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Thomas & Friends (series 4)
Series 4
DVD cover art
No. of episodes	26
Release
Original network	Cartoon Network
Original release	10 September 1994 – 30 May 1995
Series chronology
← Previous Series 3 (1991–92) Next → Series 5 (1998)
List of episodes

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 fourth series of the show, which was first broadcast in 1994. This series was narrated by Michael Angelis for the UK audiences, with George Carlin narrating the episodes for the US audiences, which was also his last series.

Some episodes in this series have two titles: the original titles from the UK broadcasts are shown on top, while the American-adapted titles are shown underneath. It was produced by Britt Allcroft (Thomas) Limited.

Production

Filming

The fourth series saw the introduction of the smaller narrow gauge engines. For ease of filming, series 5 would introduce larger-scale versions of the characters, and from series 6-12, these larger models were used almost exclusively.

Stories

Half of the third series consisted of stories written by the show's staff, but only one original story, "Rusty to the Rescue," was written for the fourth series. The episodes which used The Railway Series did take some liberties with the source material, in order to fill the runtime and make the stories more accessible. From series 5 onward, all stories would be staff-written, without using the Awdrys' books as a source.

Stepney, a character based on a real-life engine and used to highlight the preservation movement in the books, was given an entirely different background when he was introduced. This decision carried on into later series, in which he was seen on either a fictionalized Bluebell Railway or as a member of The Fat Controller's railway.

The show had come under fire for having too few female characters, and a conscious decision was made to rewrite Rusty, who was always a male character in the books, as gender-neutral. This led to a minor controversy years later when the American dub of the ninth series referred to Rusty as a female. While HIT Entertainment, Thomas' new owners, initially defended the decision, citing Rusty's gender neutrality since Series 4, later releases of the same episode substituted male pronouns in reference to Rusty.

Talent

Initially, each episode was broadcast in installments of the children's program Shining Time Station. Two stories were aired in each of the hour-long "Family Specials" in 1995. The rest were broadcast in a six-episode offshoot called Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales. Later they would air in a new half-hour program called Storytime with Thomas, which also included a Series 5 episode narrated by Alec Baldwin and an episode of Britt Allcroft's Magic Adventures of Mumfie.

Episodes

Characters

New Characters

• Duke ("Granpuff")
• Sir Handel ("Granpuff")
• Peter Sam ("Granpuff")
• Smudger ("Granpuff")
• Skarloey ("Four Little Engines")
• Rheneas ("Four Little Engines")
• The Refreshment Lady ("Peter Sam and the Refreshment Lady")
• Rusty ("Trucks")
• Duncan ("Home at Last")
• George ("Steam Roller")
• Nancy ("Passengers and Polish")
• Stepney ("Rusty to the Rescue")
• Caroline ("Train Stops Play")
• The Diesel ("Bowled Out")
• S. C. Ruffey (Toad Stands By")
• Bulstrode ("Special Attraction")

Returning Characters

• Thomas
• Edward
• Henry
• Gordon
• James
• Percy
• Toby
• Duck
• Donald and Douglas
• Oliver
• Daisy
• Bill and Ben
• BoCo
• Mavis
• The Fat Controller
• Annie and Clarabel
• Henrietta
• Toad
• Troublesome Trucks
• Bertie
• Terence
• Trevor
• Harold
• Bulgy

References

1. http://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/26/magazine/sunday-february-26-1995-gender-watch-sex-of-a-new-machine.html?pagewanted=1

• Thomas & Friends episodes
• 1994 television seasons
• 1995 television seasons