Series 22

The twenty-second series (*going under the name Big World! Big Adventures!*) of Thomas & Friends started airing on September 3rd 2018 in the UK and on September 17th 2018 in the US. It is expected to be released on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon.

## Production

Season 22 will mark the first major "reboot" of the franchise since the show switched to full CGI in the thirteenth season. The episodes will keep their eleven minute-long runtime, but will now be broken into seven minute-long stories, with an additional four minutes reserved for a variety of segments like sing-along karaoke songs, music videos or Thomas talking directly with the audience about lessons learned during a particular episode. Among many other changes, Edward and Henry will be removed from the Steam Team to make room for Nia and Rebecca, and the narrator has been replaced with Thomas talking to the audience (however, Mark Moraghan has said that he will still work on the series).

Season 22 will be set after Big World! Big Adventures!. The season will be split into two halves; one half will see Thomas travelling around the world and visiting China, India and Australia, while the second half will take place back on the Island of Sodor. The season will also be released on Netflix, Amazon and Hulu in the fall of 2018.

## Episodes

1. Number One Engine- Thomas gets into trouble when racing with Hong-Mei, another blue, number one tank engine.
2. Forever and Ever - Gordon has a tantrum about all the changes being made to the railway.
3. Confusion Without Delay- Rebecca, a big new tender engine comes to the Island of Sodor, and works so hard not to be late, that she keeps leaving stations too early!
4. Trusty Trunky- Thomas is very surprised when an elephant comes to his rescue.
5. What Rebecca Does- Rebecca is worried that unlike the other engines, there is nothing special about her.
6. Thomas Goes to Bollywood- When an action movie is filmed on the Indian railway, Thomas is desperate to be involved.
7. Thomas in the Wild- Thomas is excited about taking a film crew to a nature reserve where they are going to make a film about giant pandas.
8. Thomas and the Monkey Palace- Thomas is pulling a truckload of coconuts when he encounters some cheeky monkeys.
9. An Engine of Many Colours- After a crash, James is waiting at the Steamworks to be repaired. He hears that there might not be enough red paint to repaint him and gets worried.
10. Outback Thomas- Thomas sees Shane taking passengers on an outback adventure and is really impressed by Shane's showmanship - Shane tells his passengers stories about the outback, while cracking jokes.
11. School of Duck- When a storm destroys a classroom at Harwick School, Duck tries to find a solution.
12. Tiger Trouble- When Thomas learns that tourists come to India to try to see tigers, he wants to see tigers too.
13. Seeing is Believing- Thomas's friend Merlin comes to Sodor from the Mainland for the first time. Merlin is a stealth engine and is very proud of this.
14. Apology Impossible- Philip learns that sometimes even the smallest engine's actions can make them the bigger engine.
15. The Water Wheel- Thomas thinks he's been given very silly cargo until Hong-Mei explains that it's a very important water wheel, made from bamboo.
16. Samson and the Fireworks- Samson is terrified of fireworks, and when he mistakes the sound of a warning detonator for fireworks, he is so frightened that he races off into the fog and gets lost.
17. Runaway Truck- Thomas tries to save an accident-prone truck who is racing down the tracks.
18. Thomas' Animal Ark- It's Christmas and the boiler at the Animal Park breaks down, so Thomas and his friends need to find a way to keep the animals warm.
19. Cyclone Thomas- Thomas wants to be just like Isla, a Flying Doctor's plane, who transports Dr Claire to remote places where it's hard for patients to get to hospitals or doctors for treatment.
20. Kangaroo Christmas- Thomas is in Australia for Christmas, and is disappointed that it's different from Sodor. But in the meantime, he must help a little girl retrieve her toy kangaroo from a real one.
21. Thomas and the Dragon- Thomas is terrified when he is given the honour of bringing a dragon to the Chinese New Year celebrations.
22. Rosie is Red- After the engines tease Thomas that Rosie is his "special friend", he acts meanly towards her.
23. The Case of the Puzzling Parts- Sidney is shunting a flatbed of engine parts - but he can't remember what he's supposed to be doing with them. Paxton thinks this sounds like a mystery - the kind that can only be solved by a Special Agent!
24. Banjo and the Bushfire- Thomas offers a lift to a ranger while working in the Australian Rainforest. Thomas is excited to learn from her about all the animals that live there, but he is too loud and impatient to be very useful.
25. Counting on Nia- Nia is a really clever engine and knows about all sorts of things, but when Sir Topham Hatt asks her to take Annie and Clarabel and pick up passengers from Knapford Station, Nia has great trouble finding the right platform.
26. Hunt The Truck- Bill and Ben's latest game consists of hiding trucks and making other engines hunt for them.

## Characters

* Thomas
* Edward
* Henry
* Gordon
* James
* Percy
* Toby
* Duck
* Bill and Ben
* Flying Scotsman
* Harvey
* Emily
* Spencer
* Rosie
* Whiff
* Stanley
* Belle
* Porter
* Marion
* Samson
* Ashima
* Rajiv
* Shane
* Yong Bao
* Merlin
* Nia
* Diesel
* Daisy
* Salty
* Dart
* Sidney
* Paxton
* Philip
* The Chinese Diesel
* Shankar
* Skarloey
* Victor
* Annie and Clarabel
* Henrietta
* Rocky
* Judy and Jerome
* Bradford
* Hannah
* The Male Chinese Breakdown Crane
* Trevor
* Cranky
* Kevin
* Reg
* Carly
* Sir Topham Hatt
* Lady Hatt
* The Fat Clergyman
* Dowager Hatt
* Cyril the Fogman
* The Mayor of Sodor
* The Duke and Duchess of Boxford
* Headkeeper Jack
* The Grumpy Passenger
* The Teacher
* The Lady with the Big Hat
* The Blond-haired Boy
* Samson's Driver
* Mr. Bubbles(not named; does not speak)
* Stephen(does not speak)
* Luke(does not speak)
* The Grey Tender Engine(does not speak)
* Slip Coaches(do not speak)
* Sir Robert Norramby(does not speak)
* Oliver(stock footage)
* Connor(stock footage)
* Caitlin(stock footage)
* Timothy(stock footage)
* Hugo(stock footage)
* Millie(stock footage)
* Toad(stock footage)
* Max and Monty(stock footage)
* The Deputy Minister(stock footage)
* Barrow Football Team(stock footage)
* Charlie(cameo)
* Scruff(cameo)
* A Diesel Shunter(cameo)
* Winston(cameo)
* Skiff(cameo)
* Peter Sam(cameo)
* Duncan(cameo)
* Jack(cameo)
* Big Mickey(cameo)
* Merrick(cameo)
* Owen(cameo)
* The Thin Clergyman(cameo)
* Jem Cole(cameo)
* Farmer McColl(cameo)
* Captain Joe(cameo)
* The Ginger-haired Boy(cameo)
* Sodor United Football Team(cameo)
* One of Dowager Hatt's Friends(cameo)
* Albert's Wife (cameo)
* Ferdinand(portrait cameo)
* Donald and Douglas(stock footage cameo)
* Ryan(stock footage cameo)
* 'Arry and Bert(stock footage cameo)
* Den(stock footage cameo)
* Bert(stock footage cameo)
* Rex(stock footage cameo)
* Mike(stock footage cameo)
* Bertie(stock footage cameo)
* Oliver the Excavator(stock footage cameo)
* Ferdinand(portrait cameo)
* Hiro(music video cameo)
* Gator(music video cameo)
* Axel(music video cameo)
* Frieda(music video cameo)
* Gina(music video cameo)
* The Brazilian Tank Engine(music video cameo)
* Beau(music video cameo)
* Mavis(music video cameo)
* Norman(music video cameo)
* A Mainland Diesel(music video cameo)
* The Arizona Diesel(music video cameo)
* Stafford(music video cameo)
* Flynn(music video cameo)
* Etienne(music video cameo)
* Ace(music video cameo)
* The American Crane(music video cameo)
* Fergus Duncan(music video cameo)
* Sodor Brass Band(music video cameo)
* Mr. Percival(music video cameo)
* Theo(indirectly mentioned)
* Lexi(indirectly mentioned)
* Kwaku(indirectly mentioned)
* Kobe(indirectly mentioned)
* The Female Chinese Breakdown Crane(mentioned)
* Lord Callan(mentioned)
* Daisy's Fitter(mentioned)

### Characters Introduced

* Hong-Mei
* Rebecca
* Noor Jehan
* Tamika
* Dexter
* An An and Yin-Long
* Aubrey and Aiden
* Lei
* Isla
* Charubala
* The Indian Actor
* The Indian Director
* The Tiger Hunters
* Madeleine
* Madeleine's Parents
* Ranger Jill
* The Indian Breakdown Cranes
* The Purple Tank Engine(cameo)
* The Purple Tender Engine(cameo)
* The Chinese Diesel Shunter(cameo)

## Trivia

* This season marks the first of several things:
	+ The first season to use the new intro, credits and Set Friendship in Motion as an intro song.
	+ The first season to feature the newly updated Engine Roll Call at the end.
	+ The first season to feature the new Steam Team - Thomas, Gordon, James, Percy, Emily, Nia and Rebecca.
	+ The first season to not have Edward and Henry as part of the main cast. However, Toby is still retained in the new version of Engine Roll Call.
	+ The first season to feature Dart without Den.
	+ The first season to feature Thomas as the narrator.
	+ The first season where Rasmus Hardiker and Matt Wilkinson voice Bill and Ben since Jonathan Broadbent's depature from the series.
	+ The first season since the twelfth season to have seven minutes long episode story segments.
	+ Ashima, Rajiv, Shane, Yong Bao, Merlin, Nia, The Chinese Diesel and Shankar's first appearances in an episode.
	+ Rajiv, Shane and Shankar's first speaking roles in the franchise.

This season marks the only occurrences of a few things: