The Very Best of Thomas The Tank Engine And Friends [2003]

Amazon.co.uk Review

Just over 150 episodes of Thomas the Tank Engine were produced in all. It must have been a difficult job picking 16 of the best to feature on this collection. Sensibly it begins with the very first appearance of "Thomas & Gordon", in which we are introduced to all the principal engines and familiar locations. The rest come randomly from the six seasons. This means there's some jumping about from the British shows narrated by Ringo Starr and Michael Angelis, and the American ones featuring Alec Baldwin and George Carlin. Early US shows such as "Cranky Bugs", expanded the Thomas universe with the first of several new Bob the Builder-like characters. It was also the point where the stories no longer come directly from Rev Awdry's Railway Series books. Some are more fantastical than others, a visit from the Queen, for example, ("Paint Pots & Queens"), an encounter with a dragon ("Thomas, Percy & the Dragon"), or even a "Ghost Train". Mostly of course, tales follow the format of obstructions on the line, derailments and delays. All of which provide adults with another level of entertainment as art imitates life.

On the DVD: The Very Best of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, like the previous DVD releases in this series, is a bit of a missed opportunity with sadly no extra features. Picture and sound are per TV broadcast. --Paul Tonks

Customer Reviews:

Boulder.......2007-04-12

Well my 3 yr old loves the boulder story....we have re-enacted the story using a large exercise ball,tennis ball,maltesers and of course using the boulder playset...great fun!..thanx

The very best of Thomas and Friends.......2005-08-18

An entertaining series of Thomas stories including all the usual characters that Thomas fans love. Just about the correct length for a young child to watch, although each story comes as a unit so you can stop and start at leisure.

Lots of episodes but flawed production.......2005-01-08

Yes, it has lots of episodes, which makes it good value for money. My daughter loves to watch it, which is good. However, the DVD's production could have been better.

Why are the episodes not in chronological order? This is particularly annoying in the case of the two included 'diesel' episodes. In terms of story, the first immediatly follows the second, but on this DVD the second is episode number 5, while the first is episode number 14. Why? Furthermore, if you read the books, this is clearly a series of 3 episodes, but the last in the series is not included on the DVD, which leaves the story hanging in the middle.

Finally, the 'boulder' episode is unspeakably awful. Poor Rev. Awdry must be spinning in his grave. Thank goodness my daughter finds it frightening so I don't have to watch it.

A Great Thomas DVD!.......2003-11-01

I haven't actually watched this myself, but my youg children really enjoyed it. They agree that it is the best one out of all the videos.

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