Series 5

The fifth series of Thomas & Friends first aired on television in September 1998 in the UK and had twenty-six episodes narrated by Michael Angelis in the UK and Alec Baldwin in the US.

Production
With Series 5, the decision was made to write a full series of original, staff-written stories, without using the Railway Series' books as a source. One reason for this was producer Britt Allcroft's desire to create a theatrical Thomas the Tank Engine film and requested that director David Mitton show off his modelling skills. Series 5 also took on edgier and darker plot lines and included much more intense action and crashes.

Some inspiration for the episodes came from a former LMR manager named David Maidment. In 1997, Maidment met with Steven Wright about the possibility of supporting the Railway Children charity and while Wright told him the series' staff commonly received such requests, they would consider. During their meeting, Maidment relayed stories about his railway experiences working in South Wales and as the manager at Crewe station. Maidment received a call asking if he would allow some of his stories to be used as material – the stories from the Railway Series were frequently based on true events and Allcroft and Mitton preferred this. Maidment agreed and was also asked to review each story to make sure that the railway in the show operated realistically. As a result, Maidment received writing credit alongside Allcroft and Mitton. 10,000 British pounds was later donated to the Railway Children for his work.

The design for each new character would be chosen by David Eves and given to David Mitton for approval. For ease of filming, Series 5 would introduce larger-scale versions of the narrow gauge engines and from Series 6-12, these larger models were used almost exclusively. Originally, the character Bertram was supposed to be a tank engine, but financial difficulty in building a new model made them repaint Duke's model with Smudger's face.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Toby
 * Duck
 * Oliver
 * Bill and Ben
 * Stepney
 * BoCo
 * Mavis
 * Skarloey
 * Rheneas
 * Duncan
 * Rusty
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Troublesome Trucks
 * Toad
 * Terence
 * Bertie
 * George
 * Caroline
 * Harold
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Lady Hatt
 * Stephen Hatt
 * Bridget Hatt
 * Mrs. Kyndley
 * The Little Boys
 * The Firelighter
 * Harold's Pilots
 * The Callan Stationmaster
 * The Crosby Stationmaster
 * The Maithwaite Stationmaster
 * The Signalman
 * A Workman
 * Thomas' Guard
 * Jem Cole
 * Farmer Trotter
 * Peter Sam
 * Henrietta
 * Donald
 * Trevor
 * Big Mickey
 * The Vicar of Wellsworth
 * Refreshment Lady
 * Nancy
 * The Dryaw Policeman
 * Farmer Finney
 * The Ffarquhar Stationmaster
 * The Storyteller
 * The Butler
 * The Crovan's Gate Policeman
 * The Tailor
 * The Mid Sodor Railway Manager
 * The Ffarquhar Stationmaster's Wife
 * The Inspector with the Bowler Hat (cameo)
 * The Painter
 * The Quarry-master
 * The Railway Board
 * The Portly Man
 * Duke
 * Bulstrode
 * Izzy Gomez ​
 * Märklin Engine
 * City of Truro
 * Douglas
 * Diesel
 * Daisy
 * Class 40
 * Sir Handel
 * Jeremiah Jobling
 * Tom Tipper
 * Elizabeth II
 * The Ffarquhar Policeman
 * The Stone-Dropping Boys
 * The Barber
 * The Ffarquhar Stationmaster's Children
 * The Injured Sailor
 * S.C. Ruffey

Characters Introduced

 * Old Slow Coach
 * The Horrid Lorries
 * Cranky
 * Old Bailey
 * The Fire Brigade
 * The Special Visitor
 * Mrs. Kyndley's Daughter
 * Tiger Moth's Pilot
 * Derek
 * 'Arry
 * Dowager Hatt
 * The Lighthouse Keeper
 * Bert
 * Bertram
 * Rusty's Ghost Engine
 * Butch
 * Tiger Moth
 * Thumper
 * The Wedding Guests
 * Boulder
 * Harry Topper

Trivia

 * This was the first series of several things:
 * The first series not to have any episodes based on the Railway Series stories by Wilbert and Christopher Awdry.
 * The first series with an episode where some railway on Sodor is referred to as a railroad. This occurs in Duncan Gets Spooked. However, railroad is an American term in the US.
 * The first series to introduce original characters with no connection to the Railway Series.
 * Alec Baldwin's first series as narrator.
 * The first series not to air on Shining Time Station due to the show ending around 1996. Episodes from the fifth series were instead aired on FOX Family's Storytime with Thomas.
 * The first series to use a Proteus 2000 to compose the music.
 * The first series not dubbed in Ukrainian.
 * The first series to air in Canada.
 * The first series dubbed by The Maidstone Studios.
 * The first series in which the phrase, "confusion and delay" is said.
 * The first series in which Elsbridge does not appear.
 * The first series to feature Thomas' unused panicked face mask from the third series.
 * The first series to feature Gordon's unused soft-looking shocked face mask from the second series.
 * The first series to feature Bertie's unused surprised face mask from the second series.
 * According to an interview with David Mitton before his death in 2008, this series was supposed to be a showcase for Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
 * This series features more songs than any other to date, at a total of ten.
 * This was also the final series of several things:
 * Britt Allcroft's final series as writer and producer.
 * David Mitton's final series as producer.
 * Angus Wright's last series as executive producer.
 * The last series to premiere in the UK on Cartoon Network.
 * The last series filmed completely in 4:3 full screen.
 * The last series to use the nameboards in the UK. However, the nameboards would last up to the fourth series for the US and Japan.
 * The last series released on VHS in New Zealand.
 * The last series to feature BoCo to date.
 * The last series shown in Germany and Latin America until the eighth series.
 * The last series to have a railway consultant until the seventeenth series.
 * The last series where Thomas' shocked face had a buck tooth.
 * The last series where Thomas and Percy's original wincing face masks are used on-screen. A new one would later be made for Thomas in the seventh series and a new one would be made for Percy in the eighth series.
 * The last series to have all its episodes released on VHS in the UK and Australia. The two episodes, Bye George! and Something in the Air, were featured on the ABC For Kids compilation VHS, Play Box in the latter country.
 * John L. Wright's last series as editor.
 * The last series where Thomas and Percy's original smiling face masks were used on-screen.
 * This was also the only series of several things:
 * David Maidment's only series as railway consultant and writer.
 * The only series where Donald appears without Douglas.
 * The only series where Diesel does not appear since his introduction in the second series, possibly due to his model being recycled for 'Arry or Bert.
 * The only series where Knapford Station does not appear.
 * The only series recorded in Dolby Surround Sound, hence the absence of certain sound effects and music in either the UK or US version of several episodes.
 * The only series to feature Thomas' unused excited face mask from the third series.
 * Michael Angelis was not credited in the opening titles for the UK narration. However, he is credited as narrator in the Hindi narration, even though it was re-dubbed and Alec Baldwin was credited in the opening titles for the US narration.
 * Starting with this series up to the twelfth series, the brake sound effect from the 1964 film, The Train would be used when an engine puts on the brakes.
 * This series was filmed in the same room that TUGS was filmed in.
 * The Japanese video game Magical Adventure utilised specially shot footage from this series.
 * Out of all the Skarloey Railway engines introduced in the previous series, Duke and Sir Handel were the only ones not to make a physical appearance in this series.