Thomas & Friends series 9

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

Thomas & Friends
Series 9
DVD cover art
No. of episodes	26
Release
Original network	Nick Jr.
Original release	5 September (2005-09-05) – 28 November 2005 (2005-11-28)
Series chronology

This article lists and details episodes from the ninth series of the show, which was first broadcast in 2005. This series was narrated by Michael Angelis for the United Kingdom audiences, while Michael Brandon narrated the episodes for the United States audiences.

Some episodes in this series have two titles: the original titles from the United Kingdom broadcasts are shown on top, while the American-adapted titles are shown underneath.

Production

The 30-minute episode format was unchanged from Series 8.

Starting in this series, at the beginning of each half hour segment that aired in the United States, the characters' numbers would appear on their cabs and tenders, counting down from Henry, to Edward, and to Thomas. Then, the workmen would get Thomas ready for the new day and Thomas' driver would signal the workmen that Thomas was ready by blowing Thomas' whistle. Thomas would soon be ready to start his adventures. Towards the end of each show, the countdown would begin again, and Thomas would return to the station. The workmen would get Thomas ready for the next day, and Thomas would go to sleep with a sleeping cap on his funnel. In later seasons broadcast in the United States, these segments were shortened to accommodate a plug for Lego's Duplo line of toys.

Series 9 started filming in early 2005, and Sharon Miller began serving as script editor for this series.

Episodes

Main article: List of Thomas & Friends episodes

No. overall	No. in series	UK title (top) Main title (middle) US title (bottom)	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	TV Order
209	1	"Percy and the Oil Painting"	Steve Asquith	Abi Grant	5 September 2005 (2005-09-05)	201a
Percy shows a famous artist around Sodor to inspire his next painting, "The Spirit of Sodor", but the famous artist does not think any of Percy's places are special.
210	2	"Thomas and the Rainbow"	Steve Asquith	Abi Grant	5 September 2005 (2005-09-05)	201b
Thomas is assigned to collect engineers to repair the telephone lines. At the docks, Thomas sees a rainbow, and Edward tells him about how there is supposedly something magical at the end. Thomas goes out of his way to try and find the end of the rainbow to see what is magical there, but no matter where he goes, the end of the rainbow always seems to move. Thomas also ignores his job and his friends' warnings to slow down, which leads to him hitting a telephone pole and derailing. After Harvey rescues him, Thomas gives up chasing the end of the rainbow, and finishes his job. When Thomas arrives back at Tidmouth Sheds, he finds that his friends are at the end of the rainbow.
211	3	"Thomas' Milkshake Muddle"	Steve Asquith	Marc Seal	12 September 2005 (2005-09-12)	202a
Thomas has to take milk churns for cakes and ice cream to the bakery, but he completely forgets about going slowly as he speeds past Emily, making it almost butter.
212	4	"Mighty Mac"	Steve Asquith	Paul Larson	12 September 2005 (2005-09-12)	202b
A new double-ended engine called Mighty and Mac (Mighty Mac) arrives. They argue about their path on the way to the campsite, and wind up lost.
213	5	"Molly's Special Special"	Steve Asquith	Paul Larson	19 September 2005 (2005-09-19)	203a
To help a new powerful, yellow mixed-traffic tender engine called Molly feel special, Thomas has her empty trucks covered to make the others think she is pulling a very important load.
214	6	"Respect for Gordon"	Steve Asquith	James Mason	19 September 2005 (2005-09-19)	203b
Gordon's firebox is rattling, and the other engines are teasing him over it. Soon, Gordon gets fed up with this and decides to start extorting the other engines for respect by cutting in front of James at the water tower, acting rude to Percy at the station, and ordering the other engines to politely toot their whistles whenever they see him. This backfires when Gordon gets angry over Emily not tooting at him, which leads to him getting into an accident with jam tankers. Gordon is sent for repairs, and Emily and Henry fill in as the Express engines. However, the engines soon begin to miss Gordon, and once Gordon is mended, he apologises to the other engines for his actions, finally earning their respect.
215	7	"Thomas and the Birthday Picnic"	Steve Asquith	Sharon Miller	26 September 2005 (2005-09-26)	204a
Thomas is given the job of taking the Fat Controller, his wife and his visiting mother for a birthday picnic, but his ideas for picnic spots do not work out.
216	8	"Tuneful Toots"	Steve Asquith	Sharon Miller	26 September 2005 (2005-09-26)	204b
Rusty is excited about taking the brass band on a tour of the Island before a big concert. But he has so much fun, he winds up going too far and running out of diesel oil.
217	9	"Thomas and the Toy Shop" "Thomas and the Toy Workshop"	Steve Asquith	James Mason	3 October 2005 (2005-10-03)	205a
Thomas gets himself into trouble on an icy hill when he offers to take the last load of toys to the new toy shop, pick up the children from school when Emily breaks down, and Henry gets stranded at the docks.
218	10	"Rheneas and the Dinosaur"	Steve Asquith	Paul Larson	3 October 2005 (2005-10-03)	205b
When a dinosaur skeleton is discovered, Skarloey and Rheneas want to deliver it. But Skarloey is not careful enough, so Rheneas sets out to pull the dinosaur alone.
219	11	"Thomas and the New Engine"	Steve Asquith	Marc Seal	10 October 2005 (2005-10-10)	206a
The other engines spread rumours about a new tender engine called Neville, but when he gets in trouble with Annie and Clarabel on a broken bridge, Thomas must come to his rescue.
220	12	"Toby Feels Left Out"	Steve Asquith	Simon A. Brown	10 October 2005 (2005-10-10)	206b
The engines are all getting repaints for the grand opening of a museum – all except Toby, who is now under the belief that he is being put in the museum.
221	13	"Thomas Tries His Best"	Steve Asquith	James Mason	17 October 2005 (2005-10-17)	207a
Thomas is worried that if he waits too long for Farmer McColl and his chickens, he will not make it in time to see the fair. When he finally leaves, he goes very fast with the chickens.
222	14	"The Magic Lamp"	Steve Asquith	Sharon Miller	17 October 2005 (2005-10-17)	207b
Peter Sam thinks Skarloey's story about Proteus and his magic lamp is rubbish, until he actually encounters some of the clues from the story.
223	15	"Thomas and the Statue"	Steve Asquith	Marc Seal	24 October 2005 (2005-10-24)	208a
When a statue to represent the Sodor Railway arrives, Thomas thinks it is of himself, and his newly-enlarged ego aggravates the other engines.
224	16	"Henry and the Flagpole"	Steve Asquith	Paul Larson	24 October 2005 (2005-10-24)	208b
Salty accidentally runs over the flagpole that Henry was supposed to deliver. And if he cannot find a replacement, they might cut down his favourite tree to use instead.
225	17	"Emily Knows Best"	Steve Asquith	Marc Seal	31 October 2005 (2005-10-31)	209a
Emily wants to be in charge of the engines, but must admit her mistake when Percy and Mavis collide at a junction.
226	18	"Thomas' Day Off"	Steve Asquith	Sharon Miller	31 October 2005 (2005-10-31)	209b
A lazy diesel called Dennis has just arrived, and he does not want to work on his first day, so he tricks Thomas on his day off from all his hard work.
227	19	"Thomas' New Trucks"	Steve Asquith	Paul Larson	7 November 2005 (2005-11-07)	210a
Thomas and James are both given new sets of trucks, and they have a competition on who can keep their trucks clean the longest. However, Thomas' trucks repeatedly get dirty on purpose. When Thomas is delivering coal to the docks, he learns that his trucks would rather be useful than clean, so he decides not to keep them clean anymore. They give him no trouble on the way to the docks, and when the dock manager promises to try and keep Thomas' trucks clean, Thomas states that he does not mind. Just then, James comes by with his trucks and gloats over his victory before trying to leave, but his trucks no longer want to stay clean, and they hold him back. At that moment, Cranky unintentionally drops a huge crate of melons on James, dousing him and his trucks in melon juice. Thomas then informs James that trucks prefer to be useful rather than clean, and all the trucks laughingly agree, much to James' embarrassment.
228	20	"Duncan and the Old Mine"	Steve Asquith	James Mason	7 November 2005 (2005-11-07)	210b
Duncan is desperate for adventure, so he heads down a disused track. It leads to a mineshaft, and he accidentally knocks its roof down as he enters, trapping himself.
229	21	"Bold and Brave"	Steve Asquith	James Mason	14 November 2005 (2005-11-14)	211a
Diesel warns Thomas of the "Curse of the Cliffs", just before he is supposed to cross the cliff. But Diesel has also scared Ben with a story that turned out false.
230	22	"Skarloey the Brave"	Steve Asquith	Paul Larson	14 November 2005 (2005-11-14)	211b
Skarloey runs away when some trucks rampage down the incline. He wants to prove that he can be brave, so he gets himself pulled up the steep incline.
231	23	"Saving Edward"	Steve Asquith	James Mason	21 November 2005 (2005-11-21)	212a
Edward starts to wheeze steam when he works, and fears that the Fat Controller will scrap him. Thomas tries to cover for him, but might just worsen the situation.
232	24	"Thomas and the Golden Eagle"	Steve Asquith	Abi Grant	21 November 2005 (2005-11-21)	212b
Thomas sacrifices his chances to see one of Sodor's most rarest birds to help Percy when he breaks down after offering to do Thomas' work as well as his own.
233	25	"Keeping Up with James"	Steve Asquith	Abi Grant	28 November 2005 (2005-11-28)	213a
It is winter on the Island and James wants to be the first to finish his jobs so he can deliver the presents train. James is assigned to work with Edward, but James thinks Edward is too slow, and he ignores Edward's warnings to be careful on the icy tracks. As a result of his rushing, James derails and crashes into a snowdrift. The Fat Controller allows James to deliver the presents train on the condition he promises to go slowly and become Edward's back engine.
234	26	"Flour Power"	Steve Asquith	Abi Grant	28 November 2005 (2005-11-28)	213b
It is Halloween, and Thomas is assigned to collect flour from the mill and deliver it to the bakery, but to his dismay, he has to work with Diesel. Diesel, being the bully that he is, teases Thomas in the meanest possible fashion, while Thomas tries to ignore him. At the flour mill, Thomas gets back at Diesel by covering himself in flour and pretending to be a ghost. Thomas finishes his job on his own, and the Fat Controller rewards him with a special washdown.

Characters

Main article: List of Thomas & Friends characters

Introduced

• Molly
• Neville
• Dennis
• Mighty Mac
• Mr. Percival (The Thin Controller)
• Proteus (does not speak)

Recurring cast

• Thomas
• Edward
• Henry
• Gordon
• James
• Percy
• Toby
• Emily
• Bill and Ben
• Harvey
• Diesel
• Mavis
• 'Arry and Bert
• Salty
• Skarloey
• Rheneas
• Peter Sam
• Rusty
• Duncan
• Troublesome Trucks
• Annie and Clarabel
• Bertie
• Trevor
• Harold
• Cranky
• The Fat Controller
• Sodor Brass Band
• Dowager Hatt (not named in US dub)
• Lady Hatt (does not speak)
• Farmer McColl (does not speak)
• The Mayor of Sodor (does not speak)
• Henrietta (cameo)
• George (cameo)
• Caroline (cameo)
• Butch (cameo)
• Tiger Moth (cameo)
• Stephen Hatt (cameo)
• Bridget Hatt (cameo)
• Mrs. Kyndley (cameo)
• The Refreshment Lady (cameo)
• Lord Callan (cameo)
• City of Truro (picture cameo)
• Cyril the Fogman (indirectly mentioned)