Series 12

The twelfth series of Thomas & Friends aired in September 2008 in the UK and from October to December 2008 in the US. It was narrated by Michael Angelis in the UK and Michael Brandon in the US. It was also the first animated in CGI, using a mixture of both CGI and live-action models.

Production
The twelfth series marked the beginning of the show's transition into CGI. HiT Entertainment was originally keen on producing more model/CGI series but the plans fell through because of low finances and budget cuts in the UK.

The characters' faces were animated through CGI with the aid of motion-capture animation. The physical models' moulded faces were replaced by white targets with triangles to fix a computer-animated face in post-production. The character's resin faces were only used in background shots or scenes where it was difficult to animate.

It was the first series to utilize CGI elements, with the vehicles' faces being animated in CGI and other characters being fully CGI animated. There are twenty episodes in this series and all were narrated by Michael Angelis in the UK and Michael Brandon in the US. Pierce Brosnan was originally meant to narrate this series in both English dubs, but ultimately Angelis and Brandon returned.

During production of this series, Toby received two new brass models due to his original plastic model being twenty-four years old at this point. Emily also had new model built as a backup model. For unknown reasons, this model did not have brake-pipe outlets. It would be used in the Brendam Docks scene in the episode, Steady Eddie, the Knapford scene in the episode, Rosie's Funfair Special and in the episode, Excellent Emily.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Toby
 * Duck
 * Donald and Douglas
 * Oliver
 * Emily
 * Ben
 * Murdoch
 * Neville
 * Rosie
 * Whiff
 * Stanley
 * Diesel
 * Mavis
 * Salty
 * Skarloey
 * Rheneas
 * Sir Handel
 * Peter Sam
 * Rusty
 * Duncan
 * Freddie
 * Troublesome Trucks
 * Toad
 * Hector
 * Bertie
 * Jack
 * Harold
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Lady Hatt
 * Mr. Percival
 * The Photographer
 * Dusty Miller
 * Alice
 * The Dairy Manager
 * The Dairy Employees
 * Mighty Mac
 * Stepney
 * Harvey
 * Arthur
 * 'Arry and Bert
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Henrietta
 * Rocky
 * Trevor
 * Alfie
 * Jeremy
 * Cranky
 * Dowager Hatt
 * Miss Jenny
 * Farmer McColl
 * Sodor Brass Band
 * Mrs. Percival
 * The Dockyard Manager
 * Three Members of the Railway Board
 * The Percival Children
 * Bulgy
 * Monty
 * Farmer Trotter
 * Cyril the Fogman
 * Sir Topham Hatt's Assistants
 * Märklin Engine
 * City of Truro
 * Big Mickey
 * Proteus
 * The Mayor of Sodor
 * Molly
 * Dennis

Characters Introduced

 * Hank
 * Flora
 * Colin
 * The Blond-haired Engineer
 * The Bargeman
 * The Balloon Repairman
 * Mr. Giggles
 * Miss Mary Marvel
 * The Tree Specialists
 * The Fireman
 * The Schoolchildren
 * The Ginger-haired Boy
 * The Blond-haired Boy
 * The Teacher
 * The Welsh Bird Watcher
 * The Female Puppet Show Entertainer
 * Sodor Tramway Engines

Locations

 * Island of Sodor
 * Arlesdale End
 * Toby's Shed
 * Brendam Docks
 * Brendam Warehouse
 * Sodor Shipping Company
 * Cabalnoo
 * Crosby Washdown
 * Dryaw School
 * Gordon's Hill
 * Great Waterton
 * The Water Works
 * Green Hills Junction
 * Henry's Forest
 * Sodor Wishing Tree
 * Hillside Mill
 * Knapford
 * Knapford Yards
 * M.C. Bunn
 * Maithwaite
 * Maithwaite Village Duck Pond
 * Maron
 * McColl Farm
 * Mountain Village Station
 * Percival Pond
 * Skarloey Coal Yard
 * Sodor Airport
 * Sodor Dairy
 * Sodor Ironworks
 * Sodor River Bridge
 * Sodor Slate Quarry
 * Stone Bridge over Narrow Gauge Runby
 * The Depot
 * Mr. Percival's House
 * The Forest Track
 * The Hay Farm
 * The Lumber Mill
 * The Man in the Hills
 * The Repair Yard
 * The Repair Yard
 * The Showgrounds
 * The Transfer Yards
 * The Wharf
 * The Workmen's Halt
 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Tidmouth Engine Works
 * Tidmouth Goods Station
 * Tidmouth Tunnel
 * Tower Windmill
 * Whispering Woods
 * Black Loch
 * Sodor Bakery
 * Rail Under Road Bridge and Signalbox
 * Great Waterton Tram Shed
 * Henry's Tunnel
 * High Farm
 * Hill Farm
 * Shen Valley
 * The Coaling Plant
 * Wellsworth
 * Whiff's Waste Dump

Half Hour Format
When the twelfth series was airing on Nick Jr. in the UK and Ireland, PBS Kids in the US and Treehouse TV in Canada, each broadcast had two episodes from the twelfth series, a segment called "Thomas' Favourite Friends", which was dedicated to one of Thomas' friends and past animated learning segments and songs from the eighth, ninth and tenth series.

Good Friends

 * Best Friends
 * Learning Segment: Dot to Dot - Emily
 * Song: H is for Harold
 * Thomas' Favo(u)rite Friends - Rosie and Molly
 * Learning Segment: What is Henry Thinking of?
 * Henry Gets it Wrong

Being Careful

 * Thomas and the Billboard
 * Learning Segment: Guess the Engine - Percy
 * Learning Segment: Who Should Take the Telegraph Pole?
 * Thomas' Favo(u)rite Friends - Toby
 * Learning Segment: Which Way Should Thomas and Emily Go?
 * Learning Segment: Which Whistle Suits Thomas?
 * Steady Eddie

Good Turns

 * Heave Ho Thomas!
 * Learning Segment: Guess the Engine - James
 * Song: Pride (alternate cut)
 * Thomas' Favo(u)rite Friends - Henry
 * Learning Segment: Job Destinations - Gordon, Mavis and Percy
 * Toby's Special Surprise

Right Track

 * Don't Go Back
 * Learning Segment: Dot to Dot - Gordon
 * Learning Segment: Over the Bridge
 * Thomas' Favo(u)rite Friends - Gordon
 * Learning Segment: Which Track for Henry?
 * Learning Segment: Emily Huffs Out of the Station
 * Percy and the Bandstand

Courage

 * Thomas Puts the Brakes On
 * Learning Segment: Guess the Engine - Emily
 * Song: Brave
 * Thomas' Favo(u)rite Friends - Neville and Dennis
 * Learning Segment: Job Destinations - Thomas, Toby and James
 * Gordon Takes a Shortcut

Presents and Prizes

 * The Man in the Hills
 * Learning Segment: Dot to Dot - Edward
 * Learning Segment: What is Thomas Thinking of?
 * Thomas' Favo(u)rite Friends - Harold and Jeremy
 * Learning Segment: Which Load to Which Station?
 * Excellent Emily

Kindness

 * Tram Trouble
 * Learning Segment: Dot to Dot - Toby
 * Song: Responsibility
 * Thomas' Favo(u)rite Friends - Edward
 * Learning Segment: Getting to the Washdown
 * James Works it Out

Pulling Together

 * Rosie's Funfair/Carnival Special
 * Learning Segment: Dot to Dot - Percy
 * Song: Togetherness
 * Thomas' Favourite Friends - Diesel
 * Learning Segment: Which Load for Which Party?
 * Push Me, Pull You

Adventures

 * Duncan and the Hot Air Balloon
 * Learning Segment: Dot to Dot - Thomas
 * Learning Segment: What Does Toby See?
 * Thomas' Favo(u)rite Friends - The Narrow Gauge Engines'''
 * Learning Segment: Percy's Treasure
 * Mountain Marvel

Mistakes

 * Saved You!
 * Learning Segment: Guess the Engine - Gordon
 * Song: Doing it Right
 * Thomas' Favo(u)rite Friends - Percy
 * Learning Segment: Surprise Destinations
 * The Party Surprise

Trivia

 * Nitrogen Studios were first approached by HiT Entertainment to work on the show in June 2007 and began production on this series in November that year. Additionally, according to writer Andrew Viner's website, the episode Rosie's Funfair Special was commissioned/written in 2007. Every episode is copyrighted 2008.
 * The face reference book for this series is now owned by Twitter user TomsProps. It was released on 9 November 2007.
 * It cost around £2.5 million to produce all 20 episodes, with a filming cost of about £1,000 an hour, which took the crew about five days to film each episode.
 * This was the first series of several things:
 * The first series where all engines' faces, human characters, animals and environmental surroundings are in full CGI and have animation.
 * Sharon Miller's first series as head writer.
 * Claire Waxler's first series as supervising producer, albeit uncredited, while being her first and only series as animation coordinator.
 * The first series to be in 1080p progressive scan full high definition.
 * The first series to have twenty episodes.
 * The first series where James does not go to the Skarloey Railway with Thomas.
 * The first series produced and to contain CGI by Nitrogen Studios.
 * The first HiT series recorded and edited in 25 FPS (aside from the end credits).
 * The first Thomas & Friends production since Thomas and the Magic Railroad in which humans and animals are shown walking onscreen.
 * The first and only series where James speaks in two episodes until the fifteenth series.
 * The first series since ninth series in which Spencer does not appear.
 * The first series to premiere on Milkshake! before the half hour airings on Nick Jr. in the UK.
 * The first series since their debuts where 'Arry, Rocky and Max appear, but do not speak in any of their appearances.
 * The first series where Stephen Hatt does not appear.
 * The first series to have Mark Robertson write episodes for the series.
 * The first series in which Molly, Billy, Madge and Butch do not appear since their debuts. Although, Molly does appear in a learning segment and Butch appears in a behind-the-scenes shot.
 * The first series where each of the characters has their own voices in Italy, Poland and for EBS in South Korea.
 * The first series where Ffarquhar Quarry does not appear.
 * The first series not dubbed in Norwegian since the seventh series.
 * The first series not dubbed in European Spanish, European Portuguese, Romanian, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Hungarian, Russian and Greek.
 * The first series to have two Korean dubs since the fifth series.
 * The first series aired by EBS after the tenth series in South Korea.
 * The first series recorded and mixed in Korean by POPES for EBS in South Korea.
 * The first series directed by Ji Min-jeong for EBS in South Korea.
 * The first series translated by Jin Deok-joo for EBS in South Korea.
 * The first series to have Shin Yong-u, Um Sang-hyun, Jeon Tae-yeol, Oh Byeong-jo and Kim Eun-a as part of the voice cast for EBS in South Korea.
 * The first series that released completely on DVD since the tenth series in South Korea.
 * The first series to have two dubs since the fifth series in South Korea.
 * The first series that not aired on JimJam (except for Italy) and Minimax until the twenty-first series.
 * The first series since the first to be entirely dubbed in French.
 * The first series aired by Italia 1 and Cartoonito in Italy.
 * The first series not released on DVD in Nordic countries.
 * This was also the last series of several things as well:
 * The last series to use live-action models and resin faces, however, the resin faces were used in background shots and scenes where objects obscured the faces.
 * The last series to feature Thomas' shocked face without the bucktooth before the subsequent transition to CGI.
 * Simon Spencer's last series as producer and showrunner.
 * The last series filmed at Shepperton Studios.
 * The last series to feature songs composed by Ed Welch.
 * The last series in which the Sodor Island intro is used at the start of individual UK broadcasts.
 * Steve Asquith's final series as director.
 * The last production to have all of the characters (except Diesel from the thirteenth to sixteenth series) voiced by the narrator until Thomas Goes to New York.
 * This is also the last series where all the characters are voiced by Michael Angelis in the UK, Michael Brandon in the US, Aku Laitinen in Finland, Povl Dissing in Denmark, Bohuslav Kalva in the Czech Republic, etc.
 * The last series to have Abi Grant, Simon Spencer and Wayne Jackman as a part of the writing team.
 * The last production to feature the up-scrolling end credits.
 * The last time Paul Larson writes an episode until the seventeenth series as well as the last series where he writes an episode by himself.
 * The last series until the eighteenth series episode, Samson Sent for Scrap to use the brake sound from the 1964 film The Train.
 * The last series until the twenty-second series to introduce more than one engine.
 * The last series to have songs sung by children until The Adventure Begins.
 * The last series to have seven minute episodes until the twenty-second series.
 * The last series until the seventeenth series to not feature Thomas or any Steam Team member in every episode.
 * Marc Seal and Sharon Miller's last series as Additional Material Written.
 * The last appearance of Main Line Junction.
 * The last series released in the 2000s. However, episodes from the thirteenth series seen on Splish, Splash, Splosh! were released early in theatres in the US.
 * The last series to feature Thomas' unused anxious face from the third series.
 * The last series aired by Kids 1 in South Korea.
 * The last series narrated by Diego Brizzi in Latin America, Dário de Castro in Brazil and Yu Dong-kyun for Kids 1 in South Korea.
 * The last series directed by Shim Sang-bo and Choi Ok-joo for Kids 1 in South Korea.
 * The last series recorded and mixed in Korean for Kids by STORM Studios in South Korea.
 * The last series translated by Seo Seung-hee for Kids 1 in South Korea.
 * The last series video edited by Shin Seon for Kids 1 in South Korea.
 * The last series imported (copyrighted) and DVD released by C4U Media for the original Korean dub in South Korea.
 * The last series re-imported (re-copyrighted) in 2018 to early 2022 by Cocomix for the original Korean dub in South Korea.
 * The last series released a Korean dub on DVD in South Korea.
 * The last series that not released on DVD until the twenty-second series in Italy.
 * The last series aired by JimJam in Italy.
 * This is also the only series of several things as well:
 * The only series to use a hybrid model/CGI mix.
 * Dino Athanassiou's only series as CGI director.
 * Pete Atkin's only series as voice director.
 * The only series where Stepney speaks in the US dub, but not the UK dub.
 * The only series where Ben appears without Bill.
 * The only series where Mighty speaks, but Mac does not.
 * The only series where Alfie, Cranky and Arthur appear, but do not speak since their introductions.
 * The only series not shown on Japanese television, but some episodes have been shown exclusively at Thomas Land's 3D Theatre and VOD in Japan.
 * The only series to not be completely dubbed in Japanese.
 * The only CGI series not to have a full voice cast for the characters outside of Italy, France, Poland, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan and for EBS in South Korea until.
 * The only series to have Anna Starkey write an episode for the series.
 * The only series to have Andrew Viner write for the series until the sixteenth series.
 * The only series where 3 introduced characters (that being Flora, Hank and Colin) appear once in a episode. Colin was meant to appear in King of the Railway, but was cut for unknown reasons.
 * Duck, Oliver, Toad and Stepney's only appearances in the HiT model era, excluding Duck's appearance in a music video and Toad's faceless appearance in Thomas and the Circus.
 * The only series where every non-human character introduced only appeared in one episode each.
 * The only series in which Jack has a round CGI face.
 * The only series that has been dubbed into Kannada.
 * Aside from the Teacher and the tree specialists, all of the characters introduced in this series have only ever appeared in their debut episodes.
 * This series contained the 300th episode of the television series, which was James Works it Out.
 * Pierce Brosnan was originally hired to narrate this series after The Great Discovery, but he was withdrawn from the series and Michael Angelis and Michael Brandon returned to replace Brosnan. Brosnan is known to have recorded dub for, at the very least, several episodes of the series.
 * The animation was made in sync with Brosnan's voice, which is why sometimes Michael Angelis' narration sometimes comes out of sync with the animation.
 * The half-hour airings of the twelfth series aired on Nick Jr. on May 2009 in the UK.
 * In the UK, this series had been shown before The Great Discovery, meaning that the audience may not have known about Stanley or Great Waterton.
 * This series was never shown in Spain, Portugal, Romania, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Russia, Ukraine, Greece and Japan, meaning audiences would not know about any of the new characters introduced in this series.
 * The Korean DVDs credit Michael Angelis as the narrator, even though they were re-dubbed in their respective language.
 * In Poland, this series was first shown in 12th December 2020, with an individual voice cast instead of a solely narrator. Also, this is the second series after the twenty-fourth where the Fat Controller is voiced by Przemysław Glapiński, following Mikołaj Klimek's death on 13th July 2020.
 * Harvey, Arthur, Cranky, Max, Monty, Annie and Clarabel were the only non-human characters not to utilize CGI face masks. However, two pictures from a magazine story show Harvey with a CGI face.
 * Cranky, Harvey, Max and Monty would later utilize CGI in later seasons in the 2010s.
 * In addition, Annie and Clarabel were going to have grey faces like the rest of the non-grey face characters. Not only that, it would be impossible for Annie and Clarabel and other non-grey face characters to have face masks. because their faces would overlap the motion capture area and it would be impossible to blend CGI with real life.
 * Donald, Douglas, Mavis, Salty, Neville, Sir Handel, Rusty, Mighty Mac, Freddie and the large scale models of Thomas, James and Percy were the only non-human characters not to utilise resin face masks. However, the side of Mac's resin face can be seen in Mountain Marvel and the side of Thomas' can be seen in The Man in the Hills and Push Me, Pull You.
 * Neville, Mighty Mac, and Freddie are also the only HiT model era-only characters to have CGI seen on them in Series 12 without appearing in full CGI.

Staffel 12 Temporada 12 העונה השתים עשרה 12. évad 第12シーズン Seria 12 Сезон 12 第12季