Jack and the Sodor Construction Company

Jack and the Sodor Construction Company, also known as Jack and the Pack, is a mini-series devised by Phil Fehrle as a spin-off of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. The miniseries lasted thirteen episodes and featured the narration from Michael Angelis in the UK and Michael Brandon in the US.

Production
Plans for a spinoff series were developed in 2001 shortly after Thomas and the Magic Railroad. The original plan was to focus on pre-existing road going characters like Bertie and Harold. This plan was changed after a marketing meeting.

In a SiF interview, Phil Fehrle explained:

Plans for this mini-series were soon scrapped following Gullane Entertainment was acquired by HiT Entertainment in 2002, likely due to it being "considered too similar to Bob the Builder," the company's existing construction-themed series. According to Abi Grant, it "proved far too expensive to continue." Twenty-six episodes were planned, but only half of the series was filmed due to the takeover and budget constraints. The characters of the Sodor Construction Company (with the exception of Patrick, Buster, Nelson, and Monty) first appeared in two sixth series episodes, Jack Jumps In and A Friend in Need, which were written as the pilot episodes for the mini-series. On 15 August 2006, a US DVD called On Site with Thomas and Other Adventures was released, containing six episodes of the series. Later, on 2 October of that same year, a UK DVD called Thomas' Trusty Friends was released, containing eleven episodes of the series, including all the remaining ones that had not yet been released. Since then, The Pack has made appearances in The Great Discovery special and the twelfth series episode, Percy and the Bandstand.

Jack returned in CGI form in the 2013 special King of the Railway and appeared again in the second 2015 special Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, in which Alfie, Oliver, Max and Monty also returned. They have since become recurring characters, and starting with the twenty-third series, new members Darcy and Brenda were introduced to add some gender balance just like the addition of Nia and Rebecca to the Steam Team in the previous series.

For this series, large-scale models of Thomas, Percy and Trevor were built. As of 2020, Thomas and Percy's Gauge 3.5 models are now on display in Japan at Uesugi Museum (formerly on display at Thomas Town; occasionally display at the Hara Model Railway Museum). They were built during production of Series 5. Trevor is preserved to Twitter user ThomasTankMerch. They also own a 7 plank truck that was used during the show's production. However, Thomas' Gauge 3.5 model had made appearances in the eighth series episodes Fish and Gordon Takes Charge, a Calling All Engines! Learning Segment, and two tenth series episodes Thomas' Frosty Friend and Topped Off Thomas. Trevor's model for this series had also appeared in a Learning Segment, the eighth series episode Thomas and the Tuba and the ninth series episode Henry and the Flagpole.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Percy
 * Jack
 * Alfie
 * Oliver the Excavator
 * Max
 * Kelly
 * Byron
 * Ned
 * Isobella
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Jenny Packard
 * The Foreman
 * The Ffarquhar Policeman
 * Henry
 * The Photographer
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Toby
 * Salty
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Trevor
 * Jem Cole
 * Edward
 * Emily
 * Harvey
 * Mavis
 * 'Arry and Bert
 * Skarloey
 * Rheneas
 * Peter Sam
 * Rusty
 * Duncan
 * Henrietta
 * Troublesome Trucks
 * Bertie
 * Elizabeth
 * Harold
 * Tiger Moth
 * Cranky
 * Stephen Hatt
 * Sodor Brass Band
 * Big Mickey
 * The Horrid Lorries
 * Nigel
 * The Vicar of Wellsworth

Characters Introduced

 * Nelson
 * Monty
 * Patrick the Cement Mixer
 * Buster
 * Dryaw FC Coach
 * The Experts
 * The Piano Lady
 * The One-eyed Truck
 * The Loader

Locations

 * Island of Sodor
 * Cronk
 * Dryaw FC
 * Maithwaite
 * Maithwaite Crossing
 * Maithwaite Forest
 * The Lightning Tree
 * Rail Under Road Bridge and Stone Wall
 * Sodor Construction Company Yard
 * Sodor Dairy
 * Sodor Racetrack
 * The Brickworks
 * The Community Centre Construction Site
 * The Library Building Site
 * The Repair Yard
 * The Warehouse
 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Tidmouth Engine Works
 * The Watermill
 * Tower Windmill
 * Maithwaite Village Duck Pond
 * Henry's Tunnel

Trivia

 * This series is called by several titles;
 * "Jack & the Sodor Construction Company" on the ending credits for Jack Jumps In and A Friend in Need, the sixth series episodes.
 * "Jack and the Pack" on the storyboards and production crew's websites.
 * "HiT Entertainment Plc “Jack”" on the production board.
 * "Helpful Harry & Friends.
 * This series takes place between the main show's seventh and eighth series and was filmed during the classic era alongside the seventh series in 2003, but was released in the summer between the ninth and tenth series during the HiT era.
 * This mini-series, if classified as a series in its own right, is the shortest series to date, having only thirteen episodes.
 * Lots of the episodes had different titles, but they were renamed by HiT Entertainment to include "Thomas" or "Percy". In fact, only four episodes kept their original titles.
 * This is the second series directed by Steve Asquith, following the sixth series (in production order).
 * This is the first series produced by Phil Fehrle and Gullane Entertainment since the seventh series.
 * The opening and closing credits for the spin-off series use the seventh series intro sequence and credit scene in the UK and the eighth series one in the US and AUS.
 * Percy's gauge 3.5 model for this series has red step ladders on the end of his running board instead of green, and his dome is green instead of gold.
 * The Official Website, as well as various magazine articles and Trading Cards' facts, state that the Horrid Lorries were "especially built to work at the Sodor Construction Company". It is therefore possible that they may have been originally intended to be a part of the Pack.
 * This is the only series to feature Alfie's horn sound.
 * This was David Mitton's second and final series as model consultant, counting the sixth series episodes, Jack Jumps In and A Friend in Need.
 * If this spin-off is classified as a series, then this the only series in which where Gordon, James, Henry, Toby and Salty appear, but never speak since their introductions.
 * Also, if that being the case, this is the only series in which where Toby does not appear outside of stock footage, as well as the only series where Edward and Emily do not appear since their introductions.
 * This is also the last series since the main show's eighth series and special, Calling All Engines!, to use stock footage either directed by David Mitton or produced by Gullane Entertainment before his death two years later.
 * Also, this is the last series since the main show's seventh series to use stock footage produced by Clearwater Features.
 * This series was never shown in Wales (in Welsh), Latin America, Spain, Brazil, Portugal, France, Romania, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Russia, Greece, Albania, Turkey, Israel, the Middle East, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, South Korea, China, Taiwan or Hong Kong.
 * In fact, the episodes Jack Owns Up and Percy's Scary Tale were never shown in Australia, the Netherlands and Germany and are UK and US exclusives.
 * A temporary Japanese title is displayed in the ending credit of 2003, probably because it was planned to be released in Japan; for unknown reasons, however, plans had been cancelled.
 * Monty is the only character introduced in this series to be in full CGI.
 * Mike O'Donnell stated on YouTube that he and Junior Campbell had recorded music to be used the series. However when the series was released on DVD, new music by Robert Hartshorne was used instead. It is unknown why this was, but it is likely done to make the series more in-line with the new episodes at the time.