Chuggington

**Chuggington** is a British computer animated series that first aired in the UK in 2008 and in the US in 2010. It is broadcast on the BBC’s CBeebies channel and other channels internationally. Originally composed of 5 series running from 2008 to 2015, the series left its 5–6-year hiatus when a new batch of episodes was released on Disney Junior in the United States on 29 June 2020 and on CBeebies in the United Kingdom on 2 January 2021. A 7th series is planned for release in 2022.

Edward Sharpe (Series 4-5)
Teddy West (Series 6)
Charlie George (Series 1-3)
Toby Davies (Series 4-5)
Harry Reeve (Series 6)
Imogen Bailey
Alyssa Burton (Series 6)
Jadie Rose Hobson (Series 1-5)
Lola Shepelev (Series 6)
Arthur Lee (Series 1-5)
Lawrence Matthews (Series 6)
Pax Baldwin
Sacha Dhawan
David Gyasi
Elëna Gyasi
Maria Darling
Nicole Davis
Colin McFarlane
Lorelei King
Jordan Clarke
Angelo Cola
Andy Nyman
Paul Panting
Jill Shilling
Steve Devereaux
## Summary

In the fictional town of Chuggington are young novice railway anthropomorphic locomotives ('trainees') Koko, Wilson, Brewster, Hoot, Toot and Piper.

## Why It Rocks

1. Really entertaining and likable characters, especially the main three trainees, Wilson, Brewster and KoKo, As well as other characters like Harrison, Dunbar, Zephie and Old Puffer Pete.
2. There are plenty of catchy songs, most notably the theme song.
	* The intro is rather memorable and catchy for a lot of kids. The UK version made the theme song better to listen to.
3. It manages to avoid coming off as a *Thomas & Friends* or *Underground Ernie* rip-off despite the show following the premise of talking trains. It's a thing of its own and for the right reasons.
4. Stupendous voice acting from both UK & US dubs.
	* Like Thomas, the show sometimes tackles on mature topics you rarely see much in younger kids' shows, such as one episode following the topic of pregnancy.
5. For a show that has its animation outsourced to China, it actually looks pretty good, especially in Series 6.
6. Interesting plots.
7. Lots of funny moments.
8. Great episodes, such as “Braking Brewster”, "Bang Klang Wilson", "The Chugger Championship", "Zephie's Zoomaround", "Koko On Call", "Wilson Gets a Wash", "Famous Emery", "Mtambo's Amazing Adventure", "Helpful Hodge", "Jet Pack Wilson" etc.

## Bad Qualities

1. The show can be a little mean spirited and cheesy at times.
2. It could be considered a copy of *Thomas the Tank Engine* despite the differences.
	* Not helping is the fact that sixth seasons of the respective shows feature an episode called “Twin Trouble”, practically following the same plot.
3. The animation in Series 1 is kind of bland looking compared to the animation in future series though to be fair, the show was only starting by that time.
4. The show went on a three-year hiatus between Series 5 and 6.
5. It's never explained where the city of Chuggington is actually located, the only hints we get is that it's set in a fictional country
6. A few bad episodes, such as "Koko Pulls it Off", "Bubbly Olwin", "Wake Up Wilson", and "Lights Camera Action Chugger".

## Trivia

* Before Chuggington was created, Sarah Ball worked for HiT Entertainment to work on Bob the Builder.