As someone who raises sheep, I HATE Toby had a little lamb. It has nothing to do with the writing but with how little knowledge the writers have on animal care. #1. When sheep have lambs, they do not have all of their lambs on the same day. We usually have 100 ewes lamb in about 4 weeks. The first few days of lambing are usually slow. Now while it is true that weather can make animals give birth a few days earlier, you definitely would have the whole heard lambing. #2. When lambing, it is VERY VERY rare that we need a vet. The only problem that the sheep had in this episode was the weather. (That will be #3). I have saved a lot of lambs that had 3 hooves in the grave and the 4th on a banana peel. The only thing that can be done is to place the cold lamb in hot water to warm it up. (You will have to hold up its head). Then you tube hot colostrum into its belly. (Colostrum is the first milk that a mother produces and is full of vitamins and nutrients to give the baby a jump start). #3. If you are going to lamb you are going to need a building! We lamb in February in South Dakota! So of course there needs to be a building to care for them. We have heaters to keep the building warm. Around 30-40 degrees. The biggest thing you do not want is a draft. The farmer in this episode is an idiot. #4. WHY DID THEY REMOVE THE LAMBS FROM THEIR @#$%$%^&* MOTHERS!? The one thing a lamb needs more than anything else is its mother! Removing them from their mothers means you have bottle lambs. You can temporarily remove them from their mother to warm them up but that is it. After less than 24 hours, the mother will forget her lambs and will not own them. She will kill them because she has forgotten her lamb's smell. And if you only remove one lamb out of 2 or more, she will forget it even faster. Also, lambs nurse from their mother all the time, which is another reason why they cannot be removed. They are not like us and have regular feeding times. Unless of course they are a bottle lamb, in which case they are only fed 3-5 times a day. I wrote my own story inspired by Toby had a little lamb called "Oliver's Service." Oliver delivers some medicine for a dairy farmer along the line who has a cow dying of milk fever during a snowstorm that has closed the roads.

The gullane era used to be my favourite. When I was a kid I remember actually liking the blurry camera in season 6, and it was my favourite and I will never know why

Never heard Seasons 6-7 called the "Gullane Era" before. I just did what The Unlucky Tug did and grouped them, along with Season 5, as the "Middle Years". Although I have to admit, it is an appropriate name. I'll try to leave an actual comment once the video premieres.

I personally think Arthur should have been reintroduced in Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure instead of Ryan being introduced. He was more well-developed than Ryan, who doesn't seem that different from Arthur personality-wise.

Murdoch is one of my favorites not because of his character, but because of his design. I still remember watching "Piece and Quiet" for the first time. I thought Murdoch was the coolest thing on the planet (closely followed by Spencer). It is because of Murdoch that the BR Standard class 9F is one of my favorite classes of steam locomotives.

Gotta be honest, my favourite episode of Thomas is Percy’s Chocolate Crunch from Season 6. I think that we learn that it’s not just James that values cleanliness. As well as this, Percy gets put through some pretty harsh stuff and gets so unlucky that he smashes through a chocolate factory and gets covered in the stuff. The ending is sweet (pun intended) and I really just love how it craps on Percy for like 5 minutes so it really feels like he deserves that washdown and paint! Nothing can compare to that gold dust and yes, I grew up on that so I am biased 😂

I consider all the eras in the usual groupings people give them, but I do give them miny categories underneath the usual 5. The ‘Classic’ era is split into 3. Seasons 1-2 for me are the ‘True Classic’ era, as they both have that same style and look, and both follow the RWS pretty closely. Then season 3-5 is the ‘Britt-David’ era, as season 3 changes a lot, and the show went a lot differently then what Awdry would have wanted. Season 4 tried to derail itself, but lots of thing were changed, like Stepney’s story. And season 5 is just completely original stories. Then season 6-7 is the Gullane era. Now I don’t consider them not part of the classic series, but these are all sub groupings, so there are different. Without Britt on the show, it just didn’t feel the same. Also some reasons in this video will help. Next is the Hit era, which has 2 eras, doesn’t have as much to say. Seasons 8-10 for me are the ‘Lame’ era. While 8-10 had some good episodes, and some bad, for the most part it was very meh for me, and very disinteresting. Then Season 11-12 is the ‘Yellow’ era, because of the yellow tint this era had, and usually better quality episodes, + The Great Discovery, while the only exception is season 12, because I can’t put it with the CGI, it goes here. Next is the ‘Miller’ era, which doesn’t change at all, so on to the Brenner era. KOTR to SLOTLT was the ‘Former’ era, because it was just before most of the big Mattel changes. TGR to BWBA was the ‘Latter’ era, because Mattel slowly took hold of the show, and it showed. Season 20 and 21 are good, but I feel they too were a bit plagued with Mattel changes. (Ahem)a shed for edward(Ahem). Then the BWBA era didn’t change so it’s still BWBA. So here are all the sub eras I use to categorize this show. Season 1-2 (True Classic Era), Season 3-5 (Britt-David Era), Season 6-7 (Gullane Era), Season 8-10 (Lame Era), Season 11-12 (Yellow Era), Season 13-16 (Miller Era), Season 17-19 (Former Brenner Era), Season 20-21 (Latter Brenner Era), and Season 22-24 (BWBA Era).

Season 6 was the season I grew up with. The sets, music and narration were very charming and nostalgic in my opinion.

A great video as always! Here are a few thoughts of mine: 1. Even though I actually like What’s the Matter with Henry, I believe the reason people say Thomas and Percy are out of character is because they had actually gone through a character arc from S1-TATMR and this sort of broke that. 2. I also like Emily as a character but started hating her from S8 3. I agree that Salty’s Stormy Tale is excellent 4. Tbh we have Hero of the Rails to thank for making Spencer such a prominent character 5. Tbh I think the US dub of S7 is not classic because they used the boring HiT era music, but the UK dub is pretty good.

It’s no classic series, but it’s a masterpiece compared to the Sharon Miller or BWBA eras.

Personally, I’d count 6 as a classic season, and 7 as a transition of sorts between classic and the HiT era. Also, looking back, the model seasons HiT made weren’t exactly stellar, but they had their moments. HiT had at least some semblance of a clue and at least put effort into it. They tried harder than Mattel ever has that’s for sure!

Your writing and delivery just keeps getting better man. You have my respect!

With the old bridge maybe Duncan worked as an industrial engine on a line that connected the mid sodor to the skarloey railway which could also explain his aggressiveness as maybe he watched the mid sodor decline before his line was shut down presumably sometime before the mid sodor did

6 and 7 are still classic seasons, even if not to the standard of 1-5 they are still enjoyable and fun to watch. They were the last seasons of the show I watched when new and enjoyed and I still love them.

Honestly, for me, I'd say Seasons 6 and 7 are classics. They're the only two seasons I own fully on home media, I believe, and I do enjoy them, even to this day. Great video.

Did anyone else notice Henry in his old shape in Not So Hasty Puddings?

Ah yes, Emily was the one who brought out the "Thomas and the new engine pulling Annie and Clarabel" trope, which would later be frequently shown in his interactions with Neville, Stanley, Ryan, and Ashima.

In my opinion yes it does and I personally believe that it is as good as the classic series and sometimes better.

Both of the Gullane seasons will always be classic in my eyes, with the exceptions of that season seven is somewhat of a transitional season and the Jack and the Pack spin-off having a major connection to the era.

An excellent, well thought out video. Very much enjoyed, and really agree on most of these! When rewatching these seasons recently, I actually really enjoyed them too! To me the biggest difference was the change in the filming style and the pared back music. Great work :)

THANK YOU! Finally, I never understood why Rheneas and the Roller Coaster doesn't get more hate. I also hate how out of character Rheneas is throughout the whole episode.

I consider Series 6 and 7 as part of The Classic Era. Why do some people consider it as its own era?

You know, this is what I consider to be one of the most interesting talking points of the Thomas fandom. Seasons 6 and 7 for me have always been a very mixed bag of good and bad. Watching them when I was little, I could really see a downgrade in quality visually and writing wise. The less realistic looking paintwork on the vehicles, dull lighting in Season 6, lower stakes, increased slapstick, the less ambitious plotlines that tend to be similar to one another (Season 5 has some of the most unique and ambitious storylines in the whole show with some short lived, but amazing locations that participated in some of the most entertaining episodes such as Kirkronan Station and the Boulder Quarry, a great aspect season 6 and 7 lack that pretty much every season before had), and quite a few episodes ending in an apology overall made them less entertaining to watch for me. Some episodes I found difficult to sit through like Middle Engine, not just because of how dull they looked but because of how unsatisfying the plot was. And I was around 6 years old watching them. I had watched episodes from the previous five seasons before seeing them and I could tell there was a change in the production of the show. However, there are a lot of episodes I do enjoy from these seasons like Gordon Takes A Tumble, Percy's Chocolate Crunch, Salty's Stormy Tale and Gordon And Spencer despite not liking some like Middle Engine, Thomas, Percy And The Squeak, Buffer Bother and Rusty Saves The Day. And, Mike and Junior's score is always the one aspect of the classic era that is on point.

Loves this one! There we’re great king made here and can’t wait to see more stuff! The ur eyes were abreast way too include the community in this video

I like this video, it makes so many great points! I’ve always liked Seasons 6 and 7 for the most part, only slightly biased since Season 7 aired the year I was born (2003) so it was the first season I ever watched when I was only a year old. Also, I’m surprised you didn’t mention Edward when you talked about main characters taking a back seat, since Edward was only in FOUR Season 7 episodes, and only one of them was a speaking role, while the remaining three were brief cameos.

My thoughts on the Gullane Era, the sets still look really good, the new characters are very unique, some of the episodes were a little inconsistent but that’s not really that big of an issue, and the music is just as incredible as always

Honestly the gullane era was pretty good it definitely had some really bad episode however

gullane era and season 8/9 was the time i started waching so trough nostalgia and just how the seasons are different from anything else makes them special for me i consider them classics, and also one time i was watching all the classic series again and i did not even notice when the season 6 episodes came bc i just felt as good

While it has its duds, I really can't deny I love these seasons, thanks for showing them some love!

I do think that the change from the BA to HiT is very noticeable, I think describing them as their own thing is the way to go.

I honestly see the Gullane era as being the swan song for the classic series. There were some minor HiT era issues that plagued the two seasons under Gullane no doubt, but the episodes retained most of the magic from seasons 1-5

I've always seen Emily as a mix-up of her shown personalities. Originally a rude snob who was impatient, but as she got older she matured into the kind engine she is seen in S7. That said, if you get her mad she becomes hard-headed and she'll find it difficult to see reason.

Now this is a video worthy of a premiere

Season 6 and 7 are probably some of the most nostalgic seasons for me, something about the lighting and the sets always gets me lol. They were probably my first exposure to the series as a kid, so it certainly gave me a solid understanding and love for what Thomas was all about. The fun part was that I got to have an entire 5 season backlog to enjoy after it too which I ended up liking even more! I would honestly say these seasons are a great start to the series for younger kids with how much they're able to incorporate (especially in regards to season 7) with the characters. My earliest Thomas memory is watching James and the Red Balloon, which is honestly a bit funny as I've heard a lot of people say it's a weaker episode, but it was those sorts of episodes that I really resonated with, somehow making 5 minutes feel magical in a way no other show could (I'm pretty sure that the soundtrack of that episode is one of the key factors in why it stuck to me). They're not my favorite seasons but they may have well left the biggest impact on me in one way or another, even Baldwin's weaker narration just translated to feeling more relaxed as a kid lol. Thanks for opening the insane Thomas vortex in my head once again.

Can't wait to see this. Question: Who's your favourite character from 6-7?

Having rewatched season 6 recently, while not a great season, I still had fun with it. Episodes like Percy’s Chocolate Crunch, Thomas and the Jet Engine and Dunkin Duncan were really fun, with other episodes like A bad day for Harold the Helicopter having some highlights. It was a little slow/silly at times, but the episodes that were good were really good. Don’t remember much about season 7, interested in rewatching it tho!

The Gullane seasons still count as the Classic era. Even to this day. Though, I won't defend "Middle Engine" since that episode is nonetheless unnecessarily mean-spirited and did little to completely no justice to call this one good at all.

The Classic and HiT era are the best that I grew up watching

I am very much excited for this

I don’t know if it was because i grew up with seasons 6, and 7 but i really like these two seasons. The visuals are pretty good in my opinion and the stories have a good feel to them. It brings back good memories when i was a little kid and gives much nostalgia

I see seasons 1-5 as the Classic Series and 6-7 being transistions to the Hit Era, Mainly because all the scenes take place during mid day or midnight

I Really Like Spencer, He Seems Like Something Awdry Would’ve Created. A More Modern Pacific, That Rivals A Old Pacific, From The Same Designer, From The Same Railway, But They Can’t Stand Each Other. They Definitely Are A Very Iconic Duo. And There Episodes Are Always Fun To Watch.

S6 and S7's new characters are easily my favorite as well (minus Fergus, no offense to anyone). They do have that Awdry-esque as well too (like Salty and Spencer, two of which are my sixth and eighth favorites on my top 10 Thomas character list). The episodes are good for the most part, but they do have some few stinkers in a few that I didn't like. But overall, I really enjoyed the video. For the Gullane era, it does look kinda different and tone-changed compared to the first 5 series, but when it comes to context of the episodes, they do deserve some strong points.

This video was well written, i really like it

I like your new channel icon. It’s so hilarious! 🤣

One good thing I have to say about post TATMR Thomas is that the models were made of brass rather than the toyish acrylic. But I'm told story matters over visuals.

Jack Frost is probably my favorite episode from the season because I like the atmosphere in it. Scaredy Engines is another episode I really like because it managed to freak me out as a kid. I still, to this day, adore the sound design in that episode.

I count season 8 as a gateway season. It connects classic and modern and is neither past nor future. It is simply present

Thank you for consulting me and using my music. I like this video, and will share my own thoughts. S6 and S7 are quite different from each other. S6 is quite a solid season, not as great as S4-5, but the humor, banter, and pacing are still there. Similar in ranking for me to S2 and S3. S6 still felt “Classic” to me, and I agree that it’s one of the funniest seasons. The S6 episodes you like seem to be the same as mine, which is neat. I’m not a fan of S7, but I like some eps in S7, like Fergus Breaks the Rules, Queen of Sodor, and Gordon & Spencer. But I do think it’s much weaker than S1-6. There are more instances of engines acting out-of-character, forced morals, and painfully slow pacing (plus less humor). I see S7 as a true fall, with gems here and there.

I'm so glad your doing so well

Here’s an interesting ripple from season 7 that I heard from an UnluckyTug video and thought of myself. The season 7 episodes: Salty’s Stormy Tale, Edward’s Brass Band, The Refreshment Lady’s Stand, and Toby and the Windmill (and Percy Gets it Right to a lesser extent) have plots that revolve around big storms. I have a head-canon that all of those episodes happened at the same time and that these stories cover what happened in various areas of the Island of Sodor during this storm and what happened following the storm

I grew up watching all of those seasons and my parents brought me a CD 💿 of all of the classic episodes

If you ask me. Some of the best characters feel like they've been there since the rws just like salty or cranky.

Great analysis!

Now the only eras you have to focus on are the Brenner era and the early classic era. You have done videos about all the other eras so far. Maybe since the remaining eras are the most beloved, I think it would be best for a Top 5 of each era overall. I would be thinking of a comparison video, but we all know that Classic Thomas would win that contest hands down.

See for me I classified Thomas & Friends in these kinds of Eras Classic- Includes all model seasons with no CGI effects Semi-CGI- Includes the model seasons which had the faces/limited CGI effects CGI- Includes full CGI created episodes/seasons.

You have a very unique opinion I like that never seen another season 12 fan only because I was born around that time

I know i might get blasted for this, but season 6 is the most nostalgic thomas season for me. i really liked alot of the episodes and some of the season 6 episodes were my first episodes ive ever seen of thomas.

Glad I could take part in your survey. It feels nice to have been involved in the making of this video, even if my involvement was only as big as answering a survey. But anyways, I agree that Seasons 6 and 7 are classic seasons. I mainly say this from a technical standpoint, as the episodes of Seasons 6 and 7 kept to the four minute, thirty second running time, had music by Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell, (unless you're watching the US version of Season 7), and were directed by David Mitton, with the exception of the two Jack episodes from Season 6, which were directed by Stephen Asquith. But I agree that Season 7 definitely feels like a sequel to Season 5. As for the constant use of stock footage in Season 7, I think that was mainly because the "Jack and the Sodor Construction Company" spinoff was being filmed literally at the exact same time. Needless to say, the crew's meager budget was being stretched to its limits.

For me, and this is my own opinion I view seasons 5-7 as their own mini era, I still count them as classic seasons but not for the same reasons for seasons 1-4, I use the term “true classic” for the seasons that are mostly Awdry related and I call seasons 5-7 the Britt-David era, I love all the classics for different reasons but this is just me personally.

"Scary Jack Frost!" James said calmly.

I'll hav to check out your friend there. Your pal may even help with music for my videos!

Sorry I’ll miss the premier, but I bet this will be amazing! (Edit: I am the “certain people” at 11:30.)

I love how your User thumb nail is just Sir Handel but his mouth is insanely huge and his eyes are in an angry expression, Aka a warped image of Sir Handle.

With music season 6 is at my top favorites, just watch the end of James and the Hot Air Balloon its can make you tear up.

I grew up with this era on television so it's kind of nostalgic even though I preferred the old dvd's and vhs's at the time

I just wanna say i love your profile picture of sir handle with a enlarged face. i really hope i doesnt get changed for a while

I think of the Gullane Era as something of its own era between the classic era (1-5) and the HiT model era (8-12.) I think the increased reliance on slapstick humour, blatant morals and the tone of the narration and dialogue put it an age level below the five series that came before it. From a production standpoint, I think the extensive staff changes that happened after Magic Railroad definitely solidified that it was the end of one era and the beginning of another. That's why I consider series 6 and 7 as something separate from the classic era.

In my opinion, they are both part of the classic series, but with an exception: I do not consider the new series versions (the versions with the redone music, season 8 intro and different narration) of seasons 6 and 7 to be part of the classic series. In my book, it's gotta have the original theme song to be a classic season.

Also, the Unlucky Tug said in his season 7 video that the best episodes of the season were generally those involving the new characters cause they were all strong and memorable, besides Murdoch

At least be thankful Harvey managed to return in CGI

Now I understand you, at least what's the matter with Henry is a consistency to me!

Season 6 is probably my 3rd favourite season. My 1st favourite is season 5 and my 2nd is season 4.

Once again loved the video my guy! I think 6 is classic 7 isn't. 6 feels classic to me in my heart. 7 was aired along with 8 in the us and its just not the same.

They were also the final seasons to use music by Mike O Donnel and Junior Campbell and the classic series intro. So that by default makes them classic season to me.

I find it interesting that Rob the Green Engine said a decent bit of things defending What's the Matter with Henry? considering that he is obviously a big fan of Henry. He said that he understands what it is trying to say about like illnesses and how people in real life have a really hard time talking about them.

I have Gullane DVDs including Best of Thomas, Make Someone Happy, Races Rescues and Runaways and Cranky Bugs.

I always enjoyed Plenty of Season 6, many of the episodes are still classics and while many of the characters bother me they’re overshadowed by the mains. The lighting and paint on the engines seems lifeless especially after Season 3-5 having the beautiful shiny paint and great lighting. I still Love Baldwin in the role and while he sounds quite unhappy he’s still trying with a few Season 5 narration will never ever be topped but one example I love is how Gordon sounds like an important pompous show off and James sounding something the same trying to be better than Gordon. Mike and Junior’s fantastic music is still thankfully around, and unlike the HIT-Whatever nowadays era I can name at least 5-10 episodes from both seasons I love. Like you said, they aren’t flawless but are still good seasons. For “what’s the matter with Henry” The Henry criticism shows up because he’s always been sick since the first few books! After Season 1 it wasn’t all over but then it randomly pops into Magic railroad and now here. Thomas and Percy stopped being pricks after season 3 and 4 and became more friendly but did have moments of snark, not straight up bullying so I’m sure that’s where people get on about

In my opinion the eras are Classic 1 to 4 Gullane 5 to 7 Hit 8 to 11 Nitrogen era 12 to 16 Brenner 17 to 21 Bwba 22 to 24

10:38 idk why but that face Diesel makes right here always freaked me out a little

POG Sir Handel

9:46-9:50 - good thing I’m not the only one! This version will always be better than the “I’m just not special” archetype Mattel gave her *any* day! Best Engine Ever and season 21 were the only times they treated her with *any* respect whatsoever!!! I wish Michael Angelis had been the narrator for these seasons in *both* dubs. I never liked Alec Baldwin in S6, I can’t go through even *one* VHS with him. I always wait until season 8 to hear Michael Brandon.

I do remember watching s.6 and s.7 but that’s when I was I kid so don’t remember really anything from back then but I don’t even have thoughts on these

Just bloody brilliant, great video ol' chap, remember me when you're famous in the ttte community. Also, gullane era is nostalgic for me so i have a bias, but it is fairly meh.

& here’s another thing about WTMWH. The reason Thomas & Percy are “out of character” can be justified with the fact Henry’s in his new shape. What I mean by this is after he was rebuilt Henry was portrayed as an engine who can do anything without fault & that’s probably the reason Thomas & Percy don’t believe Henry’s actually sick. Just because one illness is cured doesn’t mean everyone other is. The biggest reason Henry was ill in his old shape was his small firebox meaning that he couldn’t probably build up steam; the reason Henry is ill here is ,like you said, side effects of age & the fact most of the main cast were built in the 1910s is total proof of that. You could make the argument that ‘Emily appears in the episode & she’s older’ & to that I say that some engines age better than others (She might even be a new built for all we know).

I'm surprised there was no mention during the music section that in S7 of the US version, used the new music used in S8 and so on, while the UK still had the original compositions

Don’t hate me but season 6 is my second favorite season coming behind season 3. I was also born in 02 so I’m right in the middle of being and old Thomas fan and a young one. I grew up with those two seasons primarily. Having a ton of good memories from season 6

During that intro it is so hard not to sing along. And this is the third video on this channel I've watched! The song is just that head stuck lol Edit:Yeah. It's a video long thing I am finding out lmao

I consider Season 6 & 7 varying. Different writers do make things a bit more mixed, but also varied like the Brenner era. They're still Classic Seasons, even if they're inferior to the first five. They're still good tho and they deserve respect.

I class 1-5 as the Britt era and 6-7 the Gullane era. Them put to together is the Classic era. I call seasons 8-12 the HiT or HiT Model era, and Seasons 13-16 as Miller or Nitrogen era.

My theory is that WTMWH takes places during Henry & The Express just before overhaul.

When it comes to that survey, my favourite gullane season is probably season 7, the best thing about season 6 is the new characters, same goes for season 7 and they are classic to me, but in a way that the other 5 seasons before this weren't.

I think I remember reading an interview with Phil Fehrle and he said something about Seasons 6-7 being written at the same time. Now, I'm not sure, but I believe that they didn't do the same thing with seasons 1-5. From my (very limited) understanding, Season 5 took an unusually long time to write, for instance. With Seasons 2-4 being different as well in this regard, with Season 3 having some development shifts behind the scenes and Season 2 was possibly not developed until Season 1 was a guaranteed success (which is the norm over in America, but I don't know if it's the same elsewhere). Season 4 is where, so I speculate, the future of the series was a bit up in the air towards the end, as Paints, Pots, and Queens feels, at least to some extent, like a bit of a send-off. I know I -completely overused the word Season- have a lot of vagueness in this comment, but I hope this contributes nicely to the conversation.

Well, Even though you said that message at the end, I'm still not too guilty for introducing an insane total of 4 magical engines in the AC series and one isn't even an engine, she is a car!

Underrated

Also, why is your icon a picture of shocked Sir Handel from season 4's Steamroller? I think that's pretty dang hilarious lol!

I personally think they’re part of the classic era, but I haven’t watched season 7 yet so my opinion might change when I watch it

I like the Gullane Era.

I would have loved too see a dynamic with murdoch and henry, both being heavy frieght trains I'd just think it would be litty asf

My Favs are Rheneas the Roller Coaster,Worlds Strongest Engine,A Friend in Need,Thomas and the Jet Engine and Gordon and Spencer