Alfie/Behind the Scenes

Television Series
Alfie is a fictional excavator created by Phil Fehrle with writers Jonathan Trueman and Abi Grant. with character artist Robert Gauld-Galliers.

In 2002, Alfie made his debut in the sixth series of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends in the episode, Jack Jumps In. He later appeared in the twelfth series, the spin-off series, Jack and the Sodor Construction Company and the special, The Great Discovery.

When the show transitioned into full CGI in 2009, Alfie was absent for six years. He later returned in the 2015 special, Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure and was one of the very few members of the Pack to return.

From his return in 2015 until 2016, Alfie was voiced by Nathan Clarke in both the British English and American English dubs of the series. Since 2019, Alfie has been voiced by Tom Stourton, also in both English dubs. Both Clarke and Stourton gave Alfie a British accent, but consistently give him a teenager's dialect.

Live-action model
Alfie's model was custom built by model maker Chris Lloyd. The model's chassis was built out of brass and the top was built out of plastic to keep the weight down. A small flat fan was built underneath the chassis to cause the dirt to be kicked up. The model was painted in a matte finish and the numbers were custom stickers.

There were three remotes built to control Alfie; one was used to control his movement, one was used to operate his arm, and one was used to move his eyes. During production of Jack and the Sodor Construction Company, Alfie's remotes would be replaced by newer JR Propo ones, one of these remotes were sourced from JR Propo's XP642 remote controller.

Alfie has had modifications throughout the model era. These include:
 * Jack & the Sodor Construction Company:
 * The windscreen wipers above his face disappeared in some episodes, such as A Visit from Thomas, On Site With Thomas, A Happy Day for Percy, and Mud Glorious Mud.
 * Series 12:
 * He lost the freckles on his face.

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 only having one model made to this scale, Alfie's model would stay under HiT and later Mattel's ownership.

Alfie's model is currently in Mattel's storage unit in Southampton England.

In 2022, Alfie's arm and bucket controller would be sold by The Prop Gallery.

Close-up Model
A close-up model of Alfie was required for scenes in the Jack and the Sodor Construction Company episode, Alfie Has Kittens, where he had to interact with close-up scale figures. The model was not complete and only the bucket was built.

CGI Model
In 2009, the series introduced Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) as a replacement for the show's long-standing live-action models. Alfie was recreated from scratch in CGI by Arc Productions in 2014 for production of the 2015 special, Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure. His model was "hand-sculpted" in Maya, a 3D animation and modelling software.

Alfie has had modifications throughout the CGI series. These include:
 * Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure:
 * He increased in size.
 * The colour of his alloys changed from cream to grey, like Jack's.
 * His shovel now has three teeth instead of five.
 * His cab-side window was split in two sections.

Voice Actors

 * Nathan Clarke
 * Tom Stourton
 * Toshio Kobayashi
 * Emiko Takeuchi
 * Gerardo García
 * José Luis Piedra
 * Manuel Pérez
 * Kai-Henrik Möller
 * Alexander Merbeth
 * Dan Schatzberg
 * Fernando Morata
 * Anton Savenkov