Thomas and Gordon and Other Stories

Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, later known as Thomas and Gordon and Other Stories, is a UK/AUS/NZ VHS featuring eight first series episodes narrated by Ringo Starr. It was released in Welsh in 1988 with all episodes narrated by John Ogwen. It was re-released in the UK in 1993 as Thomas and the Trucks and Other Stories.

1986 UK/1987 AUS
It's full steam ahead for Thomas, the little blue engine with the short stumpy funnel, short stumpy boiler and short stumpy dome, and his special friends Gordon, Henry, James, Percy, Edward, Toby, Annie and Clarabel the carriages and of course their Boss, the Fat Controller. Now Thomas has a new friend (storyteller Ringo Starr) who says "Thomas is a smashing little engine - he's cheeky and has a mind of his own. Thomas is Number 1 and never lets anyone forget it!"

1988 UK/1989 NZ
It's full steam ahead for Thomas, the little blue engine with the short stumpy funnel, short stumpy boiler and short stumpy dome. Share 8 exciting adventures with Thomas and his friends, Gordon, Henry, James, Percy, Edward, Toby, Annie and Clarabel the carriages and of course their Boss, the Fat Controller. Now Thomas has a new friend (storyteller Ringo Starr) who says "Thomas is a smashing little engine - he's cheeky and has a mind of his own. Thomas is Number 1 and never lets anyone forget it!"

1991 AUS
It's full steam ahead for Thomas, the little blue engine with the short stumpy funnel, short stumpy boiler and short stumpy dome and his special friends Gordon, Henry, James, Percy, Edward, Toby, Annie and Clarabel the carriages, and of course their Boss, the Fat Controller. His friend (storyteller Ringo Starr) says "Thomas is Number 1 and never lets anyone forget it!"

Episodes

 * 1) Thomas and Gordon - Thomas (the little blue engine) is cheeky to Gordon once too often. So the big blue engine decides to give Thomas a lesson he won't forget.
 * 2) Edward and Gordon - Gordon gets stuck up a hill and little Edward helps him out. Gordon rushes away but the Fat Controller is very pleased with Edward.
 * 3) The Sad Story of Henry - Henry is very proud of his shiny coat of paint but one day he discovers that pride comes before a fall!
 * 4) Edward, Gordon and Henry - Disaster strikes Gordon so Edward tries to help. But in the end Henry comes to the rescue.
 * 5) Thomas' Train - Thomas gets a chance to pull his very own train with unexpected results.
 * 6) Thomas and the Trucks - Thomas lands himself in trouble with some silly trucks and gets a warning from the Fat Controller.
 * 7) Thomas and the Breakdown Train - James has trouble with the trucks one day, but Thomas is there to help out. The Fat Controller is so pleased he gives Thomas his own branch line.
 * 8) James and the Coaches - James bangs the coaches by being too rough, and brings the train to a stop. The passengers get home only after a piece of ingenious repair work by the guard.

Trivia

 * This was the first Thomas VHS released in Australia and New Zealand.
 * The 1986 UK and 1987 Australian releases of this video were simply called Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends.
 * The 1988 UK VHS cover featured illustrations by Owen Bell.
 * VCI also released this title on Video 8 (Camcorder format).
 * The back cover of the 1986 UK and 1991 Australian releases feature an image from Trouble in the Shed.
 * The front cover of the 1991 Australian and 1992 New Zealand releases feature an image from Saved from Scrap.
 * The front cover of the 1989 New Zealand release features an cutout image from Thomas and Trevor. The back cover also features a different image from the same episode.
 * The back cover of the 1992 New Zealand release features a heavily cropped image from Percy and Harold.
 * On the 1991 Australian release, the opening shot for the episode Thomas and Gordon is the same one on all of the other odd numbered episodes featured.
 * The cover of the Welsh release features images from Thomas Comes to Breakfast on the front and Duck Takes Charge on the back.
 * The cover of the 1993 UK release features an image from Henry's Forest.
 * On the original 1989 New Zealand release, the audio is muffled on all episodes.
 * The original New Zealand release has two colour bars at the end.
 * Some copies of the original Australian release were unnumbered.
 * Additionally, the 1992 New Zealand Endeavour release is also unnumbered.

Goofs

 * The description mentions Percy and Toby, despite them not appearing in any of the episodes on this release.
 * The episode description for Edward and Gordon states The Fat Controller is very pleased with Edward but it was his driver and fireman who were very pleased.
 * Some copies of the original 1987 Australian release list Thomas' Train as "Thomas's Train" on the back cover.
 * On the original New Zealand release, when Thomas and the Trucks comes to an end the audio pitch changes before going back to normal.
 * On a promotional pamphlet for ABC for Kids videos in 1991, the Australian re-release was listed as "Gordon & Percy".
 * Several errors are present on the 1992 Endeavour release:
 * Several episodes have their intros slightly cut off
 * The audio and footage slow down for a second before reverting back to the original pitch and tempo in several places:
 * When the Britt Allcroft jingle starts at the beginning of the tape.
 * When the opening credits for The Sad Story of Henry and Thomas and the Breakdown Train start.
 * During the end credits after Edward, Gordon and Henry.