DVD/Blu Ray (199) Toys/Games (160) TV Series (126) Movies (123) Broadcasting (82) Events (72) Books (67) Websites (53) Cast (42) Interviews (41) Crew (36) Features (36) Worldwide (35) iTunes (28) Music (25) Railway Series (23) Media (17) YouTube (15)

Wednesday 14 March 2012

Feature: Recap on Episode Eighteen of Season Sixteen

Channel 5 milkshake! in the United Kingdom aired the eighteenth Season Sixteen episode of Thomas & Friends.

The long promised return of half of the Narrow Gauge Engines at last cropped up in Don't Bother Victor!, written by Sharon Miller.
It saw The Thin Controller asking Peter Sam to be in charge of the railway, but the little engine struggles with decisions being made on the way.

The small No. 4 locomotive and Mr. Percival were joined by Rheneas, Victor, Sir Handel, Thomas and Skarloey to speak in the reunion show. Rusty the Little Diesel made a very brief cameo at the beginning but was silent.

The episode reeled in mixed to positive reviews, the majority of which commended Nitrogen Studios' vibrant animation for the Narrow Gauge engines and their railway, partly distracting attention from the writing perspective.
The inclusion of basing the whole place in a Welsh heritage achieved an acclaimed response and was felt to have fitted perfectly. It led to making the returning engines talk with the very accents.

The Wales references started during the opening where Skarloey was seen pulling a few coaches as seen on the real Talyllyn Railway. Greg Tiernan revealed that he and some of the crew visited the railway for research.

Victor visited the little 'uns in the story which had a refreshing change of focus rather than staying in the Steamworks most of his days, that too went down well from the fans.
However the episode was not saved by negative pointers taking place, partly salvaging the third before last show. It was thought to be poorly written and being compared to Sir Handel in Charge and The Green Controller.

The three strikers and repitition were included as was the highly expected role of Thomas appearing, annoying viewers once more to another extreme.

The narration mentioned that Peter Sam fixed his friends when really and proven visually, the crews became responsible for the repairs. This error made receptions of being lazy and unfocused to the piece.
Despite most voices approved, one voice was criticised, that of Sir Handel who spoke in an elder Percy type, utimately not suited by reviewers. Conscientious' of the story's result turned to be an average reprise of the returnees.

TheTopHatts gives Don't Bother Victor!...
4/10

Season Sixteen of Thomas & Friends will return for one more day in Australia on ABC2 during Christmas 2012 with the episode, The Christmas Express. 

Channel 5 in the UK airs the final episode on their milkshake! slot on Thursday March 15th 2012 at 7:35am with Happy Birthday, Sir!. The Christmas Express will also air in Britain in Christmas 2012.

For a full list of the scheduling, visit the Dieselworks Turntable Roundhouse on the right hand sidebar for more details. 
 

Thanks to Thomas & Friends Wikia for information and images.

What did you think of this episode? Send your reaction in the comments section just under this post for your verdict.

7 comments:

  1. Great to hear welsh voices for NG engines, Talyllyn railway would be very pleased :) Great, enjoyable episode. Always Great to see Thomas, raises a smile on the little one's face. He'd give this episode 8/10 :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. P.S since Peter Sam brought his crew to help his friends, he technically did help try to fix them

      Delete
  2. Nice to have narrow gauge engines back and The coaches look awesome and a narrow gauge brakevan and other vans ain’t properly been used since series 7 although Freddie pulled a brakevan in Mountain Marvel series 12 and if Duncan was in it I would say ten but as he wasn't bust was mentioned I'm going to say 9.5 put of 10. Also I never liked Mighty Mac or Freddie at first but now they aren’t in it I sort of miss them too, I get the feeling Duncan will be back like Whiff, Arry, Bert etc came back

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yours is a very fair score. I think it's a bit ridiculous that people give it 10/10 just because the Narrow Gauge engines returned without really bothering with the overused plot. But that's their opinion. I think this is one of the good ones, but I admit the main good thing is the voices, the engines and the whistles. I'd give it a 5.5/10

    ReplyDelete
  4. This episode is not my favourite, not that I'm saying that its bad or anything. The best part is the Skarloey engine's, their whistles and details. But the episode is a re-hash of 'Sir Handel in Charge' and seeing how many people are referring to 'The Green Controller' as well, I have to agree. I do have to say that the NG engines' voices are nice in welsh, minus Sir Handel. I don't hate the voice, but it sound nasally, but it could improve later on in future series. As for Duncan's non-apperance, maybe they didn't render him in time of the episode? or maybe they couldn't find a suitable voice actor for him? That goes to Freddie as well, minus the suitable voice actor, since they found one.

    All in all, this episode is only good for the return of the Skarloey engines, but the episode is not that great and I can give an OK:

    3.5/5

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Duncan wasn't done as his prototype was going through an overhaul when Greg and the team went to the Tallylyn for research. He wanted each narrow gauge engine to look as close to their prototypes as possible, while still keeping their TV series liveries

      Delete
  5. @ThomasPercyandToby u no that they kould have looked at The RWS (RWS Means Railway Series) Pictures 4 Duncan, Butt I like how They Went 2 The Tallylyn Railway 4 Eximanashun (P.S. No Foul Languege)

    ReplyDelete