Series 3 (Thomas & Friends)

## Series 3

The **third series** of Thomas & Friends first aired on UK television on 25th February 1992. It was first released on VHS in the UK and aired in the US on Shining Time Station in November 1991 first, with the last ten episodes following in 1993. All twenty-six episodes were narrated by Michael Angelis in the UK and by George Carlin in the US and New Zealand.

## Production

Before production of the third series, Clearwater Features closed down, with Gullane Entertainment (as at this time known as The Britt Allcroft Company) becoming the sole producer of Thomas. Producer Robert D. Cardona departed the programme before the third series, and Britt Allcroft took his place as co-producer alongside David Mitton.

The series was a mix of episodes derived from the Railway Series, magazines stories (written by the series' future head writer, Andrew Brenner) and some original stories by Allcroft and Mitton. One of the primary reasons for diverging from the original books was that many of the stories not yet used featured large numbers of new characters, which would be expensive to produce. Another reason was that the producers wanted more stories about Thomas, the nominal main character. According to Stephen Asquith, it was felt that some of the original stories were repetitive and too 'story-book' orientated. The Rev. W. Awdry took umbrage with the looser adaptations of his stories, and publicly criticised the original episodes for their lack of realism and how Thomas was "forced" into some of these episodes.

## Episodes

(*Note: \* means that an episode was reused for Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales*).

(*Note: \*\* means that an episode was seen on Mister Moose's Fun Time in 1998–2000*).

(*Note: \*\*\* means that an episode was not released on Storytime with Thomas in 1999–2000*).

## Songs

It's Thomas the Tank Engine.
Boku wa kikansha Tōmasu da

## Characters

* Thomas
* Edward
* Henry
* Gordon
* James
* Percy
* Toby
* Duck
* Donald and Douglas
* Bill and Ben
* Diesel
* BoCo
* Annie and Clarabel
* Troublesome Trucks
* Terence
* Bertie
* Trevor
* Harold
* Sir Topham Hatt
* Stephen Hatt
* Mrs. Kyndley
* Jem Cole
* The Vicar of Wellsworth
* The Little Boys
* Lady Hatt Template:Not named
* Jeremiah Jobling Template:Not named
* The Ffarquhar Stationmaster's Wife Template:Not named
* Henrietta Template:Does not speak
* Bridget Hatt Template:Cameo
* Farmer Finney Template:Cameo
* The Ffarquhar Stationmaster Template:Cameo
* One of the Stone-Dropping Boys Template:Cameo
* Harold's Pilots Template:Cameos​
* Märklin Engine (*scrapped model cameo*)
* Percy's Ghost Engine Template:Mentioned
* The Firelighter Template:Mentioned
* Father Christmas (*mentioned in the UK version*)
* Percy's Workshop Friends (*music video cameos*)
* Daisy (*mentioned in music video*)

### Characters Introduced

* Oliver
* Mavis
* The Chinese Dragon
* Bulgy
* The New Signalman
* The Wellsworth Yardmaster
* The Goods Depot Foreman
* The Quarry-Master
* Farmer Trotter Template:Not named
* Flying Scotsman (*not named; tenders and cab only; does not speak*)
* Toad Template:Does not speak
* The Railway Society Template:Do not speak
* The Injured Sailor Template:Does not speak
* City of Truro (*not named; faceless; does not speak*)
* The Boy Template:Cameo
* Big Mickey (*faceless cameo*)
* Bulgy's Friend Template:Mentioned
* Ffarquhar Quarry Manager Template:Mentioned

## Trivia

* This series marks the first of several things for the television series:
	+ The first series in which Daisy does not appear since her debut.
	+ The first series narrated by Michael Angelis in the UK, as well as the first narrated by George Carlin which had not been previously released with Ringo Starr's narrations.
	+ The first series made by Gullane Entertainment, as it was at time named The Britt Allcroft Company, though in the UK as the previous series were produced by the company in the US.
	+ The first series to have episodes not based on stories by Wilbert or Christopher Awdry.
	+ Britt Allcroft's first series as producer.
	+ Angus Wright's first series as executive producer.
	+ The first series to use Rockwell font.
	+ TUGS models and props make their Thomas & Friends debut.
	+ Junior Campbell and Mike O'Donnell used the EMU Proteus 2 Orchestral, Sequential Circuits Prophet 2000, Korg DSS-1, Roland Jupiter 6, Linn LM1 Drum Machine, the Yamaha Grand Piano, and the Yamaha RX5 drum module to create the score.
	+ The first series where Thomas' shocked face gains a buck tooth.
	+ The first series to feature a modified version of James' happy face where his bottom jaw is slightly more pointed.
	+ The first and only series where Edward's angry face gains some teeth.
	+ The first series where Terence's face gains teeth.
	+ The first series which introduced music videos.
	+ The first series to have slow motion effects.
	+ The first series where Annie and Clarabel only speak in one episode.
	+ The first series to feature Duck's unused second series tired face and grinning face, as well as Diesel's from the latter series also being used on this series.
	+ From this series on, characters would say "be quiet" instead of "shut up," presumably to make the show's language gentler, since "shut up" was said in the second series only.
	+ The first series to have episodes released on home video before their television broadcast in the UK.
	+ In the US, the first series to not have a Christmas-themed series finale.
	+ The first series released in the 1990s.
	+ The first series that released completely on VHS in South Korea.
	+ The first series that not have two dubs in Sweden.
* This was the last series with many things:
	+ The last broadcast on CITV until 2003 when the sixth series was shown.
	+ The last series to use the nameboards in the UK. However, the nameboards would last up to the fourth series for the US and Japan.
	+ The last series to feature mono audio in the UK, US, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Finland and Hong Kong.
	+ The last series video edited by Lee Myung-pil for JEI TV in South Korea.
	+ The last ten episodes of this series are the episodes that are not re-dubbed in the UK.
		- The quality of the microphone also changes drastically.
* This series was the only series of a couple of things:
	+ The only series to feature Arlesburgh in the model era.
	+ The only series dubbed by Gary Dixon and Gavin Beckwith.
	+ The only series where Thames Television was involved in production.
	+ The only series where Toad appears, but does not speak (not counting faceless cameos in the eighth series and Calling All Engines!, and a deleted scene from the sixth series).
	+ This is the only series where George Carlin's dub was released on VHS in New Zealand. However, when the third series aired on television in New Zealand outside Shining Time Station, Michael Angelis' dub was used instead. This is also the case when The Complete Third Series was released on DVD in New Zealand.
* The second and third series have the largest time gap between any two series: six years. The second series first aired back in 1986 alongside subsequent re-runs of the first and second series which later ceased in 1991 and the airing of the third series in 1992.
* Only sixteen episodes were released in the USA in 1991 with Thomas, Percy and the Dragon airing on 18th November 1991 - Edward, Trevor and the Really Useful Party on 27th December 1991. The last ten episodes aired in the UK in 1992 before they were released to American television through Shining Time Station a year later in 1993, from All at Sea airing on 26th March 1993 - One Good Turn airing on 20th August 1993. This marks the very first time a series has aired in the US early before airing in the UK on television.
* In the Ukrainian dub, Michael Angelis and George Carlin' dubs can be heard in the background, as a dubbing track was not used. The first thirteen episodes have George Carlin's dub while the last thirteen episodes have Michael Angelis' dub. Michael Angelis is also credited as narrator in the first thirteen episodes despite George Carlin' dub in the background and the episodes being re-dubbed.
* In the Korean dub of DVD Acadamy, George Carlin' dub can be heard in the background as a dubbing track was not used.
* In the original Norwegian dub, The first thirteen episodes credit George Carlin, while the last thirteen episodes credit Michael Angelis, despite Gro Solemdal re-dubbing them.
* The Korean DVDs of C4U Media credit Michael Angelis as the narrator, even though they were re-dubbed in their respective language.
* The Korean DVDs of DVD Acadamy, credit George Carlin as the narrator, even thought they were re-dubbed in their respective language.
* For much of the series, Tidmouth Sheds appears to be much larger on the inside than in the first two series. While all the exterior scenes depict the shed with the usual six berths, there are nine tracks seen in most interior views.
* Model maker John Holmes did not receive credit for working on this series until 1992.
* At the very end of Michael Angelis' original dubs, the credits were shown with a still of the final shot of each sixteen episodes; there were certain parts of dialogue exclusive to these home videos but they were cut out when the series aired in 1992. When shown on television and in future video and DVD releases, the credits were shown alongside a still of Thomas.
* The series was not shown on 10th March 1992 due to Budget Day.
* When this series was repeated on CITV from 8th January to 9th July 1993, the first few episodes were edited to fit the timeslot. The episode Thomas and Percy's Christmas Adventure was also left out.
* This series was produced in association with Fuji Television Network, Inc. as indicated by a message at the end of each episode. At the end of the first sixteen episodes, the message is in white, while at the end of the last ten episodes, it is yellow.
* According to The Thomas the Tank Engine Man, it cost £1.3 million to produce all twenty-six episodes.
* It was during this series that footage of Tidmouth Sheds was shot uniquely for the Japanese-exclusive special Thomas and the U.K. Trip.
* All at Sea and Thomas and Percy's Christmas Adventure were the only episodes in this series not based on The Railway Series or a magazine story.
* The Flying Scotsman makes an obscured appearance once in this series. He is not fully shown until 24 years later with the release of the special, The Great Race.
* Tommy Boyd and Glenn Kinsey were the first presenters to introduce the series. For the 1993 repeats, Glenn Kinsey introduced the series until 12th February 1993 and from then on the series was fully announced by Steve Ryde as an offscreen voiceover until the end of the terrestrial broadcast on 9th July 1993.
* The last ten episodes of this series, from Buzz, Buzz to Thomas and Percy's Christmas Adventure, were all filmed in a different period after the previous sixteen episodes. As such, some changes on the details on the models and sets have been made:
	+ S.S. Roxstar gained red smokestacks.
	+ Thomas' red lining on the back of his cab was removed until the nineteenth series.
	+ Henry's brake pipes were also removed.
	+ James' former laughing face became a grinning face.
	+ Duck's happy and jovial faces both gained some teeth.
	+ Bill and Ben's happy and laughing faces gained some teeth.
	+ The interior shots for Tidmouth Sheds featured nine berths instead of the usual six.
* The third series has the most deleted scenes out of all songs from the model series.
* Super Rescue is the only story from Enterprising Engines that was never adapted due to budget constraints.
* Some concept art of this series features grid references, which indicates a Sodor map with locations from the television series was made during production of this series. The map itself was not seen in any way yet.