Following the mixed to positive reception of the tenth season of Thomas & Friends, the eleventh season aired a year later in the autumn of 2007. The writing team continued writing for the series with Sharon Miller still at the helm as a script editor. This changed and ended a few things for the show. For one thing, the episodes were filmed with high definition cameras and it was the last season to feature complete model work before slight changes were made a year later. Robert Hartshorne continued with the score for the episode while in terms of narration, Michael Angelis stayed on board for the UK and Michael Brandon continued in the US. Was season 11 of Thomas & Friends any improvement over season 10? If you wanna hear my opinion, read and find out...
1. Thomas And The Storyteller
Hmm, what a nice way to start off a season. Great characterization with a pretty good story sticking to a moral that a good story could be made up of anything. I don't know if that sounds right, do you? Thomas is helpful like in the classic series and not stupid like he is in various episode and even though there is a three strikes, would there have been a story without it? I really don't know but I bet Andrew Brenner would portray this plot idea much differently. Overall, I give an 8.1/10.
2. Emily's Rubbish/Emily And The Garbage
What a good way to continue a season. Emily's an okay character to star in the spotlight with Whiff but I maybe would have switched her role around with Spencer's. But with that, Emily would be back to her season 8 persona or maybe she could have been one of the teasing engines. Speaking of Whiff, I was not impressed to start with but he has quite a bit of interest among writers in the present day so I like him better now. But speaking of Spencer, what's he doing on Sodor? Do the Duke and Duchess have a reasonable purpose for being there. The next episode fixes that problem so I maybe would have switched this episode around with Dream On. It would make more sense, don't you think? Not much said, the big engines are in perfect character, especially Gordon and James and it's nice to see so many of HIT's past characters make a comeback. Despite it's flaws, it had a good story to it and a great moral about appearances not being any big deal. On the whole, it's an 7.5/10 for me.
3. Dream On
Great episode but not enough said. Spencer works great as an antagonist towards his fellow steam engines and even though there is a three strikes method, which got more and more obvious around this time, it was used in a good way. On the whole, it was a season 11 favorite for me as a kid and it still is today and so I think this one deserves a 8.8/10.
4. Dirty Work
Wow, another good episode? The writers did a fairly well job, even there is a three strikes but I think there would have been a story without it this time. Again, HIT knows James well and give him good episodes in the spotlight. Overall, I give it an 7.9/10.
5. Hector The Horrid
Another great episode, no way. It's nice to see Rosie play a fairly major role and I love Hector, even though he didn't have much to do with the series after this but he might be around in the CGI series at some point. This episode has a great moral about standing up to bullies and the narrators do their work with such enthusiasm, especially the keep away part. It's a great watch and that's why I give it a 9/10.
6. Gordon And The Engineer/Gordon And The Mechanic
Oh, my god. Another great episode? No, not only that but I believe it's a Gordon episode and for the third time in a row, it's my favorite episode of the season. It's the best episode that we've ever had since season 8's Halloween and it's railway smart. Donald and Douglas make an awesome comeback and Michael Angelis has not lost touch with their voices. But still, Michael Brandon tries his hardest at their voices but in the end, I'm not keen on it. I don't suspect that you guys might be either, but are you? Other than that, the narrators did the job with even more enthusiasm; pacing was good; music was beautifully, especially Gordon's theme. I love this episode and I wish the season had more episodes like this before going downhill. I give it a 9.6/10.
7. Thomas And The Spaceship
Hmm…this seemed quite nice. Good concept but a three-striker stood in the way. The airport looks great at night and it seems that HIT had a good sense of knowledge about railway realism by this point. The realism is where Thomas pulls six mail vans. Despite being a three striker, it's a good watch and deserves a 7.8/10 in my opinion.
8. Henry's Lucky Day/Henry's Lucky Trucks
Oh, boy. Why doesn't this surprise me? Another great episode. No, the series has gone downhill by this point. Henry never gets great episodes in the HIT series but this seems alright compared to the next season with Henry in the spotlight. But Thomas' appearance was so pointless and again, it's repetitive despite me not remembering much of a three striker. It's because I don't watch that episode at much. Then there's a problem with the script. First off, I'm getting so sick and tired of hearing all this winter holiday nonsense and it's not hard to the term Christmas not only in the script but in front the word presents train. But the music of Henry rolling downhill was wonderfully done and the moral has a good moral about not always being lucky. Despite flaws here and there, I give a 6.4/10.
9. Thomas And The Lighthouse
No better, no worse. This episode was just unrealistic too. No doubt about it from the way the lightbulb was transported and a writing error while the narrator says Thomas speeded up. Now, who the hell would make a mistake something like that? I'm surprised it wasn't Sharon Miller. Another three striker and receptiveness from the writer. I did feel sorry for Thomas since he was left the odd one out on the firework party but that was his own stupid fault, wasn't it? Thomas is smarter than to speed up like that but it wasn't entirely his fault. The lightbulb should have been carried in a more sensible manner. Major flaws here and there but it was nice to see Cyril the fog man make a slight comeback and there's a nice moral of work coming before play. I give it another 6.4/10.
10. Thomas And The Big Bang
Hmm…I've been looking forward to reviewing this episode because many other episodes between S9-10, there's a lot to talk about. The sets were nice, especially the wharf, but the episode itself is still BAAAAAAAAD! I enjoyed it when I first viewed it as a preteen because I found it funny but now that I think about it, it's terrible. Has Thomas ever been so stupid? I don't think there's an answer to that but definitely the narrow gauge engines. Now that's a stupidity we haven't seen out of them before. If this episode were to be any better, which I don't think it could have been, Duncan could've been one of the engines f*cking around and goofing off while Rusty could have taken Peter Sam's place with the logs. But that wouldn't have made any better sense since Peter Sam has a born tendency to work. The writers, and HIT in general by no f*cking surprise, showed that they didn't know sh*t about Rheneas and Skarloey and it's a crying shame! (lol, I swore twice in one sentence. You'll see a lot more of this when it comes to such a bad episode) Anyway, those two engines should not have been goofing off. They know better than that! THEY'RE OVER 100 YEARS OLD! SERIOUSLY, HIT! TAKE YOUR HEADS OUT OF YOUR ASSES UNLESS ANDREW BRENNER COULD TAKE THEM OUT FOR YOU! YOU EXPECT CHILDREN TO LEARN HOW TO BEHAVE AND BE MORE PRODUCTIVE WITH THIS PIECE OF SH*T?! I DON'T THINK SO 'CAUSE THIS IS NOWHERE NEAR PRODUCTIVE! The only good characterization was out of The Thin Controller/Mr. Percival who warned the engines to have all the work done by teatime could have shown that there could have been severe consequences unless the work was done. Thomas pulling Mr. Percival's leg with the joke he was playing at the end of the episode was funny and bought a smile to my face. Not that anything else in this episode besides the visuals did of course. I give a 2.6/10 at it's best.
11. Smokes And Mirrors
Another bad episode? Come on, HIT. Thomas is smarter than this. I'm not gonna talk much about this episode. It has everything you'd look for in a bad Thomas, especially a three-striker. A few positives come from the sets that it presented and the magic show at the end and…the accent of the magician. It was hilarious. Enough said, I give it a 3.4/10.
12. Thomas Sets Sail
Three bad episodes in a row with Thomas acting like a complete idiot? No way. The sail boat looks beautiful but it's unrealistic in the way that the sailboat was transported, don't you think? The mass should have been down. It has a great range of female characters like Molly and Rosie for example who rarely come to appear (well, at least one of them does as a background) but that does not make this episode any good. A decent story would like I don't know, maybe, maybe, maybe, well maybe not. I don't f*cking know. This episode was visually entertaining but bland and boring on the storytelling front thanks to the Master Writer of Disaster herself and I will not mention a name you all know. I give it another 3.8/10.
13. Don't Be Silly, Billy
Oh my god? Another bad episode. Why doesn't this surprise me? Oh, I think I know why. It's because it was written, yet again, by Sharon Miller. Billy's just a pointless one-off and I have no idea whether or not he will eventually strike interest among writers in the modern day. He has a pretty low chance as do most characters that Britt Allcroft had created (save for Butch and Cranky) but enough with that. The episode was so badly written and Billy is such a f*cking lithe punk towards Thomas, speaking of the little blue engine, at least he had some common sense and taught Billy a thing or two by eventually leaving him on his own. That may have seemed unnecessary but it taught stupid Billy a lesson. At least this still bearable compared to a few Engines And Escapades episodes I will not name. I give this one a 2.6/10.
14. Edward And The Mail
Finally! This one seemed alright. Edward was out of character but not like he was in the past two seasons. He was the wrong choice of character though. This should have been given to some other character like Gordon or James or maybe Spencer who take disgust in pulling the mail and refuse to take advice to Percy. Or it could have been given to a newer character like maybe Neville who, with the facial expressions, may have been a good choice of character for this episode. Good story, just given to the wrong character, that's all. I think I'm gonna give this one a 6.8/10. It was very enjoyable compared to the last few episodes we've had.
15. Hide And Peep
Now this is better. The pun on the title was brilliant. This is an episode with a simple story, kinda like of the season 6 sort, that focuses on Thomas and Percy's friendship, not on engines being incredibly stupid. Percy's hiding spots were visually incorrect. If HIT back in the day knew any better about the show from the classic series (I'm talking about season 6 here), they'd realize that it's not safe for an engine to go on to the tipper's loading ramp. Season 6 may been a bit unrealistic but it had lots of railway realism too. Not like this. And five years ago from back to this season, Percy should have learnt from his experience. But Thomas was in perfect character with his cheekiness and Cranky, instead of being depicted as a short-tempered jerk, shows a friendly side towards the engines, something that would carry on in the CGI series despite, in the words of Andrew Brenner, being cranky by nature. Haha. It's a fun watch and has a great moral of not cheating. At least Thomas and Percy's time for the game was used wisely as there was no other work to do besides wait for the ship. I give this an 8.1/10 because it was so enjoyable.
16. Toby's Triumph
After two good episodes, well, yes, unfortunately, we've got another bad one. Toby is just being a total wimp but this doesn't get as cringeworthy as The Christmas Tree Express. To be honest, it's pretty enjoyable compared to that horribly written piece of sh*t. This, on the other hand, is still bad but again, like every other episode this season, has its advantages. Alicia Botti made a good comeback and the way in which the narrators handled the shoooo, cow line was outrageous. I give it a 4/10 at it's best.
17. Thomas And The Runaway Car
Hey, what do you know? A well-written episode out of Sharon Miller. Thomas and Gordon maintain that rivalry that they've had since season 1 and believe it or not, I don't think I've seen an episode this good since the last Gordon episode, lol. Arthur and Rosie make good use in this episode too, especially for the laughs. A little too much repetitiveness though and that's from Sharon herself. The runaway brand new Hatt blue car? Come on, gimme a break. And the way in which the car, or the "runaway brand new Hatt blue car" if Sharon wants to politically correct me, was kinda unrealistic, especially without a break van. Enough about the cons, it's a rarity that Sharon can write a script like this, especially since most of her episodes suck. The characterization too. Andrew Brenner may have gave Sharon a phone call to write about something like this, who knows? And who cares? It's a good story and the humor is something that you'd see more from season 17 onwards, except with a better hand in writing, haha. I give it an 8.8/10 because it was that good.
18. Thomas In Trouble
Another episode about Thomas. And this wasn't so bad either. Sure it was dangerous for Thomas to go off without a final inspection, plus he is sorta out of character towards Toby, but maybe it's because he was going through a hard time and Toby understands and forgives. Plus, at least the idea of a final inspection shows that HIT has done their homework, maybe during the production of all the sh*tty episodes earlier on the season, to produce good episodes like this. It's a good watch and that's why I'm giving it an 8/10.
19. Thomas And The Stinky Cheese
Wow, three great episodes in a row. And all having to do with Thomas as well. This episode was in the best of ways exciting but as much as the steam vs diesel concept is used perfectly and up to par with Calling All Engines, it gets tiring after a while, don't you think? And the way in which the stinky cheese was transported was unrealistic. Despite that, a decent crash was presented here and the way in which Thomas says phee-u. What a stink at the end is quite funny and is Diesel's expression. I give it a 9/10 because it was so enjoyable and definitely a season 11 favorite.
20. Percy And The Left Luggage/Percy And The Baggage
Hmm…interesting way in which we end off the televised part of the series and definitely enjoyable compared to what we have to continue with, don't get me wrong there. Edward was in character, for once, with offering to help Percy with his jobs but again, this episode has its disadvantages. For one thing, it's a three striker and therefore, kinda weak at the writing and storytelling front, but strong compared to the narrow gauge bullsh*t that followed, don't you think? I like this episode and it has a refreshingly different moral about not leaving the more important things to the last minute. At least Percy was smart enough to remember the luggage. It just lacks a timetable and maybe a signalman in case you haven't noticed. I give it an 8/10. Yes, fellas, I don't know about you guys but I loved it as a kid and now I like it by this much.
21. Duncan Does It All
And so we come to the Engines And Escapades DVD release, and shall I stress? This is in no way any good of a starter. At the storytelling front of course. Typical three striker, engines not being told off for their lack of process but hey, at least Duncan was a good choice of a character for a bad and stupid storyline. The moral of jobs not always being exciting helps kids learn from that experience. But still, it's bad and a 3.4/10 for me at it's best.
22. Sir Handel In Charge
Bad, bad, bad again! Wow. Another bad episode and a rewrite of The Green Controller. But I liked that episode. Back to this one...I'm at my wit's end! This is a terrible episode from start to finish and I'd rather watch season 4 where Sir Handel was a total brat and maybe even a bit of a smart aleck then this. I thought he was supposed to mature nowadays but no. He's just completely stupid, stupid! STUPID! here! And it's so f*cking repetitive from the writers and tiresome from the narrators, no offense to them, but this episode is a crying shame and I'd only bother watching it if I wanted to look at how nice the sets were or maybe just to watch the whole series in order and remember how terrible some of the episodes are. I give a 2.3/10 at it's best. Worst piece of sh*t that I've seen since Thomas' Frosty Friend.
23. Cool Truckings
Now here's a good one. Best episode of Engines And Escapades. I do like Madge and Duncan's a good character for her to star with. Too bad she hasn't struck any interest among writers, maybe yet. This was nicely filmed and had some good laughs like the part with the policeman. A good watch and so I give it a 7.8/10.
24. Ding-A-Ling
Ooh…this was a lesser achievement. Sure Freddie's cool and okay for the spotlight but the script was repetitive despite the realism part of having a bicycle bell. Despite major quibbles here and there, it's not all that bad and so I give it a 5.4/10.
25. Skarloey Storms Through
Well now, have I been looking forward to reviewing this episode. Aww, this episode is so cute and I just love it. It's easily up to par with Gordon And The Engineer. Wait, what? Did I just say that right? Nah, I was just smoking a joint or two when I was doing this episode and I took a short break from reviewing it after typing those words written below the title. Well, you wanna know why? Because, this episode is worth reviewing! In a bad way! It was nearly as bad as Thomas' Frosty Friend. Skarloey is so out of character by this point. HIT, what in the name of Sodor have you done to him? The Reverend W. Awdry would be so ashamed of you! WAIT! THIS PIECE OF SH*T WOULDN'T EXIST IF HE WERE ALIVE! Now, enough said, this episode is terrible and the worst watch I've got this season. There were some nice visuals but that's it for pros. I give this a 2.2/10 at it's best.
26. Wash Behind Your Buffers
For a closer, this was quite nice. Madge gets another lead role not so long after her debut. It's just a bit of a shame she's not used by writer's in the present day. It's nice to Skarloey and Rheneas looking so clean, even if it didn't last long, haha. Not much more, it's a good watch and that's why I give it an 7.4/10.
Overall Views:
Overall, the eleventh season of Thomas & Friends was an okay season. I mean, while not up to par with season 10, it did have an unusual blend of good and bad episodes around each corner but some episodes showed HIT has done some research on railways. Some episodes just prove how lazy they are at the writing helms and sometimes, at the helms of railway realism. The three strikes method is now painfully too obvious for audiences to connect with. I used to enjoy this season back in my preteen years, even if today, some of those episodes are just my misfortune in the present day. I have no idea why the UK never got one of the 20 televised episodes on DVD until the Complete Eleventh Season or in the US where seasons 10 and 11 rarely made their up on DVD shelves. That's one thing I'll never get. Maybe just a lack of money to make the DVDs.
The music was, again, good. Robert Hartshorne did good but it's disappointing that Ed Welch only arranged one song The Narrow Gauge Engines and that was a good song, probably the highlight of Engines And Escapades and it makes the DVD release very memorable. The sets were beautiful as always and I know that some of you guys aren't too keen on the high definition cameras but I think they're not much different as the contrast presented from season 6-10 and the models, again, look amazing. Especially out of the new characters. Speaking of characters, it was sad to Elizabeth in her last few appearances. Hopefully she turns up soon with Andrew Brenner at the writing helm. Donald and Douglas are definitely on the top of my likely characters list for season 18 but Elizabeth is somewhere not so far behind.
At the narrating front, Michael Angelis stayed on board and it was a pleasure too since he did the job with much more enthusiasm despite the bad writing if you ask me. Michael Brandon, on the other hand, is just the same. No better, no worse. Overall, I think this season deserves an accurate rating of 6.4/10.
Top 10 Episodes:
1. Gordon And The Mechanic/Gordon And The Engineer
2. Hector The Horrid
3. Thomas And The Stinky Cheese
4. Dream On
5. Thomas And The Runaway Car
6. Thomas And The Storyteller
7. Dirty Work
8. Hide And Peep
9. Thomas In Trouble
10. Percy And The Left Luggage
Top 5 Least Favorites:
1. Skarloey Storms Through
2. Sir Handel In Charge
3. Thomas And The Big Bang
4. Don't Be Silly, Billy
5. Smokes And Mirrors
WHAT ARE YOURS?