Sir Handel (T&F)/Behind the Scenes

Thomas & Friends
In 1995, Sir Handel was introduced in the fourth series of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. The series placed a great focus on the Narrow Gauge characters, with a number of stories from the original books televised. He was first introduced as Falcon on the Mid Sodor Railway and unlike the Railway Series, he kept his dark blue colour when he came to the Skarloey Railway. This was done to help make it easier for the viewer to identify the narrow gauge engines, as all Skarloey Railway steam engines were painted red in the Railway Series (except for Duke.)

After the fourth series, Sir Handel was absent for many years and did not appear again until the tenth series in 2006. This was because a large scale model was not built for Sir Handel for prior series due to budget reasons and they eventually afford to make the model, which was use for Proteus. Upon returning, he adopted a more mature persona compared to his former pompous personality.

When the show transitioned into full CGI in 2009, the narrow gauge engines were absent for three years. Sir Handel later returned in the 2012 special, Blue Mountain Mystery, along with Skarloey, Rheneas, Peter Sam and Rusty. In the CGI series, he has shown that he is patient, humble and kind and is seen frequently working at the Blue Mountain Quarry.

Since his return in 2012, Sir Handel has been voiced by Keith Wickham (who also voices Skarloey) in both the British English and American English dubs of the series. Keith Wickham gives Sir Handel a Welsh accent, reflecting his basis' origins.

"Oldest" Engine?
Sir Handel's introduction page on the Official Website says "one of the oldest engines on the Narrow Gauge Railway". But in reality, Skarloey and Rheneas, built in 1864 and 1865, are the oldest engines on the Skarloey Railway.

As of the ERTL's collector card in 1996, "the oldest engine" was an adjective for Duke. "Brought up under instruction from Duke, the oldest engines."

- Sir Handel's collector card on back of ERTL's package (1996)

In 1997, the character introduction pages "Depot" were released on the Official Website launched by The Britt Allcroft Company. "Brought up under instruction from Duke, Sir Handel is one of the oldest of the engines. Sir Handel is based on a narrow gauge [...] built in England in the 1870s."

- Sir Handel's "Depot" on the Official Website (1997)

This happened because they misunderstood Duke's biography as Sir Handel's.

In 2002, trading card were written with reference to the above wording and came to refer to the entire "Narrow Gauge Railway". "Brought up under instruction from Duke, Sir Handel is one of the oldest engines on the Narrow Gauge Railway."

- The back of Sir Handel's trading card (2002)

In the Thomas and Friends Writers' Bible from March 2003, he is stated to be older than Rusty, Rheneas and Skarloey. "Older than the three pals, Sir Handel is a Royal blue narrow gauge steam engine with a slightly superior attitude. The namesake of the former owner of the railway, he tends to support Duke, the oldest and wisest Narrow Gauge engine. Sir Handel is very friendly and always gives 110%."

- The Thomas and Friends Writers' Bible

In 2005, the explanation about Duke was deleted from Sir Handel's introduction page on the official website. "Sir Handel is one of the oldest engines on the Narrow Gauge Railway."

- Depot on the Official Website (2005)

This description continues to be used after the site refurbishment in 2015 and continues to this day.

O gauge model (Small scale)
Sir Handel's small model was custom built from brass by model maker Peter Eves, to run on O gauge track to the Gauge 1 Scale Standard during production of the fourth series. It was painted using glossy car body paint and lined with red Letraline pin-striping tape. The number and nameplates were custom printed foil stickers.

For the episodes taking place on the Mid Sodor Railway, Sir Handel's nameplates were covered with black tape and overlapped with his Falcon nameplate.

Present Day
After production of the model series wrapped in 2008, most of the models and sets would be put into storage, with some being put on display at Drayton Manor Theme Park. All other models would be logged and referenced in 2009 by HiT Entertainment, from this HiT would decide on which models were to enter storage once again, which would be given to crew members and which to be disposed off. Due to the larger models being more frequently used at the time, Sir Handel's small scale model would be disposed off by the company in favor of the large scale model, which would stay under HiT and later Mattel's ownership.

As of 2018, Sir Handel's small scale model, along with his happy, smiling, grumpy/stern, snarling and neutral faces and nameboard (with the nameboard being supplied by TomsProps) are now owned and preserved by Twitter and Instagram user ThomasTankMerch. In 2019, the model was exhibited at the Edison train show alongside various other props from ThomasTankMerch's collection, additionally Sir Handel's shocked face would be exhibted at the History of Thomas and Awdry Extravaganza and his scared face would be exhibited at the Halloween Clearwater Event and worn on a fan-made replica. In February of 2023 a prototype face for Sir Handel would be listed for sale by The Prop Gallery and sold shortly after.

O gauge model (Large scale)
Unlike most of the narrow gauge engines, Sir Handel's large scale model was not built until 2005 due to financial reasons. The large scale models replaced their small scale counterparts and provided ease of filming and reliability. The Sir Handel model was exclusively used between the tenth to twelfth series. This model was built to a larger scale than the gauge 1 engines and ran on O gauge track. They were close to 16mm scale, but slightly larger.

The model was made from brass. The wheels and chassis were custom machined (CNC). The model was track powered, so pickup contacts were attached to the metal wheels, which ran into the motor to power it. The electricity ran from the track to the wheels/pickup contacts and went into the motor to power him. The model was also fitted with a smoke unit.

The eye mechanism had two servos, one for up and down movement and one for left and right movement. The up/down servo was attached to the body. The left/right servo had a rod attached to the arm, which connected to a bracket. The eye balls were coupled to the bracket and locked in by the face-plate, so whenever the servos were powered, the eye balls would move however the crew member desired.

Sir Handel's large scale model underwent many changes and had differences from its small scale counterpart. These include:
 * Series 10:
 * He slightly increased in size.
 * He received a darker blue livery.
 * His grey trailing wheels and buffers became black.
 * His smokebox, boiler and saddle tanks were raised up and a stand under his smokebox was added.
 * His square buffer housings changed to round ones.
 * His nose was not as pointed.
 * He received a permanent tail lamp.
 * His saddle tank became wider.
 * His eyebrows changed shape.
 * As Sir Handel's whistle on the small scale model broke off prior to 2001, no visible whistle is seen on the large scale model. His whistle sound also changed.
 * Series 11:
 * The sides of his cab openings were blacked-out.
 * Series 12:
 * The sides of his cab were opened-out again.

Present Day
Sir Handel's large scale model is now currently on display at the Hara Model Railway Museum in Japan and is currently wearing his happy face. His shocked face would be exhibited and the History of Thomas and Awdry Extravaganza Events additionally.

Close-up model
A larger scale model of Sir Handel was built in the fourth series. It was required for scenes where he had to interact with the close-up scale figures in or near his cab. Smoke would emit from the whistle and firebox when required.

The cab was made in pieces so it was able to be dismantled and reassembled for use of interior shots if required. Most of the close-up scale models did not have faces seeing as most of the time the models were not complete, on top of the fact the faces would often never need to be seen in this scale.

Unlike both his O gauge models, Sir Handel's front and back cutout windows had glass.

Sir Handel's close-up model only appeared in the fourth series. Though not shown onscreen, Sir Handel's close-up model reused Skarloey's cab controls and firebox.

CGI model
In 2009, the series introduced Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) as a replacement for the show's long-standing live-action models. Sir Handel was recreated from scratch in CGI by Nitrogen Studios in 2010 for production of the 2012 special Blue Mountain Mystery. His model was "hand-sculpted" in Maya, a 3D animation and modelling software.

Photographs of Sir Handel's large scale model were used for referencing. According to Greg Tiernan, every detail of the original television series models for each character is carefully reproduced in the CGI model. The models are subjected to many rounds of review before they are submitted to HiT Entertainment for final input and approval.

In addition, Nitrogen Studios went to the Talyllyn Railway and took measurements of Sir Handel's basis, Sir Haydn, so that his CGI model would resemble Sir Haydn as closely as possible.

Sir Handel has had modifications throughout the CGI era. These include:
 * Blue Mountain Mystery:
 * His blue livery became a more vibrant shade than it was in the tenth series.
 * He received grey buffers and trailing wheels.
 * His buffer housings became square again and more accurate to his basis.
 * A visible whistle was added.
 * Dark brass handrails along his saddle tank were added.
 * His cutout windows gained brass frames and contained glass.
 * His lubricating boxes gained lids on top and brass taps on the sides.
 * His tail lamp was positioned higher and changed to a removable Talyllyn-styled lamp.
 * He received sanding gear under his cab.
 * Rivets were added to his bufferbeam and cab.
 * He gained angle brackets on the back of his cab.
 * He received black siderod guards.
 * He received brass pipes under his saddle tank.
 * Series 18:
 * Permanent lamp and lamp irons were added.
 * Series 20:
 * His trailing wheels and saddle tank hand rails became silver (or more reflective).

The following pantone colours are used on Sir Handel's CGI model:

Voice Actors

 * Keith Wickham
 * Naoki Tatsuta
 * Bunkō Ogata
 * Shōto Kashii
 * Daniel Montoya
 * Marcus Just
 * Kai-Hendrik Möller
 * Jan Kulczycki
 * Paul Disbergen
 * Nir Ron
 * Per Skjøldsvik
 * Helge Winther Larsen
 * Miguel Ángel Leal
 * Gustavo Carrillo
 * Fernando Castro
 * Alexander Kotov
 * Prokhor Chekhovskoy
 * Taisto Oksanen
 * Loukas Frangoulis