Series 4

This article is about the fourth series of Thomas & Friends. You may be looking for the fourth series of All Engines Go.

The fourth series of Thomas & Friends was first released on VHS in the UK between November 1994 and March 1997. It first aired on television in the UK in March and April of 1996. It aired between 1995 and 1996 on Shining Time Station and Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales in the US. Like the previous three series, it had twenty-six episodes and was narrated by Michael Angelis in the UK and George Carlin in the US.

Production

Filming of this series took place between June 1994 and November 1994.

The fourth series saw the introduction of the smaller narrow gauge engines. The filming crew notoriously did not like filming with the O scale models. The cylinders would jam, the eye mechanism was faulty as they required an external battery pack to function, which had to be hidden either in enclosed coaches, trucks or vans and the body shells of the locomotives were too small to fit smoke units alongside their motors. For ease of filming and reliability, the fifth series would introduce larger-scale versions of the characters and from the sixth-twelfth series, these larger models were used almost exclusively. For the narrow gauge episodes, the production team used a 1992 publication called Little Trains of Britain for reference, this included locations, buildings, fuel tanks, coaches, liveries and even Smudger's face.

Half of the third series consisted of stories written by the show's staff but only one original story, Rusty to the Rescue, was written by Allcroft and Mitton for the fourth series. The episodes which used The Railway Series did take some liberties with the source material, in order to fill the runtime and make the stories more accessible. From the fifth series onwards, all stories would be staff-written, without using the Awdrys' books as a source until the twentieth series which would later finally introduce the Arlesdale Railway. The characters would then be led by their television personas and no longer by their storybook roots.

Stepney, a character based on a real-life engine and used to highlight the preservation movement in the books, was given an entirely different background when he was introduced. This decision carried on into later series, in which he was seen on either a fictionalised Bluebell Railway or as a visitor helping out on the Fat Controller's railway.

Episodes

Songs

Documentaries

Characters

• Thomas
• Edward
• Henry
• Gordon
• James
• Percy
• Toby
• Duck
• Donald and Douglas
• Oliver
• Bill and Ben
• Daisy
• BoCo
• Mavis
• Troublesome Trucks
• Troublesome Vans
• Annie and Clarabel
• Toad
• Harold
• Sir Topham Hatt
• The Father and the Son
• Diesel (not named)
• Jem Cole (not named)
• Farmer Trotter (not named)
• Bertie (does not speak)
• One Engine Fitter (does not speak)
• Henrietta (cameo)
• Terence (cameo)
• Trevor (cameo)
• Bulgy (cameo)
• Stephen Hatt (cameo)
• Jeremiah Jobling (cameo)
• Mrs. Kyndley (cameo)
• Farmer Finney (cameo)
• The Vicar of Wellsworth (cameo)
• Sir Topham Hatt's Blond-haired Assistant (cameo)
• Harold's Pilots (cameos)
• The Ginger School Boy (cameo)
• Three Railway Society Members (cameos)
• The Tidmouth Stationmaster's Wife (cameo)
• The Injured Sailor (cameo)
• Märklin Engine (scrapped model/chassis cameo)
• Big Mickey (faceless cameo)
• Bridget Hatt (music video cameo)
• Father Christmas (music video cameo)
• The New Ffarquhar Constable (music video cameo)
• The Stone-dropping Boys (music video cameos)

Characters Introduced

• Stepney
• Skarloey
• Rheneas
• Sir Handel
• Peter Sam
• Rusty
• Duncan
• Duke
• Smudger
• Troublesome Tankers
• S.C. Ruffey
• George
• Caroline
• Bulstrode
• Refreshment Lady
• Nancy
• Tom Tipper
• The Bowler Hat Inspector
• The Portly Man
• The Crovan's Gate Policeman
• The Cricket Club
• The Knapford Painter
• The Tailor
• The Mid Sodor Railway Manager
• Class 40 (not named)
• David Mitton (not named)
• Elizabeth II (does not speak)
• The Parade Organizer (does not speak)
• Nancy's Father (does not speak)
• The Important Passenger (does not speak)
• The Elephant Keeper (does not speak)
• The New Postman (does not speak)
• The Cart Horse Rider (does not speak)
• The Hatts' Second Butler (cameo)
• Mr. Walsh (cameo)
• Sir Topham Hatt's Brown-haired Assistant (cameo)
• Prince Philip (cameo)
• The Queen Mother (cameo)
• The Duke of Sodor (mentioned)
• Other Mid Sodor Railway Engines (indirectly mentioned)

Locations

• Island of Sodor
  • Bluebell Valley
  • Bulgy's Bridge
    • Bulgy's Field
  • Callan
    • Callan Shed
  • Cros-ny-Cuirn
  • Crovan's Gate
    • Crovan's Gate Sheds
    • Crovan's Gate Yards
    • Skarloey Engine Sheds
  • Duke's Station
    • Duke's Shed
  • Elsbridge
    • Elsbridge Cricket Field
  • Forest Runby
  • Glennock
  • Gordon's Hill
  • Hackenbeck
    • Hackenbeck Shed
    • Hackenbeck Tunnel
      • Terence's Field
  • Henry's Tunnel
  • Knapford
    • Knapford Harbour
      • Sodor Trading Co.
    • Knapford Yards
      • Sodor Shipping Company
      • Knapford Sheds (stock footage)
  • Lakeside
    • Lakeside Bridge
    • Lakeside Junction
    • Neptune Refreshments
  • Mountainside Runby
  • Rheneas
    • Rheneas Bridge
    • Rheneas Sheds
    • Rheneas Tunnel
    • Rheneas Viaduct
    • Sir Topham Hatt's Office
  • Road Beside Rail and Canal Runby
  • Skarloey
    • Skarloey Bridge
    • Skarloey Slate Quarry
  • Sodor Castle
  • Sodor Gold Co.
  • The Mountain Line
  • The Mountain Road
  • The First Seaside Station
  • The Second Seaside Station
  • The Ruined Castle
  • Tidmouth Beach
    • The Seaside Village
  • Tidmouth Sheds
    • Tidmouth Goods Station
  • Tidmouth Yards
    • Thomas' Ramp
  • Valley View
  • Vicarstown Goods Depot
    • Standard Gauge and Narrow Gauge Viaduct
  • Wellsworth
    • Wellsworth Yards
  • The Lead Mines (stock footage)
  • Elm Farm (map only)
  • Valesbridge (map only)
  • Ffarquhar Quarry (mentioned)
  • The Works (mentioned)
• The Mainland
  • The Big Airy Shed

Trivia

• This was the first series of several things:
  • The first series not to have a "restored" version.
  • The first series to feature the Skarloey and Mid Sodor Railways.
  • The first series to contain the credit "Adaptation by Britt Allcroft" during the opening.
  • The first series not to end with a Christmas-themed episode and the first not to feature a Christmas-themed episode.
  • The first series to add Proteus 1 Pop/Rock to compose the music. This was the acoustic guitar sample (Patch #5) when Daisy encounters Champion in the episode Bulls Eyes.
  • The first series to have episodes released on more than two VHS tapes before airing on television.
  • The first series where Bertie, Terence, Trevor and Bulgy do not speak in any of their appearances since their debuts.
  • The first series where Toad speaks.
  • The first series where The Chinese Dragon, Lady Hatt and Bridget Hatt do not appear since their debuts.
  • The first series to feature a television series-exclusive engine, with that being Smudger.
  • The first series to premiere on Cartoon Network in the UK.
  • The first series to have braking or hissing sound effects used for when diesel engines stop or start.
  • The first series to have a standard crashing sound for engines when they have an accident, which would be used almost in every accident scene until the sixth series.
  • The first series dubbed by Mike Erander.
  • The first series to introduce a modified smiling face for Gordon, with having smaller eyebrows compared to his third series face.
  • The first series to not feature any episodes with Edward and James as the lead characters.
  • The first series to be dubbed in Japanese after Kohei Miyauchi's death despite all of his lines for the Fat Controller being redubbed into the Japanese language before his death on 2 June 1995.
  • The first series entirely dubbed in Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese.
  • The first series entirely released on VHS and DVD in Japan and South Korea.
  • The first series entirely released in Japan through VHS before all the episodes were released on television in the UK and the US, with the exceptions of Rusty to the Rescue and Thomas and Stepney.
  • The first series to feature realistic sounding steam whistle sounds as opposed to synthesised effects using the flute module on the Roland Jupiter 6.
  • The first series to feature stereo audio in the UK, US, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Finland and Hong Kong.
• This series marks the only of a few things:
  • The only series since his debut where Terence is never referred to by name.
  • The only series where an ITV franchise was not involved in production, as Border Television took over from the next season. Although the sixth and seventh series were later broadcast on CiTV in the early 2000s, they were co-produced between Gullane Entertainment and Nick Jr. UK.
  • The only series to feature Duke physically, not counting his portrait cameos in the fifth series, his stock footage cameo in the seventh series and being dropped in the fifteenth series episode Kevin the Steamie along with Sir Handel and Peter Sam.
  • The only series until the tenth series to feature Sir Handel.
  • The only series to feature Crovan's Gate in the model series.
  • The only series to feature the Big Airy Shed in the entire series.
  • The only series dubbed by The Family Channel Studios.
  • The only series until the eighth series to feature Thomas' upset face mask.
  • The only series to feature Bulstrode in the original series.
• This was also the final series of a few things:
  • The last production to feature stories based on The Railway Series until The Adventure Begins and therefore the last to have Wilbert Awdry as a technical consultant.
  • The last series up until the twentieth series to feature episodes based on the stories from The Railway Series, not including the sixth series episode Faulty Whistles, which is loosely based off the Small Railway Engines story: Mike's Whistle
  • George Carlin's last series as narrator due to him moving on to continue his comedy career before passing away a decade later in June 2008. Alec Baldwin would assume the role from the fifth - sixth series.
  • The last production to introduce characters from the Railway Series into the television series until Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure.
  • The last series to air during Wilbert Awdry's lifetime.
  • The last series shown on Shining Time Station.
  • The last series released completely on VHS in New Zealand.
  • The last series to be produced in Ukrainian voice-over instead of a dub.
  • The last series to be produced in Ukrainian until the seventeenth series.
  • The last series to feature Daisy in an episode until the nineteenth series.
  • The last series to not feature Cranky before his debut in the next series.
  • The last series released on DVD in Finland until the eighth series.
  • The last series to feature Kōhei Miyauchi as the Fat Controller (named Toppuhamu Hattokyo in the Japanese dub) in the original Japanese voice cast. Coincidentally, all of his lines for all of the Japanese dubbed episodes from the same series were recorded before his death on 2 June 1995 due to abdominal varices. From the fifth series until the eighth series, Takeshi Aono would take over the role.
  • The last series aired by KBS 1 in South Korea.
  • The last series translated by Lee Eun-sook for JEI TV in South Korea.
  • The last series directed by Kim Yu-joon for JEI TV in South Korea.
  • The last series narrated by Jang Gwang for JEI TV in South Korea.
  • The last series recorded by Lee Hyun-min for JEI TV in South Korea.
  • The last series mixed by Park Kwang-ho for JEI TV in South Korea.
  • The last series video edited by Kang Hyun-gi for JEI TV in South Korea.
  • The last series to have three Korean versions.
  • The last series to have mono audio in South Korea but television airings and VHS' also have mono audio in the fifth series as well.
  • The last series to have mono audio in Albania.
  • The last series to have Märklin gauge 1 tracks for the engines running.
  • The last series aired by Kanal 5, Cartoon Network and Boomerang in Sweden.
  • The last series that aired the UK dub in Nordic countries but on the Finnish language option.
  • The last series to release some of its episodes early in the United States until the eighth series. But this time, on VHS/DVD instead of American television.
  • The last series to reuse music from the Clearwater Features era with the Roland Jupiter 6 synthesiser. This only happens during Daisy's theme in the episode Bulls Eyes. Also this is the last series of the main show to use stock footage produced by Clearwater Features until the seventh series (not counting the Jack and the Sodor Construction Company series).
  • The last series dubbed at "Autoren-Synchron Hamburg" in Germany.
  • The last series to be aired on Nelonen in Finland until the thirteen series in 2017. MTV3 took over as the Finnish broadcast home for the series in 2009 starting from the fifth series to the present day.
  • The last series where guards are referred to as conductors in the US dub.
• This series was originally going to be the last series of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, as there were originally no plans to produce more episodes in 1996, with the expectation of a possibility of a Hollywood film and works by Christopher Awdry.^[1]
• With a number of twenty-four out of twenty-six episodes, the fourth series holds the most episodes released directly onto home video before television, with the exceptions of Rusty to the Rescue and Thomas and Stepney, as they aired on television in the US on 7 January 1995 on the Shining Time Station special Once Upon a Time before being released on VHS. The only two episodes that aired on television in the UK before they were released on VHS were Four Little Engines and Peter Sam and the Refreshment Lady, hence they were only released with their Cartoon Network opening titles.
• Two episodes of this series have aired in the United States before being released on VHS or broadcast in the United Kingdom later that year; Rusty to the Rescue and Thomas and Stepney.
• The first eleven episodes of this series, from Granpuff to Special Funnel have Michael Angelis' dub recorded in Dobey.
• The last fifteen episodes of this series, from Steam Roller to Mind that Bike have Michael Angelis' dub recorded back to normal.
• This series contained the 100th episode of the television series, which was Thomas and the Special Letter by broadcast order.
• This series introduced the most new characters out of any other series.
• Thomas appears in twenty-three episodes in this series, more than any other series in the Classic Series but still less than most of the series outside the Classic Series.
• Oddly, a significant amount of sound effects are different and music cues are absent in the US dubs of the episodes featured in the Rusty to the Rescue home release, a notable example being Rusty Helps Peter Sam, which misses almost all the music in the first half of the episode. The episode also excludes most of Peter Sam's whistles and adds an unusually high pitched whistle when he cries for help after his accident. The audio quality of the dub is also different from the rest of the fourth series episodes.
• This series is unique as the first fifteen episodes focused primarily on the Skarloey Railway engines.
• In the Serbian dub, out of twenty-six episodes only three episodes were dubbed and released in the DVD Volume 8.
• In the Ukrainian and Vietnamese voice-overs, Michael Angelis' dub can be heard in the background as a dubbing track was not used.
• In the Korean dub of DVD Acadamy, George Carlin's dub can be heard in the background as a dubbing track was not used.
• Granpuff, Sleeping Beauty, Bulldog, A Bad Day for Sir Handel, Trucks, Home at Last, Rock 'n' Roll and Special Funnel are the only episodes to have an original UK dub. These are all featured on the UK VHS release of Rock 'n' Roll and Other Stories.
• A map of the east of Sodor featuring Crovan's Gate and all the locations from the Skarloey Railway was made (possibly by David Mitton or Robert Gauld-Galliers) and it is seen in the episode Sleeping Beauty, as well as the episodes Bye George!, Oliver's Find and Busy Going Backwards from the next series.
• On all the New Zealand VHS releases, special title cards were made due to the removal of intros and outros (aside from the beginning and end of the tapes).

References

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