VHS in the UK before broadcast, using (supposedly) early versions with different narration and music.
110	* EditedForSyndication:
111	** Some scenes from later specials were cut out of the PBS Kids broadcasts, to allow for the "one hour with commercials" airtime.
112	** Likewise, The earlier episodes of show itself were edited in the US so they could be aired as part of ''Series/ShiningTimeStation''. One of the most notable is "[[Recap/ThomasAndFriendsS2E3BertiesChase Bertie's Chase]]", which had its opening scene cut out when it aired on "Washout".[[note]]This version of the episode was also novelized in the "James in a Mess and Other Thomas the Tank Engine Stories" book. Fortunately, the full version of the episode was released commercially on the "James Goes Buzz Buzz" VHS and DVD, and aired on the ''Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales'' episode, "Splish, Splash, Splosh".[[/note]]
113	** Broadcasts of Season 7 in the US had their music replaced with themes from Seasons 8-12.
114	** When ''The Adventure Begins'', ''Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure'', ''The Great Race'' and ''Journey Beyond Sodor'' aired on Nick Jr. in the US, the opening and ending were replaced with the theme and credits from seasons 19-21, and some parts were cut out to make room for commercial time. The latter three were also split into three half hour blocks.
115	* ExecutiveMeddling:
116	** ''Thomas and the Magic Railroad'' got butchered thanks to Sony Pictures executives being ignorant. Specifically, the film was not received well by test-screen audiences, stating that the plot and main villain were too dark, despite the film being complete at that point. The end result was a mess riddled with plot holes that resulted in HIT Entertainment taking control when the film failed. Later, when HIT was planning on bringing Thomas back to the television screens in America, they chose PBS, whose educational stance forced the show to be retooled extensively from a show that could be enjoyed by both kids and adults alike with a subtle moral, to a show aimed at preschoolers with a blatant Aesop and writing that [[ViewersAreMorons treats the audience like they're idiots]].
117	** For the first two seasons, it was mandated that all episodes had to be adapted from story material from ''The Railway Series''. To get around this, the Awdrys were asked to write more volumes and standalone stories to be published specifically so the TV show could utilize them. This caused pressure for them however, as the TV series' popularity pushed them to write more stories based on the title character.
118	** WordOfGod states ''Day of the Diesels'' was also edited from a DarkerAndEdgier script.
119	** The Shake Shake Bridge from ''Misty Island Rescue'' was originally supposed to be a girder bridge, which would sway when a character crossed it but was otherwise durable and safe. The animation team, however, were instructed to animate a wobbly old bridge that was falling to bits for the sake of merchandising, [[BrokenAesop which resulted in the intended moral being butchered in the name of money]].
120	** According to a comment made by the episode's writer, Neil Ben, the aired version of "Wonky Whistle" differed substantially from the script he wrote for it.
121	** According to Ryan Hagan, Season 17 was going to be only 20 episodes, with Season 18 having both "Spills and Thrills", and 19 having both "Dinosaurs and Discoveries" and "Start Your Engines". This was changed thanks to Japan, though this was not that bad.
122	** Season 21 was originally supposed to be 26 episodes, but 8 episodes were cut from the season in order to increase the funding for ''Big World! Big Adventures!''. Two of the axed episodes included ADayInTheLimelight for Bulgy (hence his reintroduction in "Unscheduled Stops") and an episode for explaining Rosie being repainted red. Another likely axed episode would have involved Henry leaving the main cast in a more serious manner, since he left the group in a very rushed manner in "Forever and Ever" without any explanation or a proper farewell, likely done so that they could debut his replacement, Rebecca, in the following episode.
123	** Mattel came very close to canceling the series outright after Season 20, and while more seasons were negotiated for, it ultimately required the transition to ''Big World, Big Adventures'' for it to even happen in the first place.
124	** Part of the Nickelodeon contract meant that they would have exclusive rights to the content they would air and distribute for a period, resulting in ''WesternAnimation/BigWorldBigAdventures'' being released to DVD '''one year after it's premiere.''' They also requested half-hour specials rather than hour-long movies as annual tentpoles, likely due to their difficulty to air on the morning Nick Jr. block and split up into standalone episodes (as their ratings from ''Big World! Big Adventures!'' inadvertently proved). The latter was justified though, as the series had been producing features for a full decade when ''BWBA'' premiered, and sales for the movies had been gradually waning.
125	* FakeAmerican:
126	** British voice actors Rob Rackstraw and Creator/TeresaGallagher had to fake American accents for James and Belle respectively in the US. Likewise, British voice actor Ben Small voiced the Troublesome Trucks in both English speaking dubs with American accents.
127	** Creator/KerryShale is Canadian, but voices Henry with a faint New York/New Jersey accent in the US dub.
128	** Canadian actor William Hope faked Southern American accents when voicing Edward and Toby in the US dub.
129	* FakeBrit:
130	** Canadian voice actor Kerry Shale voices Diesel with a British accent in both dubs.
131	* FakeNationality:
132	** Victor is Cuban, but neither of his voice actors are of Cuban descent. David Bedella[[note]]He started voicing Victor in the UK dub in ''WesternAnimation/BlueMountainMystery'', while he was always the character's US voice[[/note]] is Mexican-American, while Matt Wilkinson[[note]]Victor's original UK voice[[/note]] is Caucasian.
133	** Skarloey, Rheneas, Peter Sam, and Sir Handel speak with Welsh accents, but are all voiced by English actors.
134	* FakeScot:
135	** Donald and Douglas are Scottish, but were respectively voiced by Rob Rackstraw and Joe Mills[[note]]Rackstraw was actually TheOtherDarrin to Mills as the voice of Donald, while Mills had always been the voice of Douglas ever since both characters first appeared in CGI[[/note]] (both of whom are from England).
136	** Emily speaks with a Scottish accent in the UK dub, but is voiced in that dub by American-born English actress Teresa Gallagher.
137	** English actor Tom Stourton faked a Scottish accent when voicing Duncan.
138	* FanCommunityNickname: There have been multiple attempts to coin a nickname for the fandom. One was originally "tankies", but that word went out of use due to its association with Soviet apologists.
139	** Eventually, the name "Sudrian" became more common in the 2020's as it's also the demonym for someone from the Island of Sodor in the books.
140	* FanWorkBan: As of July 2021, Mattel has been cracking down on Platform/{{Roblox}} fangames based on the show.
141	* FollowTheLeader: This show has fallen into both sides of this trope:
142	** The success of the series lead to the creation of other children's shows about sentient vehicles. These include ''WesternAnimation/{{Chuggington}}'', ''WesternAnimation/RoaryTheRacingCar'', ''WesternAnimation/JayJayTheJetPlane'', ''WesternAnimation/JungleJunction'', and ''WesternAnimation/TheodoreTugboat'', the last of which had the same producer.
143	** Season 22 saw the franchise being retooled as ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!'' The series was created as an attempt to respond to falling merchandise sales, and the show constantly losing in the ratings to Nickelodeon's massive preschool hit series ''WesternAnimation/PAWPatrol'' which has even managed to successfully dethrone ''Thomas'' as the most popular brand among the 2-5 age group. The attempts to cash off of ''PAW Patrol'''s success include a shorter episode length, faster-paced stories, gimmicky fantasy sequences, episodes taking place in other countries, wild animals becoming more of a focus, and a simpler writing style. Edward and Henry also got written out of the main cast and replaced by series newcomers Nia and Rebecca, in an attempt to appeal to female audiences and minority groups. The series also moved to Nick Jr. in the US (after nearly 30 years on PBS, counting'' ''Series/ShiningTimeStation's run on the network), making it now air on the same channel as ''PAW Patrol'' itself. Ultimately, these efforts caused the show to meet its demise in 2021, and being replaced by the reboot, ''[[WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriendsAllEnginesGo All Engines Go]]''.
144	* GodNeverSaidThat: One major rumor surrounding P.T. Boomer before his full role was discovered was that he was planning on destroying Shining Time Station and replace it with a highway. An interview with Doug Lennox, the actor who played Boomer, said that though such a plan sounded quite villainous, was never in any version of the script to begin with.
145	* InternationalCoProduction: Season 3 would be co-produced and financed by Creator/FujiTV (the channel the Japanese dub aired on), resulting in a Japan-only special filmed with the models made for the season.
146	* InvisibleAdvertising: Despite a huge promotional push for the series initially, Nickelodeon pushed Thomas off the main channel in late 2018 and moved it over to the Nick Jr. channel with little-to-no advertising for new episodes.
147	* KeepCirculatingTheTapes:
148	** Despite its popularity, the show has never been released in its entirety in the US. As far as physical releases go, only the first and twelfth seasons have seen a full release on DVD, with the rest of the show never seeing a full physical release in the country, meaning US viewers have to rely on small compilation [=DVD=]s to watch episodes from other seasons physically (and even so, there are a number of episodes that were never released on DVD in the US). This is slightly better on digital, as Amazon, [=iTunes=], Netflix and the Roku Channel do contain several full seasons, but even so, Amazon, [=iTunes=], and Roku only has the first seven seasons and season's 16-22 (though [=iTunes=] has season 12), and Netflix only has seasons 23 and 24, with [[DenialOfDigitalDistribution seasons 8-11 and 13-15 having not been released digitally in the US]]. This is especially jarring given that the show is available to watch in its entirety in multiple countries in both physical and/or digital formats.
149	** The 1999 Fox Family series ''Storytime With Thomas''. It would feature two episodes from series 1-5, sandwiched with an episode of Britt Allcroft's other show ''WesternAnimation/MagicAdventuresOfMumfie'' in between. No VHS or [=DVDs=] were ever released of the show, and it was never sold to other networks.
150	** While the vocal songs have been rereleased a number of times, outside of the opening main theme, the production music has yet to see an official release. The closest thing to an official release of the music is the various "Engine Themes" soundtracks done by series co-composer Mike O'Donnell, but even so, they consist of modern recreations and not the original themes. Otherwise, the cloest you'll get to hearing the original music outside of the episodes themselves would be in the form of fan recreations and {{Fan Edit}}s (that predictably vary in quality) on the likes of Website/YouTube and Soundcloud.
151	** The Dutch version of the final thirty-five episodes of the classic series are hard to find, with the exceptions of "Toby Had a Little Lamb" and "Snow Engine."
152	* TheKiddieRide: There have been plenty of kiddie rides based on the show.
153	* KidsMealToy:
154	** In 2000, Subway sold a set of four pull-back toys of Thomas, Percy, Lady, and Diesel 10 as a tie-in with the theatrical release of ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndTheMagicRailroad''. In the UK, Thomas' toy was bundled with specially marked copies of the film's VHS release.
155	** In 2007, KFC sold toys of Thomas, Percy, James, and Harold.
156	** In 2016, KFC sold toys of Thomas, James, Percy, Yong Bao, Diesel, and Harold in China. With the exception of Harold, these were all pull-backs. Each toy came with a small book based on one of the episodes from the TV series; Thomas had "[[Recap/ThomasAndFriendsS17E1KevinsCrankyFriend Kevin's Cranky Friend]]", James had "[[Recap/ThomasAndFriendsS18E25SamsonSentForScrap Samson Sent For Scrap]]", Percy had "[[Recap/ThomasAndFriendsS19E9VeryImportantSheep Very Important Sheep]]", Yong Bao had "[[Recap/ThomasAndFriendsS19E13SlowStephen Slow Stephen]]", Diesel had "[[Recap/ThomasAndFriendsS18E19DuncanTheHumbug Duncan the Humbug]]", and Harold had "[[Recap/ThomasAndFriendsS19E8ToadAndTheWhale Toad and the Whale]]".
157	** In 2015, UsefulNotes/McDonalds sold toys of Gordon, Hiro, James, Percy, and two different variants of Thomas in Japan. A similar promotion occurred in 2017, with Harold in place of Gordon.
158	** In 2018, [=McDonald's=] sold toys of Thomas, Percy, James, Gordon, Toby, and Harold in the Philippines. Each toy included some track or scenery, and collecting them all allowed one to make a full set.
159	** In late 2020, [=McDonald's=] sold toys of Thomas, Nia, Shane, Hiro, Ashima, and Yong Bao in Japan.
160	* LateExportForYou:
161	** The series wasn't released in Greece until 2001. By then, it had been airing in its native UK for 17 years.
162	** Edward's Plarail model went unreleased outside of Japan until 5 years after it came out.
163	* LifeImitatesArt: In the Series 6 episode "James and the Red Balloon" (originally aired in 2002), James collides into a hot air balloon. Almost two decades after the episode first aired, a similar situation happened in real life [[https://www.rtands.com/safety/canadian-national-train-collides-with-hot-air-balloon/ when a hot air balloon collided with a Canadian National train in Burlington, Wisconsin on June 1, 2022]].
164	* LiveOnStage: Several live shows were performed of the series, with a few notable examples:
165	** The first major tour that existed was held in arenas, and was titled ''The Big Live Tour'' or ''The All Aboard Live Tour'', which was produced by DC Entertainment and Tell-Tale Productions that toured the UK from 2002-2006, and also toured Japan in 2005. These shows featured large model replicas of Thomas, Percy, and James (the latter of which won a Guinness World Record in 2004 for the largest electric model steam engine) that could move around on the track, blink and open their mouths. It was the first time characters had voice actors in the United Kingdom, with the voice cast being sourced from other productions by co-producer Tell-Tale Productions, including Justin Fletcher as Harold the Helicopter. The props from the show were sold on eBay in 2018 in poor condition, except for Thomas, who was destroyed completely.
166	** After that show ended, this trope was played straight with ''Thomas Saves the Day'', which toured the United States in 2007, and returned in 2011. Other shows that followed this were ''A Circus Comes to Town'', and the Asian-exclusive ''Thomas and the Hidden Treasure''. These shows featured smaller moving models, although limited to Thomas and Percy due to movement limitations of the stage format.
167	* MethodActing: George Carlin, who was used to performing before an audience, found it difficult recording his dialogue in an isolated booth, so Britt Allcroft put a teddy bear on the script stand for Carlin to "read to."
168	* MilestoneCelebration:
169	** ''Thomas and the Magic Railroad'' celebrates the 55th anniversary of the original books.
170	** ''Calling All Engines!'' celebrates the 60th anniversary of the original books.
171	** ''Hero of the Rails'' celebrates the 25th anniversary of the television series, as well as the 20th for the US.
172	** ''Misty Island Rescue'' celebrates the 65th anniversary of the original books.
173	** Both ''The Adventure Begins'' and ''Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure'' celebrate the 70th anniversary of the original books. The former is an OriginsEpisode, while in the latter, during the song "[[DisneyAcidSequence Never Overlook a Little Engine]]", Rex, Bert and Mike are riding on a giant birthday cake with "70th" on it.
174	** ''Thomas and the Royal Engine'' celebrates the 75th anniversary of the original books.
175	* MissingEpisode:
176	** Though "The Missing Coach" was never finished, the production team took a few still shots corresponding to this story. When these got out on the Internet, for a while some people did think the entire thing had been filmed.
177	** "Gordon Goes Foreign" [[WhatCouldHaveBeen was also going to be adapted]], but was scrapped due to budget cuts. There was some concept ideas by one of the art directors, where they would reuse Henry's model.
178	** There's an adaptation of "The Sad Story of Henry" that aired on the Creator/{{BBC}} in 1953. This adaptation used Hornby models to represent the engines (and, in fact, Hornby still continues to make licensed Thomas models to this day). It was infamous for having a mishap where Henry's model came off the tracks, so a stagehand had to put it back on. The live broadcast only aired once and was very likely not preserved; a second episode never saw the light of day because Awdry was embarrassed by the unprofessional result and he and his publishers declined an offer for more creative control.
179	** The next BBC adaptation of the ''Railway Series'' was a week of ''Series/{{Jackanory}}'' episodes in 1970 where Ted Ray read the stories aloud, presumably accompanied by illustrations from the books. The survival status of these, considering the BBC's preservation practices of the day, is uncertain.
180	** The original pilot episode (an early version of "Down the Mine") has been lost to history. Some footage from the pilot was reused in the final version, featuring a simpler model for Thomas, but the pilot itself has yet to surface.
181	** Allegedly Season 12 was narrated by Pierce Brosnan (who narrated both dubs for ''The Great Discovery'') and was intended to replace both Creator/MichaelAngelis and Michael Brandon. Following unexplained circumstances, Angelis and Brandon returned to renarrate the season, and only a small clip of Brosnan's work on Season 12 was ever shown.
182	** In the US, the episodes "Daisy" and "Percy's Predicament" were the only ones not to be broadcast on ''Shining Time Station at all'', neither during the Ringo Starr era nor the George Carlin era, due to co-creator's Rick Sigglekow's disapproval of Daisy's design and her lazy and stubborn personality. As a result, her episodes were only seen by US audiences when Carlin's narrations of them were released on the ''Daisy and Other Thomas Stories'' VHS tape in 1993, which was re-issued on DVD in 2008 under the title ''Percy Takes the Plunge''. Furthermore, her role in the third season episode "Mavis" was given to Devious Diesel for this very reason. The only Daisy episode that was aired on ''Shining Time Station'' (specifically, the short-lived ''Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales'' spin-off) was "Bulls Eyes", but this was after Rick was done with the show. Daisy's episodes from the second season wouldn't be broadcast on TV for years until 1998, when they were finally premiered on ''Mister Moose's Fun Time''.
183	* NetworkToTheRescue: In the US, Creator/{{Netflix}} picked up the series when Nickelodeon dropped it.
184	* NoDubForYou: Cartoon Network Europe aired the series in Finland in the 90s in English and sometimes Swedish. An official Finnish dub debuted in 2001.
185	* NonSingingVoice:
186	** In the UK dub of ''The Great Race'', Emily has her US voice when singing.
187	*** Zigzagged with Percy, who has his US voice during "Will You Won't You" but his UK one during "Be Who You Are And Go Far."
188	** Nia, who is voiced by Yvonne Grundy, has her singing done by Patricia Kihoro in ''Big World! Big Adventures!''.
189	* NoExportForYou: In some foreign dubs, some episodes or even entire seasons were skipped
190	** [[UnfinishedDub Season 12 hasn't been dubbed completely yet in Japan]]. However, they dubbed some episodes and released them as exclusives for Thomas Land.
191	** For many years, Season 11 was left unaired on ABC TV in Australia, but was still released on DVD. It eventually aired on Australian television in 2011, between Seasons 13 and 14.
192	** Seasons 6, 7, 21 and 24, as well as most episodes from Seasons 18 to 20 [[UnfinishedDub haven't been dubbed into German]].
193	* OldShame:
194	** Martin Sherman came to regret asking David Menkin not to succeed him as the voice of Thomas in the US once he left the voice cast, apologizing a few years later and admitting he would've done a great job.
195	** Neil Ben apologized to fans of the show for writing "Wonky Whistle", which is considered the worst episode of the original show.
196	** Some of the marketing for the ''Big World! Big Adventures!'' retool implies that Mattel grew to dislike the slower paced seasons 17-20, as Thomas was losing revenue during this era.
197	* TheOriginalDarrin:
198	** Ringo Starr provided Thomas' vocals for the BBC Children in Need 2009 Medley, over two decades after quitting narration duties for the show.
199	** In the UK dub, Keith Wickham was replaced by William Hope as Edward in the season 23 special "Steam Team to the Rescue"[[note]]Hope was already Edward's US voice[[/note]], only for Wickham to return to the role in season 24.
200	* TheOtherDarrin:
201	** The narrators in both English dubs. First was Ringo Starr for the first 2 series in both, then Creator/MichaelAngelis for series 3-16 in the UK and George Carlin for series 3-4 (he also redubbed the first 2 for home releases and took over as Mr. Conductor in ''Shining Time Station'' from Ringo from season 2 on), Alec Baldwin for series 5 and 6 when Carlin left (also took over as Mr. Conductor in ''Thomas and the Magic Railroad''), and Michael Brandon for series 7-16 in the US. ''Then,'' Pierce Brosnan for ''The Great Discovery'' and the original narrations for series 12, Mark Moraghan for series 17-21, and finally John Hasler in the UK and Joseph May for the US both did series 22-24 respectively.
202	** Rupert Degas, who originally voiced Bertie, Butch, Dart and Flynn, departed following the production of Series 16 to focus on ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball''. His roles were given to Creator/KeithWickham, Matt Wilkinson, Steven Kynman and Ben Small respectively, who replicated the characters' original voices.
203	** Ben Small, who originally voiced Thomas, Toby, Ferdinand for the UK dub, Stanley & Charlie[[note]]starting in Series 16[[/note]] for the US dub, and Rheneas, Owen, Flynn[[note]]Series 17 only[[/note]], and the Troublesome trucks for both dubs, left after Series 18 when [=HiT=] Entertainment wanted a fresh voice for Thomas and decided not to renew his contract. Following his departure, Thomas and Toby's UK voices are now provided by John Hasler and Rob Rackstraw respectively with the former also voicing Rheneas in both dubs, and the latter also providing Stanley's current US voice[[note]]barring a one time instance where he was voiced by John Schwab for "Pouty James"[[/note]] in addition to voicing Owen and Flynn for both dubs. Steve Kynman provides Charlie's US voice, and for both dubs the Troublesome Trucks are voiced by Christopher Ragland. It's unknown who will take over the voice for Ferdinand as he hasn't had any speaking parts since Ben's departure.
204	** From ''Hero of the Rails'' through the eighteenth season, Sir Topham Hatt's US voice was provided by Kerry Shale. Starting with ''The Adventure Begins'', he's now voiced by Creator/KeithWickham who was already doing his UK voice.
205	** From ''Hero of the Rails'' through the eighteenth season, James' US voice was provided by Kerry Shale. Starting with ''The Adventure Begins'', he's now voiced by Rob Rackstraw. In the UK, Creator/KeithWickham voiced him from ''Hero of the Rails'' through the majority of the twentieth season (Rob provides his voice in "Tit for Tat" for both dubs). Starting in ''Journey Beyond Sodor'', he's now voiced by Rob full-time for this dub who gives him a more British accent as opposed to American accent he gives him in the US dub.
206	** From ''Hero of the Rails'' through the sixteenth season, Mavis' US voice was done by Jules de Jongh. Starting with the seventeenth season, she's now voiced by Creator/TeresaGallagher who was already doing her voice for the UK version.
207	** ''Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure'' had several voice castings that changed when the characters later reappeared in the twentieth season:
208	*** Joe Mills voiced both Donald & Douglas. Now, Donald is voiced by Rob Rackstraw.
209	*** Daisy was voiced by Creator/TeresaGallagher. She's now voiced by Tracy-Ann Oberman.
210	*** Newcomer Ryan was voiced by CelebrityVoiceActor Eddie Redmayne. Due to confirmation that Redmayne was only intended to be a guest star in the special, since the twentieth season he's been voiced by series regular Steve Kynman.
211	*** This special was the last time Creator/KeithWickham voiced Percy in the UK as Nigel Pilkington replaced him for Season 19.
212	** From ''Hero of the Rails'' through the eighteenth season, Thomas and Percy's US voices were provided by Creator/MartinSherman. After Michael Brandon's departure, Martin also took over the role of Diesel in the same dub. Following Martin's departure from the series in 2014, Thomas and Percy's US voices are now respectively provided by Joseph May and Christopher Ragland, while Diesel's US voice is now provided by Kerry Shale who was already doing his UK voice.
213	** From ''Hero of the Rails'' to season 15, Victor was voiced by Matt Wilkinson in the UK dub, but he switched to his US voice actor, David Bedella, in ''Blue Mountain Mystery''.
214	** For the thirteenth through sixteenth seasons, Rosie was voiced by Creator/TeresaGallagher in the UK dub while Jules de Jongh voiced her for the US dub. Starting in ''Journey Beyond Sodor'', she's now voiced by Nicola Stapleton for both dubs.
215	** In Japan, the entire show was recast after the eighth season when the show [[ChannelHop switched stations]].
216	** In ''The Great Race'', Carlos was voiced by David Bedella. Replaced by Gabriel Porras in ''Big World! Big Adventures!'' onwards [[ActorSharedBackground due to Mattel casting all the international characters with people from their respective country]].
217	** Shane the Australian Engine was voiced by Jonathan Forbes and Matthew Richardson in the Website/YouTube shorts such as ''Great Race Friends Near And Far'', as well as the shorts for the AFL. In Season 22, he is recast with CelebrityVoiceActor Shane Jacobson, in order to fit the aforementioned ActorSharedBackground example.
218	** Gina and Raul were voiced by Creator/TeresaGallagher and Rob Rackstraw respectively in ''The Great Race''. As of Season 23, they are now voiced by Anna Francolini and Federico Trujillo respectively, again as part of the ActorSharedBackground example.
219	** Bill and Ben were voiced by Jonathan Broadbent from Seasons 17 to 19. As of ''Big World! Big Adventures!'', they are now voiced by Rasmus Hardiker and Matt Wilkinson respectively.
220	** In the UK dub of "Steam Team to the Rescue," Edward is voiced by his US actor, William Hope, rather than his usual UK voice, Keith Wickham.
221	* TheOtherMarty:
222	** Various voice actors in ''Thomas and the Magic Railroad'' were replaced during the post-production overhaul:
223	*** Thomas was initially voiced by John Bellis, a cab driver the crew met while shooting on the Isle of Man. He can be heard in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlGUiJLPfIA one of the teasers]].
224	*** The series' concurrent UK narrator, Creator/MichaelAngelis, was the voice of Percy and James. Test audiences thought the characters sounded too old, and in the final version they're both CrossDressingVoices.
225	*** A few of the trailers feature Diesel 10's original voice actor, Keith Scott.
226	** Rupert Degas was supposed to voice Diesel 10 in ''Misty Island Rescue'', but he was replaced with Matt Wilkinson after his lines had been recorded.
227	** Pierce Brosnan, who narrated ''The Great Disovery'', was originally going to replace Creator/MichaelAngelis and Micheal Brandon full time in both English dubs. Discovered footage reveals Brosnan got as far as recording some episodes of Season 12, though for unknown reasons, both Angelis and Brandon continued their roles after the film with the whole of Season 12 redubbed.
228	** In the workprints for the US dub of the episode "Spencer's VIP," Tim Whitnall tried voicing Edward, but did not make the final cut. In the finished version of the episode, however, William Hope (who had been Edward's US voice since ''Hero of the Rails'') ended up staying in the role instead, making this an unusual variation of the trope.
229	* OutOfHolidayEpisode:
230	** "Hunt The Truck", a Christmas episode, aired in the UK in May 2019. Contrast with the episode's US airing, where it aired in December 2018.
231	** The aptly titled "Halloween" aired in the US on ''November 20, 2004'', when the holiday had long come and gone.
232	** "Thomas and Percy's Christmas Adventure" debuted on Children's ITV on 14 July 1992.
233	* OvertookTheManga: The well of ''Railway Series'' stories dried up (save for a few difficult-to-adapt ones), so Season 5 onwards is largely original to the show.
234	* ThePeteBest: George Carlin joked about this after he replaced Ringo Starr.
235	* PlayingAgainstType:
236	** George Carlin, the legendary comedian famous for his profane material played Mr. Conductor in the US version. Carlin stated in an interview he had taken the role with the direct intent of doing this and showing a different side to him.
237	*** He later claimed to have formed a close friendship with Britt Allcroft, both of whom found working in children's programming helpful for dealing with their own difficult childhoods.
238	** Yasuhiro Takato's role as Edward in the Japanese dub is a far cry from the TheBigGuy and BigBad characters he is known for voicing, as Edward is neither big nor bad.
239	* PopCultureUrbanLegends:
240	** There are debates about whether or not a [[http://ttte.wikia.com/wiki/The_Marklin_Engine stock Marklin engine]] can be seen in certain Series 1 episodes.
241	** Whether or not any footage from the pilot made it into the broadcast version of "Down the Mine" is also uncertain.
242	** Based on some publicity photos, there was some speculation that there is a lost Series 2 episode called "The Missing Coach", adapted from the first half of ''[[Literature/TheRailwaySeries The Twin Engines]]''. An interview with David Mitton later [[WordOfGod confirmed]] that while certain scenes were filmed based on those stories, the episode was [[UnfinishedEpisode never finished]] because they worried the plot point of twins Donald and Douglas switching tenders would be too confusing. Now the speculation has shifted to [[http://thesifblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/what-replaced-missing-coach.html which Series 2 episode replaced it]].
243	** For a while there were rumors that a full model of Flying Scotsman was built for Series 3's "Tender Engines", but the model was damaged and only the tenders make an appearance. In reality, budget restraints prevented the crew from building a full model.
244	** Nearly every new series is preceded with rumors of a [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome long lost character or location]] reappearing. On rare occasions, these are correct. However, after Andrew Brenner became the head writer and started consciously including older characters, the rumors became even more plausible.
245	** Whether or not Creator/PierceBrosnan narrated more episodes than he did. He was a guest narrator for ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatDiscovery'', and was supposed to narrate Season 12, replacing both Creator/MichaelAngelis and Michael Brandon. There exists a clip of his narration of "Gordon Takes A Shortcut", and he can be seen narrating lines for "Best Friends" and "Thomas Puts The Brakes On" on a featurette on ''The Great Discovery'' DVD, but it is unknown if he narrated more Season 12 episodes, since he left the show after ''The Great Discovery'' came out, and Brandon and Angelis ended up narrating the season anyways. Rumors say that he left due to scheduling conflicts with ''Film/MammaMia'', or because he disliked the transition from models to CGI.
246	* PromotedFanboy:
247	** Michael White, also known as [=WhitehouseFilms=], is a fan of the show who knew Andrew Brenner personally. Andrew Brenner invited him to work on the series, and White ended up writing the season 22 episodes "An Engine of Many Colours" and "Hunt the Truck", and the season 23 episodes "Free the Roads", "Heart of Gold", "Out of Site" and "Deep Trouble". He was even allowed to write an episode for the 2D reboot.
248	** Ben Small revealed in [[https://www.sodor-island.com/ben-small-keith-wickham in this interview]] that he enjoyed reading the Railway Series books as a child prior to being cast as the voice of Thomas years later.
249	** John Hasler, the UK voice of Thomas from 2015-2021, [[https://www.sodor-island.com/john-hasler said in this interview with Sodor Island Fansite]] that prior to landing the role, he had watched the television series when he was younger (despite being unfamiliar with the books at the time he auditioned). He had this to say about auditioning for the role of Thomas:
250	--->''"There aren't many more iconic characters than Thomas and the chance to voice him was, and is, a dream come true!"''
251	* PropRecycling: After ''WesternAnimation/{{TUGS}}'' was canceled, a majority of the models were used in Thomas up until the CGI switch.
252	** During the CGI series, it was common to see the same vehicle props retextured or recolored. The ''Big World! Big Adventures!'' era used this heavily, taking engines from Sodor and putting them in different countries as different colored background engines.
253	* QuietlyCancelled: After the show went through a great deal of poor management and ExecutiveMeddling under Creator/{{Mattel}}'s ownership, on top of being ScrewedByTheNetwork in its last few years, the show was quietly and unceremoniously cancelled in 2020 after running for over 35 years, with no official statement on its cancellation from Mattel. According to [[WordOfSaintPaul those who worked on the show]], the show's cancellation stems from the ''Big World! Big Adventures!'' {{retool}} failing to meet expectations. Despite this, it is confirmed that the franchise proper will continue, with a 2D reboot airing in late 2021.
254	* RealLifeRelative: Rachael Miller (Rebecca) and Christopher Ragland (Percy[[note]]US voice only[[/note]]/Troublesome Trucks, 2015-2021) are married in real life.
255	* RealitySubtext: Diesel's basis, the Class 08, was a diesel responsible for displacing countless steam engines, especially tank engines. Further emphasizing this is just how many Class 08s Sodor currently has.
256	** The "Naughty" freight cars always causing havoc are based on the British practice through the 1970's of not fitting certain freight stock with automatic braking systems. These "unfitted" trains were only controlled by the braking force of the engine and the "brake van" on the rear. As was seen on the show it was quite tricky to keep these trains (or even just loose cars) under control. This can also be considered a case of TechnologyMarchesOn.
257	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: The original narrow gauge models were a challenge to work with - they couldn't produce their own smoke[[note]]any smoke seen on screen came from below the set and was channeled through the hollow body[[/note]], they required an external battery[[note]]hence why they were often seen pulling a single coach or truck[[/note]], and in general were hindered by their size. This led to the larger-scale models being developed for Series 5. As time went on and the larger models became used exclusively, the narrow gauge characters effectively became isolated from the rest of the cast because of the scale difference (until Season 9, when large models of Thomas and James were built).
258	* RecursiveAdaptation: The show garnered it's own magazine series, with some of it's original stories actually adapted into episodes of the show itself in Seasons 3 and 5. Incidentally the magazine's writer at the time eventually ended up lead writer for the show come Season 17.
259	* RecycledScript:
260	** The plot of Season 17's "No Snow for Thomas" is remarkably similar to Season 8's "Thomas, Emily and the Snowplough". Arguably a case of Administrivia/TropesAreTools, since reviewers who noted the similarities also commented that the former episode's plot is basically the latter's, but better.
261	** Similarly "Duck In The Water" uses a lot of similar cues as "James To The Rescue", but is considered one of the best episodes of the CGI era.
262	** Season 22's episode "The Water Wheel" is basically "Steady Eddie", but set in China and with Thomas in the lead role instead of Edward.
263	** This can even be found as early as Season 6, where the episode "Faulty Whistles" is very similar to the ''Railway Series'' story "Mike's Whistle". In the episode Peter Sam replaces Duck's role as the engine who has issues with their whistle in the beginning, and Duncan replaces Mike's role as the engine who becomes pompous in the use of their own whistle and eventually loses it in a field. Funnily enough, "Mike's Whistle" eventually received a proper adaptation for the show in Season 20.
264	* RefittedForSequel:
265	** "Percy's Promise" and "Double Header" (aka. "Time For Trouble") were planned for Season Two, though pushed back for Season Three. This is especially evident with the former, as "Percy Takes The Plunge" still references events from the story.
266	** When Season 21 ended up truncated to prepare for the ''Big World Big Adventures'' rebranding, several of the unused episodes ended up repurposed for the new series. "Nia and the Unfriendly Elephant" is a stand-out case, as it was delayed until Season 24 and rewritten to utilise ''Big World Big Adventures'' characters.
267	** Rebecca's introductory episodes were also planned for Season 21 to faze her into the main cast more gradually. The cutdown led to her being held off until the actual rebranding happened.
268	* SameLanguageDub: The US version of the series is renarrated by American actors outside of Ringo Starr and Mark Moraghan's tenures (and even they had to rerecord many of their lines for the US version to use American terms and slang). This was to keep parity with ''Series/ShiningTimeStation'', as the Mr. Conductor character is the InUniverse narrator of the ''Thomas'' segments. The CGI series plays with this, while they have a voice cast for both regions, some characters use the same actors and so share recordings between both dubs.
269	* ScheduleSlip: This occurred to the show many times before (prior to [=HiT=]'s takeover), but it took this trope happened many times right after the series switched to CGI.
270	** It first happened in the UK when they aired Season 12, and some viewers are left confused about certain characters and locations (eg. Stanley and Great Waterton) that were already established that viewers didn't know before. This is because ''The Great Discovery'' hadn't been released yet, in which that's where the established characters and locations were properly introduced.
271	** 2010 was the only year that show played two seasons, as production was still going after the series [[ShiftedToCGI switched to full CGI]].
272	** Season 15 and 16 actually aired months before the specials that were meant to air in between, respectively. Like before, viewers would get confused on the new characters and locations that were actually supposed to be properly introduced.
273	** Season 17 repeated the same thing, though it was much worse (despite the stories being better). The UK only aired the first ten episodes during June, then they stopped airing them until sometime before the release of ''King of the Railway'', which they only aired five more episodes until around Christmas, then again during Summer-Fall 2014, which by that point Season 18 was already starting to air. Australia and Japan already aired all the episodes (including the episodes from the Spring releases) by that point.
274	** Season 18 was a bit more forgiving as yes, while they somewhat repeated what Season 12 did before, they at least manged to air them close towards the release of ''Tale of the Brave''.
275	** Since Brenner's takeover, America has the Walmart exclusive [=DVDs=] where they included some never before seen episodes of the yet-to-be aired season. This can leave some fans having to wait longer than usual thanks to that.
276	** Japan zigzagged this trope various times. While they already dubbed the current episodes in Brenner's run, they still haven't dubbed the other episodes made between S13-16 (Then again, this was because of the tsunami from 2011 that delayed it).
277	** Even before the CGI switch, Japan was a bit late on dubbing. Best example was when they did season 8 in 2006, even though it was already finished in both the UK and US by that point, and they were already in Season 10.
278	** Season 4 was released on VHS in the UK over a year before it was broadcast on TV. Cartoon Network would be the first to show it (and Season 5) in the country rather than ITV, [[ChannelHop who took the show]] back for Season 6.
279	** "Thomas in the Wild" was supposed to air in the US, paired with "Number One Engine", but the former ended up being replaced by "What Rebecca Does" at the last minute. Despite this, the AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle segment from "Thomas in the Wild" ended up airing.
280	* ScrewedByTheLawyers:
281	** A truly bizarre case. As we know, the Reverend would often base his characters on their real-life counterparts. Peter Sam is based on the locomotive "Edward Thomas" which works at the Talyllyn Railway in Gwynedd, Wales. In the Railway Series books, Peter Sam visited the Talyllyn Railway. This was in commemoration of the fact that the Talyllyn Railway repainted "Edward Thomas" to represent Peter Sam. Egmont, the publishers of the Railway Series books, caused a lot of controversy and backlash, [[RealityIsUnrealistic when they complained that the real locomotive... is a violation of copyright]]. Apparently, they thought, the engine was infringing upon... yes you read right, [[InsaneTrollLogic itself]]. Needless to say, a compromise was eventually reached.
282	** In the spring of 2021, Mattel began taking down and/or blocking various Thomas-related videos on [=YouTube=] in a attempt to discourage piracy. This treatment even extended to uploads of foreign dubs of the series, as well as episodes of ''Series/ShiningTimeStation'', the spin-off that introduced North American audiences to ''Thomas''. This is mainly for the classic series (the first seven seasons). They were also taking down Roblox fan games during this time.
283	* ScrewedByTheMerchandise: The main reason why the show was cancelled was that Mattel deemed the "Big World! Big Adventures!" rebrand a failure due to disappointing toy sales.
284	* ScrewedByTheNetwork:
285	** The reason Seasons 8 through 16 took on a more educational, bland revamp was due to [[http://www.sodor-island.net/sambarlow.html HiT wanting to secure a slot on PBS Kids, and overhauling it to meet their guidelines.]]
286	** On that note, PBS sadly screwed over the show in its final years. Despite getting a national spot following the Mattel buyout in 2013, premieres were mostly inconsistent and only done in "event" weeks (usually spearheaded by the movie specials). On top of that, episodes mainly from the "Nitrogen" era (Seasons 13-16 in particular) were shown more often, compared to the newer episodes following the new slot. Because of this (and realizing a new and more consistent home was needed for the ''Big World! Big Adventures!'' season and movie), only 6 episodes from Season 20 were ultimately licensed for the US due to PBS' focus on newer programming, and Mattel chose to cut ties with PBS in December 2017, with the premiere of ''Journey Beyond Sodor'' (which was accompanied by one last episode to fill up the timeslot, "Mucking About"). The series moved to Creator/NickJr in 2018...
287	** [[HistoryRepeats Which ironically also managed to screw over the show]]. While they aired ''WesternAnimation/JourneyBeyondSodor'', ''WesternAnimation/SodorsLegendOfTheLostTreasure'', and ''[[WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriendsTheGreatRace The Great Race]]'' as three-part specials rather than as complete ones (to make them easier to air and run as week-long events) to promote the following, ''WesternAnimation/BigWorldBigAdventures'' was promoted as "the premiere of the All-New Thomas & Friends", making no note of the movie being '''two hours long'''. The result was a series low in ratings (527,000 total). ''SLOTLT'', "A Most Singular Engine", "Philip's Number", "Very Important Sheep", and "Mucking About", were going to air on the main Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} channel on July 23-27, 2018, but they all ended up getting shunted (no pun intended) to the Nick Jr. sub-network. Following the glitched-up premiere of "Number One Engine" and "Thomas in the Wild" (the latter of which was mixed up with "What Rebecca Does", which had a very glitched audio track), the show's premieres moved over to the Nick Jr. channel and the heavy-duty promotion the series initially had was gradually phased out. At the very least, despite the series having little to no promotion and late night reruns, Season 23 premiered on a regular basis; a new episode having aired every two weeks from May 2019 onwards. In December of 2019/January of 2020, the ''Thomas'' social media revealed that their contract with Nickelodeon had ended. All traces of it were removed from the Nick Jr. website, and the show was later sold to Creator/{{Netflix}}.
288	** Even Creator/{{Mattel}} has screwed over the show for US audiences. They have not released all season 21 episodes on DVD or on digital services[[note]]The only season 21 episodes available on DVD in the US are "Terence Breaks the Ice", "Daisy's Perfect Christmas", "Confused Coaches", "Emily in the Middle", and "The Big Freeze"[[/note]], and instead chose for them to only be on the Nick Jr channel. Then, they outright ''refused'' to release ''Big World! Big Adventures!'' on DVD or digital in the US, only having it be on, you guessed it, the Nick Jr. channel. A lot of parents, children, and even the PeripheryDemographic are understandably upset by this, especially since some people don't have Nick Jr. at their houses. Eventually it turned out this was a side effect of the Nickelodeon contract (as they placed an embargo for the content they have the contract for), resulting in ''BWBA'' finally making it to DVD in September 2019.
289	** The Dutch feed of Cartoon Network treated the show horribly, with it being aired only really early in the morning at around 7:45 am for the entirety of it's run. Eventually, when the Dutch feed was axed and replaced with the Pan-European feed, Thomas was not only removed from Cartoon Network, but stopped airing in the Netherlands as a whole for about half a year before Kindernet picked it up, and Unlike ''WesternAnimation/FiremanSam'', Thomas was allowed to stay after Nickelodeon took over that channel.
290	* TheShelfOfMovieLanguishment: The ''[[SpinOff Jack and the Sodor Construction Company]]'' episodes were released DirectToVideo between Series 10 and 11, but were shot alongside Series 7. They were apparently held back due to the buyout by [=HiT=] Entertainment (the owners of ''WesternAnimation/BobTheBuilder''). It's noticeable because they're shot on 35mm film (as the series had been during the David Mitton era) rather than digital video, the episodes are four-and-a-half minutes long instead of seven, and Tidmouth Sheds is seen in its pre-''Calling All Engines'' build.
291	* ShortRunInPeru:
292	** Season 22 first aired in Italy in August of 2018, a month before the UK and US airdates.
293	** Several episodes of Season 22 also aired in Australia before they did in the UK, despite the season being released around the same time (early September) in both countries. This is due to ABC Kids in Australia airing their block 7 days a week, while the Milkshake! block on Channel 5 only airs 5 days a week, on top of ABC Kids airing most episodes in a different order to the UK, meaning Australia will likely have aired every episode before the month is over. This meant that Australia completed the run of season 22 way before the UK and US, creating massive spoilers for the episodes (unless they, of course, watched the episodes on [=YouTube=]). The UK showed season 22 in week-long bombs for the first 3 weeks of September, but then went on hiatus until November 2018, when they aired "Samson and the Fireworks" for Bonfire Night. They then set premieres to Mondays throughout December, and randomly dumped episodes throughout February of 2019 before finally finishing the season in May 2019.
294	** Season 23 aired in Mexico and the US as early as May 2019 before premiering in the UK in September. In addition, ''Digs & Discoveries'' aired in Canada and the US before airing in the UK.
295	* SimilarlyNamedWorks:
296	** In the UK, Season 2 and Season 11 both had unrelated episodes titled "Dirty Work", but in the US, the former, taken from the Railway Series' ''Duck and The Diesel Engine'', was re-titled "Diesel's Devious Deed." The US is not immune to this, however, as it had a Season 1 episode called "Thomas Saves the Day" (its British title was "Thomas and the Breakdown Train") and a Season 8 episode also called "Thomas Saves the Day."
297	** The UK did this again with season 1 and season 11 where both episodes "Thomas in Trouble" (the US version of said season 1 episode is re-titled "Thomas Breaks the Rules"). Also the season 4 and season 8 episodes name is entitled "Fish", which the name stays the same in all UK and US versions.
298	* SoMyKidsCanWatch: Possibly explains Creator/RosamundPike's involvement in the show, as she had a then 5-year-old son.
299	* SpoiledByTheMerchandise: A frequent issue with the feature-length specials is that the toy previews typically give away many of the movie's twists and cast of characters.
300	** For ''Blue Mountain Mystery'', the merch spoiled that [[spoiler:Victor was the yellow engine that fell into the sea]].
301	** For ''King of the Railway'', the merch spoiled that [[spoiler:the lost crown is hidden in the mine, and Stephen finds it]].
302	** For ''Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure'', the merch spoiled that [[spoiler:Skiff makes a HeelFaceTurn and joins Sodor, while Sailor John gets the treasure but loses it in the sea]].
303	** Merchandise spoiled that in series 21, [[spoiler:Rosie would take on a new job and livery]].
304	* StarDerailingRole: ''Thomas and the Magic Railroad'' and ''Film/ASimpleWish'' were arguably this for poor Creator/MaraWilson. ''Magic Railroad'' ended up being her final movie before she decided to drop her film career in favor of her education. Michael E. Rogers also remained a virtually unknown actor after the film, despite thinking it would be his big break.
305	* TechnologyMarchesOn: In "Special Funnel", it's stated that the new funnel Peter Sam receives drastically improved his performance. His real life basis, Edward Thomas, was fitted with a Giesl ejector for a few years, but with inconclusive results - it was eventually removed in 1969.
306	* ThrowItIn: Much of Neil Crone and Kevin Frank's voiceover work in ''Magic Railroad'' - particularly the banter between Splatter and Dodge. They were originally hired to improvise material for the trucks.
307	* TroubledProduction: Series 7's dubbing and airing in the US can be described as this.
308	** After Alec Baldwin left the show as the US narrator, as well as perhaps as a means to close the gap between when the show would air in the US and UK (as the US had the show released on home media after ''Shining Time Station'' ended mainly before then and were relased a year or so after they were aired in the UK) and avert this, when it came time to air Series 7 in the US, HIT retooled the show for the US to air the shorts that were produced for Series 8 around the ones from 7. This resulted in the show having learning segments in between the shorts, the Series 7 shorts getting redone music from Robert Hartshorne instead of the original music by the original composers; Mike and Junior, so they wouldn't seem out of place, and other things to make sure they could air on PBS Kids. This format was also for some reason back-ported back to the UK, remixing in Creator/MichaelAngelis' narrations for the new music versions of the Series 7 shorts. This also resulted in a weird one-off DVD and VHS release where Angelis rerecorded parts of his narrations for some of the Series 7 and even Series 6 shorts similar to what happened with Ringo Starr for ''Shining Time Station'' for the US before they cast Michael Brandon as the new US narrator due to them wanting to get the shorts out in the US as quickly as possible, who ended up redubbing those same Series 7 shorts anyways. In fact, Brandon's narrations ''were'' initially mixed with the original music for Series 7 (some of them got released on another one-off DVD), but those haven't been rereleased in their original format in the US, resulting in some fans attempting to remix his narrations from the remaining shorts with the original music and sound effects tracks to mixed success.
309	* UnfinishedDub:
310	** When the show was brought to the US, Ringo Starr renarrated almost every episode from the first two seasons. However, a few episodes were skipped such as Whistles and Sneezes, Daisy, Percy's Predicament and Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree (the version from the VHS release of Tis a Gift is just the UK version, but omits any mentions of the Fat Controller). Justified because Ringo only needed to renarrate the episodes that are used in season one of ''Series/ShiningTimeStation''
311	** The Japanese dub skipped majority of the Season 12 episodes.
312	** Several episodes from Series 1-3 and Series 5 were skipped in the Latin American Spanish dub.
313	* UnfinishedEpisode: Several other adaptations of ''Literature/TheRailwaySeries'' stories were planned during the early seasons:
314	** The second season was supposed to feature an adaptation of "The Missing Coach". Half the episode's footage was filmed, however mid way through production the story was considered too complicated for young audiences so canned (leaving missing plot points in Donald and Douglas' introductory story as a result).
315	** An adaptation of "Gordon Goes Foreign" was planned during Season 2, though low budgets prevented them being able to produce the story's original scenery and characters.
316	* UnisexSeriesGenderedMerchandise: The show wasn't aimed at a specific gender, but most of the merchandise tended to skew towards boys. Outside of the toyline, it was rare to see any of the female characters on merchandise, as usually Thomas, James, and Percy were the only characters included. When Mattel realized that just as many girls were watching the show as boys, they created Nia and Rebecca to appeal to girls, and they (Nia and Rebecca) were included in the female-oriented merchandise.
317	* UnspecifiedRoleCredit: The series, up until series 22, had the actors credited, but never stated whom exactly voiced which character. Eventually, both of Thomas's voice actors stated in interviews state which characters they exactly voiced. ''Tale of the Brave'' did try to fix this by crediting the actors, but there were still a few hiccups. From series 23 onward, the actors were properly credited to their characters.
318	* VoicedDifferentlyInTheDub:
319	** A strange variation. While most dubs of earlier seasons utilised a narrator, the Japanese version utilised a full voice cast. Even when the series switched to CGI and all regions began to use full voice work, the Japanese version mainly stuck to the direction it originally had, sometimes leading to rather divergent takes on the cast. In particular Thomas and Percy [[CrossDressingVoices are voiced by female actresses]], making them sound [[ChildLikeVoice more legitimately like children]], while both English dubs give them high pitched but still adult sounding voices by male actors.
320	** The series has always had [[SameLanguageDub two English dubs]], and after the switch to CGI, some characters have different voice actors in each one. For example, in the British dub, Henry has a slow, deep voice and Emily has a Scottish accent. In the American dub, they both have high-pitched voices.
321	** Edward's UK and US voices sound quite different as well. The character's UK voice, Keith Wickham, gave him an older sounding voice, which is fitting given that he is elderly InUniverse. On the other hand, his US voice, William Hope, made him sound younger than he actually is.
322	* VoicesInOneRoom: [[WordofSaintPaul Keith Wickham and Martin Sherman]] [[https://www.sodor-island.com/ben-small-keith-wickham have both]] [[https://mario2099beyond.medium.com/martin-t-sherman-interview-b87faefcc12b stated that]] the US cast members recorded their lines this way during the early CGI era. The UK dub averted this trope, however, by having one actor record their lines at a time. This was done because the US cast recorded their lines before the animation was complete, while conversely, the UK cast members recorded their lines to match the finished animation.

Context Trivia / ThomasAndFriends