Drama
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Captain Pike finally gets his time in the Star Trek spotlight, but his story is one filled with tragedy and foreboding.
If only trains could talk. Oh, wait—Thomas and his friends can!
Thomas & Friends, based on The Railway Series books by Rev. W. Awdry, made its first onscreen appearance in October 1984 after two failed attempts at bringing the now-famous train’s story to life. Britt Allcroft Productions successfully negotiated the rights, immediately going to work on developing the show. (Also worth noting: The pilot for the series, Episode 0, was filmed in April 1983, but only recently released to fans for the first time in May 2025. And the show’s original title, Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, was officially shortened to Thomas & Friends in 2003.)
Thomas and his fellow locomotive friends work on the British-flavored Island of Sodor along the Northwestern Railway, owned by Sir Topham Hatt. And each of the main characters here has a particular trait that sets them apart from the rest. Gordan is the biggest engine on the railway.
Henry’s the green, mixed-traffic engine who’s afraid of rain. Edward, meanwhile, is the kindest engine on the tracks. And red-painted James proudly chugs down the tracks. Thomas, for his part, can be a bit immature and whiny in early seasons, but he grows into a kinder, more helpful train in later seasons.
This animated show’s enduring popularity now spans 24 seasons, as well as multiple movies and various videogames. This famous blue train has since become a household classic in many homes—both on the screen and, of course, as a beloved railway construction toy.
The original show follows Thomas and his friends as they travel along the tracks across the Island of Sodor; transporting passengers from station to station; working hard to please Sir Topham Hatt the railway controller; and trying to evade the troublesome freight cars’ jokes.
With a narrator (originally Ringo Starr, then George Carlin) sharing the events of Thomas’ and his friends’ journeys along the railway, these 5-minute episodes focus on a challenge to overcome or a lesson to learn. The conflicts that characters face also tend to provoke different emotional reactions from Thomas and his friends, and the trains have to learn to navigate those feelings, too.
Still, if lessons are quickly learned, they are often just as quickly forgotten by the time the next episode rolls around. Thomas is often impatient, leaving something behind at the station or not listening to his driver and heeding advice from his fellow trains. Parents may find Thomas’ self-centeredness to be a bit tedious at times. But his character flaws often mirror the developmental issues children face as well, and they could lead to some constructive conversations between intentional parents and young fans.
Pride is a recurring struggle throughout the series. The other trains—Gordan, Henry, Edward and James—can be very proud of their coat of paint, for instance. They might think of themselves as the hardest working and most important train in the railway. Other issues include teasing between the trains, as well as name-calling (“lazy bones,” “red monster,” “stupid” and “ditch water”), and getting so caught up in competition that they miss their stop because they were playing jokes on other engines.
But the trains also try to help each other. And that helpful impulse serves to balance out the trains’ more selfish misbehavior. Characters make mistakes, but they’re continually learning about what it means to be a good train, too, as they work with one another to make sure each train gets to its intended destination.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
In this original pilot episode, Thomas teases the big train, Gordon, about smelling like ditch water. Thomas thinks he’s pretty clever—until he dismisses a warning sign near the mines, ends up in trouble and suddenly needs Gordon’s help.
Also of note: Sir Topham Hatt’s name in UK-aired episodes was quite a bit more mean-spirited: Fat Controller. But the kinder, gentler name was chosen for American audiences.
Gordan, the biggest train in the station, is tired of hearing Thomas’ boasts that “he’s the hardest worker” and that “no one works harder than he does.” That behavior, combined with all of the teasing and name-calling that Thomas does, pushes Gordon over the edge. So he decides it’s time to play a trick on Thomas, teaching the self-centered blue train an important lesson: “You don’t have to tease to feel important.”
Edward, a small blue train, gets teased by the other trains of the station for his size. Gordan, specifically boasts how his size is far superior to Edward’s. (And that illustrates how an important lesson learned one minute is nowhere to be seen just one episode later.
It’s not hard to spot where a plot point like this one is headed: When Gordan, tugging a load of freight cars, is unable to pull them up a hill, Edward comes to help push the cars up over the hill to successfuly make the delivery.
Henry, a big green train, loves his green coat of paint and doesn’t want it to be ruined by the elements. So, when it begins to rain, Henry hides under the train tunnel and refuses to come out.
Sir Topham Hatt comes by shortly thereafter. and after directing the passengers and crew to push and pull Henry out (with no success), they decide to leave Henry in the tunnel, where he’s off the rails and now stuck. Henry is left to watch the other trains chug along from under his tunnel.
Near Henry’s tunnel, Gordan pulls his express line too fast and bursts his safety valve.
The other trains are unable to help, with the only one left to assist is Henry. But Henry must first learn to ask for help out of the tunnel and conquer his fear of the rain.
Thomas complains about moving all of the coach cars around the main station. The other trains say he is too impatient. Thomas gets his chance to deliver coach cars along Henry’s branch line—an important assignment for him.
In the excitement of filling in for Henry, though, Thomas leaves without the coach cars, ignoring his driver. So he must turn back to retrieve them, at the expense of teasing from his fellow trains.
Thomas complains that his work is not exciting and wants to “see the world.” Edward gives Thomas a chance to pull freight cars.
Thomas, ignoring Edward’s warning about the freight cars’ tricks, finds himself missing his stops along his route.
Freight cars enjoy causing trouble. Here, they push James to chug too fast down a hill, causing him to jump the rails and crash.
Thomas is called to bring the tools needed to pull James and the freight cars out of the ditch.
James does not want to repeat his accident. But he still won’t listen to how he should pull the coach cars. No surprise: He ultimatley makes various mistakes, ruining his brakes. He even gets a scolding from Sir Topham Hatt.
James gets teased for his past mistakes pulling coach cars, and he’ given the assignment of pulling freight cars instead. But he must still overcome the freight cars’ tricks and comments (“You can’t do it. Give up!”) to successfully traverse his newly assigned route.
Natalie Dean is Plugged In’s 2025 Summer Intern. A native from South Dakota, she recently graduated from South Dakota State University with a degree in Journalism and in the fall will be pursuing a master’s at Liberty University. Growing up in the Black Hills, Natalie enjoys spending her time outside, whether that be riding bikes or kayaking with her sisters, walking the dogs or going on long hikes. Her love for movie soundtracks stems from her sister asking, “what movie is this from” and “name the movie scene.” She has a passion for writing and hopes to one day be a published author.
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