Thomas & Friends: Jack & the Pack (2003) in Retrospect - The Thomas Retrospective 

This series had so much potential. The props are impressive, the humor is great, and I love the characters. It could have easily been a great companion piece to _Thomas and Friends._ if only HIT hadn't interfered.

I actually really like the voice Brandon gives Patrick. The way he just spouts “CONCRETE”and his overall gruff Irish voice is always amusing

Brandon made Monty and Max basically Beavis and Butthead and I'm into it wholeheartedly

I see Jack and the Pack sort of like a bonus level of the classic era. And now that I think about it, Ned and Oliver’s dynamic has started to remind me of Warrior and Big Mac's dynamic in Tugs.

Two years ago ago, I decided to give The Pack a try. Hadn't seen it in at least a decade and a half, probably since the DVD came out. It was remarkably good, like there was actual care put into it, as opposed to S7, which was decent, but ultimately felt like a cheap contractual obligation. So yeah, Pack was a great spin-off, and it's a shame it only got 13 or so episodes...

You talking about Kelly makes me realize how much he's like Toby in the railway series. He's old and wise, but instead of taking sense into Jack, he lets him make a fool of himself and then rescues him like a total Chad. He's also similar in the sense that he cares for others, and despite his accident with the wind, he still helps Isabella in a manner like Toby. *THIS* is how Toby should have stayed.

Jack and the pack as a whole had so much potential. The props were impressive and seeing Sodor through a different perspective would've been cool to see.

It's tragic that the creators not only made 1, but 2 sister shows to Thomas that both floundered to some degree. Jack and the Pack had huge potential, and if Hit never bought Gullaine and the team made the full 26 episode lineup to some warm but successful reception, it's possible that the writing team would have more time to flesh out the later seasons of thomas as they continued writing more episodes for the pack, fulfilling that annual release window to some degree. I'm glad that the CGi Era never forgot Jack and the Pack, though, and I'm glad they got more attention there than they otherwise would.

Fun fact: Byron was indirectly mentioned in mines of mystery. And Ned was indirectly mentioned in tale of the brave.

The more I learn about cases like this, the more upset I get with the BS of the corporate world and their dealings

I love the Jack and the Pack miniseries. It's a shame the series never took off, because I love what we got.

On site with Thomas is easily a classic 😂 Such a hilarious episode I especially love the bricks constantly falling on Oliver and saying OUCH!! Never fails to make me laugh Also the demolition scene is a masterpiece

i like jack and his pack, i would love to have seen the unproduced episodes be produced, wish we got more. this is gonna be a good retrospective

Jack and the Pack is one of my favorite seasons of Bob the Builder

20:38 Brandon being a maniac 😈 No wonder he’s the best Diesel/troublesome trucks voice/laugh.

The best part of the chimney destruction is that the last wall to fall was the one Oliver was trying to take down. Perfect comedic timing

Around 2013, Irish actor and comedian Ardal O'Hanlon was asked to voice Patrick, however he declined the role, implying that Patrick was at some point intended to return in the CGI series. It is currently unknown what series or special Patrick's return was planned for.

It's such a shame that this series never really came to fruition. As you said, the props were all amazingly well-made, and the characters had so much potential. My favorite Pack characters were always Max & Monty, and the bit about rowdy truck drivers in real life makes me appreciate these two knuckleheads even more XD

You made a good connection to Ned and Oliver making a subtle nod to Laurel and Hardy with their dynamic. I had never thought of it myself, but the original episode title "Another Fine Mess" definitely confirms it. In addition to that, I caught a couple other references to the duo. The bricks repeatedly hitting Oliver is seen in L&H a couple times, notably in "Dirty Work". Then Michael Brandon, I can't help but wonder if he was a fan himself? Those little grunts Oliver the Excavator made by Brandon are very similar in timing and tone to the grunts made by Hardy throughout the series, almost a signature of his performances. Absolutely loved this Retrospective!

While this can be similar to "Bob the Builder", Thomas the Tank Engine's mini companion series had much more moving model work without using the stop-frame technique and more detailed model sets.

Good luck reviewing the HIT era, Tug. You're gonna need it my man

i like to imagine Thomas doesn’t get the destruction being fun because of how often he crashes.

I’d like to believe Jack and the Pack would’ve still failed even if HiT didn’t buy out Gullane. Because Bob the Builder was so popular in terms of sales and evidently the clear winner when it comes to the market for talking construction vehicles. The Builder had a number 1 single, you can’t let go of a franchise at that level

If model Thomas ever gets rebooted, we need more Jack And The Pack to go with it! 😎 …and Tugs too!

Quite cool that my country, the Netherlands, is one of the only countries where the mini-series released

Yesss finally done with the classic series 1984-2003

I actually owned the 'On Site With Thomas' DVD when I was a kid too. Never had the rest of the DVDs though, so I never got the full Pack experience. But speaking of Thumper at 13:25, it took me years & becoming a major history buff to realize that the chassis for his model was made using a model kit KV-1 tank.

Anyone else notice how in Percy's Scary Tale, the voice used for the narrator and Monty switched when the owl hoots? Always a funny moment. Also, Jack and Alfie are a little like Ten Cents and Sunshine.

Imagine if Jack and the Pack had the classic series music and was released during 2003 with Season 7. It would hit so much different. I’m really excited for your review on Season 8.

It's funny that both "Tugs" (1989) and "Jack & the Sodor Construction Company" (2003) had only 1 season of episodes and sadly didn't get another series of episodes. Both spin off series deserve another chance. I hope that the Unlucky Tug speaks about the Cars spin off series "Planes" because that is unrated and is the only Pixar films series that was made by DisneyToon studios before it closed down.

I understand how you reacted to seeing the Jack and the Pack episodes as a return to Classic Thomas. I was expecting Season 10 to be pretty much the same, but it turns out that wasn't the case. What a shame. It would have been a great comeback.

I love the moment from Kelly saying that Jack needs to learn the hard way, it reminds me of Toby, tell me he wouldn't let a younger engine make a mistake, embarrass themselves and learn their lesson, so long as no one was in danger of getting really hurt.

I always used to think the episode “Thomas’ Trusty Friends” as a fun and active episode when I the TTF DVD back in the day.

15:16 For those who don't know, The Importance of Being Patrick is a reference to a farcical comedy of manners by Oscar Wilde entitled "The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People". Its a play from 1895 that takes a satirical look at upper-class Victorian society. Pretty interesting reference. I can tell that the Jack and the Pack writers had a lot of fun coming up with the original episode titles.

In all honesty, I love all the Pack episodes, even Jack Owns Up because it teaches the moral of the owning up to mistakes. Speaking of Max and Monty having the most leads making them standouts, Max and Monty, themselves, are my favorite Pack members because they're both great comedy duos and they represent how even the truck drivers can be careless in real life. I can imagine George, Butch, Thumper, Elizabeth, or, maybe, The Horrid Lorries having 'Jack'-Scaled models built. It's because I think all the Pack vehicles would interact with others outside The Pack, most notably Max and Monty interacting with The Horrid Lorries, Isobella interact with Elizabeth, and Kelly interact with Butch.

I'm already putting this on my Best Thomas Fan Content Playlist because that's how much I love your videos!

Now that Project Tiger Moth has proven to be a success, y’never know we could have another various of “Jack & the Pack” Honestly though, if I was in charge, I would call it “Jack’s Crew” due to practicality and simplicity

And with that, Unlucky Tug has once again given all of us a wonderful Thomas Masterpiece on RU-vid. I really enjoyed this video and can’t wait for whatever Thomas content comes to the channel next!

13:23 Speaking of Thumper, it’s a wonder why no one wrote a fanstory where he gets promoted to work with The Pack yet. Or at the very least interact with some of them.

If that Bertie show was made in the hit era. There’d probably an episode about Bertie and say George disagreeing on how useful trains are and theyd call it like Thomas’ argument.

It's a shame more of those funny visual gags the series had didn't carry over into Hit era Thomas more often, could have really added a fun redeeming quality to those seasons while keeping to the more light hearted format that period aimed for.

"Wake up, homies. The Unlucky Tug just dropped Jack n Pack episode."

I just watched "Thomas' Trusty Friends" before listening to what you had to say about the episode and I've got to say, it's pretty comedic despite having no real moral behind it. Sometimes these "slice of life" episodes can be good if done properly and this episode is one of very few. Not to mention, the practical effects are stunning to boot. Dare I say this episode could fit right into a compilation of Season 5 and spills and thrills episodes with the chimney falling on top of the warehouse.

“And we weren’t released in a lot of countries, had a promo DVD at Woolworths… I don’t know, Everett, was it the one branch or all of them?” I cannot hear Woolworths and not think of that film XD

i miss the intro in the retrospectives, such beauty in the transitions with the music

I wish we get to see the lost episodes of Jack and the pack

I find it funny that "On Site With Thomas" was actually one of if not my first pieces of the show I watched as a kid. To learn of it's history and production here is pretty cool

Toby actually had 13 faces on his Series 6 face reference sheet.

When I was still really young, I never even thought these episodes would were supposed to be their own series. I just thought they were an extension of the main series, just like the Narrow Gauge episodes. Like, they were a special “every now and then” group of characters

I think a Bob the Builder retrospective series would be cool. Other than Thomas, it was my go-to show when I was little.

Jack & The Pack looked like an interesting spin-off series for Thomas. Shame HiT never got around to letting Gullane go through with it.

I'll admit, I liked the idea of having a spin off series within the Thomas franchise. Not just Jack & The Pack but other railway characters too

It's always the best shows that are short lived

Something tells me that the whole Jack and the pack sideseries was made out of Bob the Builder envy

Michael Brandon makes Max and Monty laugh like Beavis and Butthead

I definitely lament that Jack & the Pack never got a proper chance, but we still have some amazing props and good characters that came out of it.

I love that Oliver keep saying ouch, 😂 & I’m looking forward for the next retrospective of season 8 of Thomas and friends. As well as part 2 of Star Wars focusing on the prequel era.

Bob The Builder: *"They do exactly what we do!."* Jack And The Pack: *"But better."*

I was kinda in a way just as surprised that some members came back. As much as this show was like Bob the Builder I both enjoyed them in their own ways I also kinda noticed that if Jack has a snowplough he would be like Scoop since Scoop has also been shown to have a snowplow and another comparison David Menkin voiced Scoop in Ready Steady Build in the US same as how he voiced Jack in the US of the CGI series.

10:38 I'd like to point out that the German Release skipped "Jack owns up" and "Percy's Scary Tale" for unknown reasons.

Can we all agree that the face on the large scale Thomas that appeared in Season 6 before this series happened looks really creepy?

I remember watching jack and the pack when I was really little and I loved all the action scenes and sounds they made, so glad you made a retrospective on it

And with that, we have entered the Hit Era. I don't know how TUG will tackle each season since (aside from 12) they are all the same. Nonetheless I look forward to each Restrospect!

As soon as you mentioned the buyout, I was immediately like “Do I smell corporate sabotage??”

We’ve come a long way throughout the retrospective series. I choose to see Jack and the Pack as in between S6 and S7, like S6.5. I feel like Thomas first appearing in Nelson Gets Carried Away would be more special and impactful. What if he wasn’t going to appear much in the second half of this spinoff season. Buster by Michael Brandon sounds like Goofy lol. I love how Brandon is so enthusiastic during his narration. That chimney falling stunt I never knew was only able to do do one take of it. This series had an insane amount of potential, if HiT hadn’t interfered. A little later, the retrospective continued. As they approached the next episode, they saw Season 8. “Here we go,” said Henry’s driver.

This series is so great!

I swear I’m getting a sense of deja vu with this video

I have a lot of nostalgia for Jack and the Pack (Thomas’ Trusty Friends in the UK where I’m from), loved the DVD and the two season 6 episodes. Such a cool concept with some fun episodes!

It's incredible by all the facts, info and all the model techniques the crew had with these gigantic construction characters, combined with extra detail. On behalf of Jack & the Pack as a spinoff of its time, I'd say it has some similarities with TUGS and Theodore Tugboat. No not just b/c it had 13 episodes of the former, but of the characters each. Jack and Alfie are like Ten Cents and Sunshine/Theodore and Hank, Byron as George the Valiant, Oliver as Foduck, Ned as Warrior, Kelly as Hercules, Isobella as Top Hat/Emily, etc. Max & Monty are two of my favorite Pack characters mainly because I always love dumptrucks. In my childhood, I sometimes watch some kid-construction tapes that are educational with real live action machines at work (There Goes a Bulldozer/Dump Truck, Hard Hat Harry's Construction Equipment, I Love Big Machines, etc.). Their personas really are spot on reflecting the carelessness of real truck drivers are, especially nowadays. So they definitely stand out among the others, combined with their insane bickering and antics. Would've loved to see what would've happen if Safety First was made, then we would've seen of what makes them venerable members and how they can put others in their place being more careless as them like George the Steamroller (like how MrTrainer1110Productions did in his series with a few episodes centered around them). Favorite episode-wise, my favorite is Who's the Boss because not only do I like seeing the Pack members bickering together, but also has an insanely awesome crash. Also love the Irish accent Michael Brandon gave to Patrick who only appeared once (despite him being American alongside Byron). My least favorite is The Lightning Tree. If you'd all remember what Thomas once said in S3, "We cannot mend broken trees!" And here, the Pack are like "We'll pretend we didn't hear that" and broke that logic out the window. Cancelled episode-wise, I would've loved to see Bossy Byron, Jack's Snow Rescue, Isobella Gets Steamed and Importance of Being Patrick get made. I'm not really a fan of Alfie Has a Secret, Treasure Hunt, or Kelly's Heroes cause the latter retcons Jack's character even though he should've learned that from Jack Jumps In when it comes to being safe. I take Jack Owns Up and Thomas Tells a Lie (better examples of admitting your mistakes more than Who's Geoffrey?). And finally, and I know this might sound as an unpopular opinion, but I'm not really fond of Bob the Builder. Granted, I used to like it as a kid and I still have some nostalgia memories in my heart, I just never cared for it as a show as I got older. Just not one of my cup of teas. So yeah, the Pack wins me over.

Excited for the chaos that follows after here lmao

I seriously thought that you were going to re-release the old Jack and the pack review, but this is even better!

I am sure what Michael Brandon really said was "The Sodor Auto Race Track"

When I was younger, I probably watched this show more than Thomas when it came out simply because my name was Alfie and there was a character with the same name as me

I wish there was more fan made stories for the Pack. I think they deserve it.

18:50 This right here is probably my favourite bit of narration in any Thomas media.

Oh I remember this! I think I had the DVD of Jack & the Pack if I recall. I think I still have it somewhere, I just don’t remember where it is.

Love how you put Max/Monty's snicker as a post credits scene

By the way, you forgot to mention that Mike and Junior DID in fact record a soundtrack for the series, but it was replaced by the Robert Hartshorne music on DVD.

Well done on this one Nick this retrospect stuff about Thomas & Friends, Star Wars, etc. good work on all of this I love Thomas & Friends and I have had it in my life since I was little!!

I was born in 2004 , so this holds a special place in my heart since i owned the classic and hit eras on Dvd , and the big switch to Cgi happened when i was in kindergarten. Now I'm 18 years olds 😅

As a kid these just felt like normal Thomas episodes because Thomas and Percy were used so much. I didn’t know that it was actually a spin off show until I saw your original video on Jack and the Pack.

They should’ve been able to film Jacks Snow Rescue due to the Trackmaster merchandise tie in

13:27 that's a point, why WASN'T Thumper made part of the pack? it would've at least given him more screen time

Tbh, I always thought that the Narrow Gauge Engines should have had their own spin-off, but that's just me. I vaguely remember watching these episodes many years ago, the large scale props of Thomas and Percy were fascinating to me. Great video as usual

I have to say I do like how Jack Owns Up doesn't end on a totally happy note. If this were written during season 9, Jack would've been able to redeem himself by rushing to get some new slate or some crap. But no, they weren't afraid to teach kids the importance of punishment by carelessness. I love that exchange between Thomas and Jack at the end. "Good for you Jack."

I wish this series wasn’t cancelled

I've never seen an episode of Thomas, but your enthusiasm for the entire series makes me also feel disappointed they never did more with Jack and the Pack.

Something that I love and hope is mentioned in the S8 retrospective video, is that some buildings that are built in the mini-series like the new school or the dairy would appear later in some S8 episodes. It's just a neat continuation detail to me

In my opinion, they should've made a Jack and the pack episode where they interact with the narrow gauge engines

Love it really wish the Pack show continued

i honestly didn’t know this existed, i could only really watch season 3 because my family wasn’t really well off at the time

I agree with all the changes HiT made being unnecessary. Though I do kinda understand why they thought it was a rip off of Bob The Builder to an extent, e.g. that script about a Hedgehog Crossing. But I still enjoyed this spin off as a kid. Ned was my favourite, as he was like Warrior from TUGS.

Awesome. I love Bob the Builder.

As someone who grew up with hit era. To me it’s like a metal detector treasure hunt. Stuff you find is usually mediocre or ok. But you still find some nice stuff and decent stuff. It’s not as common but there’s a good amount at least. And of course you’ll eventually find a gem. It’s such a weird way of just being either under the line of decent or over the line of decent but no matter what. It is very inconsistent. Good luck as hit era doesn’t have a good start in model

Jack and pack is one off those seriers that was robbed before it was giving a fair chance would be amazing it one day the 13 cancelled episode can be brought to life in the original format and with near perfect replica props and models and truly give the seriers the fair chance it deserved 😊

Amazing video, there was 13 planned episodes for this Spin-Off series😎

20:02 “Again with the cowboy voice, what is with that?”😁

32:57 Guy: I spend two weeks build that, What will you do with it? Producer: Demolish it. Guy: What?

Imagine Alec Baldwin narrating this series...

Great video