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Thomas & Friends (series 21) facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Thomas & Friends
Country of origin United Kingdom
No. of episodes 18
Release
Original network Channel 5
Original release 18 September (2017-09-18) – 22 December 2017 (2017-12-22)
List of Thomas & Friends episodes

Thomas & Friends is a children's television series about the engines and other characters on the railways of the Island of Sodor, and is based on The Railway Series books written by the Reverend W. Awdry.

This article lists and details the episodes from series 21 of the show, which started airing on 18 September 2017 in the UK and on 15 December 2017 in the US. The series was narrated by Mark Moraghan, which was also his last series. This was the first series to air on Nick Jr. in the United States.

This series became the first to have engines and vehicles move their bodies instead of being static in the previous series.

Episodes

No.
overall
No. in
season
Title Directed by Written by Original air date TV Order
495 1 "Springtime for Diesel" Dianna Basso Davey Moore 18 September 2017 (2017-09-18) 28a
Daisy's springs need fixing after Diesel bumps her. Diesel notices this when Ryan was taking her, Jerome and Judy to the Dieselworks, after he bumps Thomas at the yards and gets annoyed with everyone talking about it. After Daisy is repaired, she tells Diesel that he needs to change his ways.
496 2 "A Most Singular Engine" Dianna Basso Davey Moore 19 September 2017 (2017-09-19) 28b
Diesel causes trouble between Daisy and Harvey by spreading rumours, but some crates at the crossing make Daisy and Harvey be friends, by assisting one another on a task.
497 3 "Dowager Hatt's Busy Day" Dianna Basso Lee Pressman 20 September 2017 (2017-09-20) 29a
Dowager Hatt runs the railway, while Sir Topham Hatt is sick and away, but causes lots of trouble, starting from Thomas collecting her new hat to Emily taking Annie and Clarabel on Thomas' Branch Line to Gordon taking trucks of scrap to Percy taking Gordon's Express and other things causing confusion and delay to the railway, which gives Emily the time to help her.
498 4 "Stuck in Gear" Dianna Basso Davey Moore 21 September 2017 (2017-09-21) 29b
Harvey is a cheery engine, not only unique for his paintwork but for his crane, but when a branch gets stuck in the gears of his crane while clearing some branches out of the way, Harvey feels too shy to ask for help, resulting in trying to fix it himself, only to derail outside a tunnel.
499 5 "Runaway Engine" Dianna Basso Helen Farrall 22 September 2017 (2017-09-22) 30a
After a mess with the garbage, Stephen thinks that Millie ran away after hurting her feelings, so he leaves Glynn at the castle to find Millie with his passengers unexpectedly with him, only to run out of water.
500 6 "Public Address Problems" Dianna Basso Lee Pressman 25 September 2017 (2017-09-25) 30b

Sir Topham Hatt's new public address system causes havoc, while Reg uses the old public address system for music down at the Scrapyard.

  • This is the 500th episode of the series.
501 7 "Hasty Hannah" Dianna Basso Lee Pressman 26 September 2017 (2017-09-26) 31a
Whilst Henrietta is at the Steamworks being refurbished with new seats, Toby works with another coach, that looks just like Henrietta, who is named Hannah. Hannah is excited to be working with Toby and criticizes him for being slow resulting in Toby speeding up much too fast, so Toby leaves Hannah on a siding and when he returns, Hannah is nowhere to be seen. James passes by with Hannah in tow. At first Hannah is enjoying her fast ride but when she starts to fall apart she becomes horrified as her coupling snaps and as she heads into a nearby siding, now knowing that going too fast can be dangerous. Later on, as Toby arrives with Henrietta, Hannah is happy to see Toby, but when she notices Henrietta, to Toby's surprise, Henrietta reveals that she and Hannah are sisters.
502 8 "Cranky at the End of the Line" Dianna Basso Lee Pressman 27 September 2017 (2017-09-27) 31b
After some trouble down at Brendam Docks, Cranky thinks that Sir Topham Hatt will replace him with a newer, shinier crane.
503 9 "New Crane on the Dock" Dianna Basso Lee Pressman 28 September 2017 (2017-09-28) 32a

Cranky competes against Carly the new crane when she starts taking all his work, only to get her and himself tied up.

  • This episode marks the formal introduction of Big Mickey, a hitherto-silent character from the franchise's sister series TUGS, whose model had previously been used as set dressing following the cancellation of "TUGS".
504 10 "Unscheduled Stops" Dianna Basso Helen Farrall 29 September 2017 (2017-09-29) 32b
When Bertie the Bus breaks down at the Level Crossing during yet another race, Thomas starts making unscheduled stops for Bertie's passengers, which in turn delays his own other passengers. The Fat Controller becomes suspicious, so he decides to follow Thomas and finds out about his unscheduled stops, so he recruits a newly resurrected Bulgy (who returns since having a cameo in Series 12) to fill in for Bertie as well as take his passengers, which means Thomas can run on time again.
505 11 "Philip's Number" Dianna Basso Lee Pressman 2 October 2017 (2017-10-02) 33a
Philip tries to discover why he has the number 68 painted on his side after being teased about it from Gordon. For a while, Philip thinks of numbers of where ever he goes, from the Steamworks to the Dieselworks and from the Station platforms to the Troublesome Trucks, until he saves Farmer McColl's sheep from Gordon: 68 of them.
506 12 "The Fastest Red Engine on Sodor" Dianna Basso Helen Farrall 3 October 2017 (2017-10-03) 33b
When Rosie is repainted red, according to Thomas, James becomes jealous and challenges her to a race en route to Crovan's Gate. However, as a screeching sound is heard, Rosie suggests to James that he goes to have his brakes checked. But when he arrives at the Steamworks, James thinks the screeching sound had stopped, believing it was the Troublesome Trucks pushing him, however as he heads back, there is the lack of brake fluid and James ends up speeding much too fast and out of control, resulting in him crashing into the back of Tidmouth Sheds.
507 13 "A Shed for Edward" Dianna Basso Lee Pressman 4 October 2017 (2017-10-04) 34a
While the damaged part of Tidmouth Sheds is being repaired, Edward first sleeps to Philip's shed, then to Brendam Docks , then to the Steamworks, then sleeps on a ship, then at Ulstead Mine, and then the woods, but they are all too noisy for him to get a good night's sleep all night long or all day long.
508 14 "The Big Freeze" Dianna Basso Helen Farrall 1 December 2017 (2017-12-01) 34b
When a big freeze hits the island of Sodor, Diesel finally proves himself to be a hero by bringing the coal for the steam engines.
509 15 "Emily in the Middle" Dianna Basso Davey Moore 6 December 2017 (2017-12-06) 35a
Emily gets stuck in the middle while helping Donald and Douglas, until she gets derailed at the bottom of Gordon's Hill.
510 16 "Terence Breaks the Ice" Dianna Basso Lee Pressman 11 December 2017 (2017-12-11) 35b

Terence takes a shortcut across a frozen lake while collecting Christmas trees for the holiday market and Thomas tries to save him.

  • The flashback events of Thomas, Terence and the Snow/Terence the Tractor were recreated. Unlike the original story where Terence pulled Annie and Clarabel first when they were uncoupled from Thomas, he pulls them all out at the same time in the flashback.
511 17 "Daisy's Perfect Christmas" Dianna Basso Davey Moore 18 December 2017 (2017-12-18) 36a
Daisy is sad when Christmas doesn't go as planned: the Decorating of Vicarstown, the Children, Mike, Rex, and Bert's fake snow show, the electricity problem back at Vicarstown, the Troublesome Trucks singing Christmas Carols, and Harold with the Star. Ryan, Jerome and Judy soon tell her that change is good every year.
512 18 "Confused Coaches" Dianna Basso Helen Farrall 22 December 2017 (2017-12-22) 36b
Spencer and Gordon accidentally upset their passengers when their competitive behavior gets out of hand and their coaches get mixed up before the New Year's celebration begins.

Voice Actors

Lucy Montgomery, Colin McFarlane and Nicola Stapleton officially join the cast from that year's special. Stapleton officially takes over the role of Rosie from Teresa Gallagher in the UK and Jules de Jongh in the US while Rob Rackstraw officially takes over the role of James in the UK from Keith Wickham.

Actor/Actress Region Role(s)
Mark Moraghan UK/US The Narrator
John Hasler UK Thomas
Joseph May US
Nigel Pilkington UK/US A Passenger
UK Percy
Christopher Ragland US
UK/US Troublesome Trucks
Keith Wickham UK Edward, Henry, Gordon and Harold
UK/US Harvey, Glynn, Salty, Den, Stafford, Skarloey, Arlesdale Bert, Bertie, Sir Topham Hatt, Dowager Hatt, Lord Callan, Farmer Finney, The Man in Sea Green Shirt and Glasses, The Grumpy Passenger, The Man in Whitish Brown Shirt and Brown Shorts and The Woodsmen
Rob Rackstraw UK Toby
UK/US James, Donald, Big Mickey and The Thin Clergyman/Wilbert Awdry
Kerry Shale US Henry, Gordon and Harold
UK/US Diesel, Arry and Kevin (Hasty Hannah only)
William Hope US Edward, Toby, The Duke of Boxford and Farmer McColl (Phillip's Number only)
UK/US Iron Bert
Teresa Gallagher UK/US Belle, Annie, Clarabel, Judy, Lady Hatt, Stephen Hatt, Bridget Hatt, Some Children, The Chubby Little Boy, The Lady in Yellow Dress and Hat, Albert's Wife, Ginger Haired Boy, School Boy, School Girl and The Blonde Haired Boy
UK Emily, The Duchess of Boxford and Some Children
Jules de Jongh US
Matt Wilkinson UK Spencer, Cranky, The Duke of Boxford and The Dock Manager
UK/US The Bird Watcher (P.A. Problems only)
Glenn Wrage US Spencer and Cranky
David Menkin Porter
Steven Kynman UK
UK/US Ryan, Paxton and Dart
David Bedella Victor and The Mayor of Sodor
Bob Golding Stephen and Sidney
Michael Legge Luke
Miranda Raison Millie
Mike Grady Sir Robert Norramby
Joe Mills Douglas
Maggie Ollerenshaw Henrietta
Tim Whitnall Jerome and Reg
Tom Stourton Rex, Terrence and The Fat Clergyman/Teddy Boston
Rasmus Hardiker Philip and Troublesome Tracks (Philip's Number only)
Tracy-Ann Oberman Daisy
Lucy Montgomery Hannah and Carly
Colin McFarlane Bulgy and Bertie's Driver
Nicola Stapleton Rosie