Country of origin United Kingdom
Canada Original network Five | No. of episodes 26 | |
Original release 3 June 2013 (2013-06-03) –
21 November 2014 (2014-11-21) | ||
Thomas & Friends (previously known as Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends) is a children's television series about the engines and other characters working on the railways of the Island of Sodor, and is based on The Railway Series books written by the Rev. W. Awdry.
This article lists and details episodes from the seventeenth series of the show, which was first broadcast in 2013. This series was narrated by Mark Moraghan for the U.K. and U.S. audiences.
Note: Episodes 1–20 were first broadcast in the U.K. in 2013 by Channel 5 (20 single episodes). Episodes 21–24 were first broadcast in the U.K. in July 2014 by Nick Jr.(UK), in 2 two-episode programs. Episodes 25 and 26 were first broadcast in the UK on 21 November 2014 by Nick Jr. Too (formerly Nick Jr. 2), in a two-episode program. This was also the first series to be produced by Arc Productions.
Production
During production of the sixteenth series, Sharon Miller stepped down as head writer, and Andrew Brenner, formerly head writer for Fireman Sam, was appointed as her successor. Brenner already had a previous history with the brand, having adapted the first two series and subsequently written several original stories for the Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends magazine, published by Marvel Comics from 1987 until the early 1990s. Many of his stories were later adapted by Britt Allcroft and David Mitton for the third series (plus a further one for the fifth) without his knowledge or consent.
This also marked the first series since the fifth to include a railway consultant as part of the production team, with Sam Wilkinson in the role.
The CGI animation for this series was provided by Arc Productions, who took over from Nitrogen Studios following completion of Series 16 and Blue Mountain Mystery in 2012.
In April 2013, Lionsgate released the DVD "Railway Mischief", which featured five episodes from the new series (episodes 4, 1, 2, 3 & 6). The DVD was available exclusively at Walmart.