Thomas & Friends: Season 4 (1994-95) in Retrospect - The Thomas Retrospective 

The season that introduced the Narrow Guage Engines, and that's exactly why it's my favorite. All the stories about these super old little engines and their friends running their own railway through several trials and tribulations, the gorgeous countrysides and mountains, and the cozy music, it's the kind of stuff I loved most as a kid. And as an adult, I can really respect the time, effort, and sacrifices it took to make the smaller models work.

“Dear Christopher, here is your friend Thomas” That is by far the most beautiful Thomas intro montage I’ve ever seen

15:38 lmao I don't remember if this was uncensored in the original upload but that's absolutely hilarious

17:23 love how you used the Lego sound effect for Scruffy falling apart

The Pure Imagination scene from 9:58-10:39 gives me chills every time I watch this retrospective. I never even realized how beautiful the season 4 sets looked until I saw this

The sequence of scenery shots at 9:57 - 10:39, coupled with the music; is so magical and dreamlike! Not gonna lie, i cried a little at its beauty.

Now I'm imagining Duck assuming that Duke is dead.

Nobody expected Peter Sam to be the character of the season

I kinda forget that there's one "fuck" that's just uncensored and it always catches me off guard

The most beautiful season and the best way to commemorate the Railway Series’ 50th anniversary.

One thing that makes this season so special and comfy in my opinion is the lighting. Everything seemed to have this afternoon glow, known in the photography world as "the golden hour" - that perfect time when the natural light highlights the natural beauty of a subject. That helped make the season feel like a perfect bedtime story, or feel like a comfortable hug.

Season 4, out of the first 5 seasons (The Golden Era), is my favorite because of the Narrow Gauge. I wish there was a whole book series based on both of Sodor’s Narrow Gauge railways

Peter Sam was always my favorite of the narrow gauge engines. His journey in his debut season is just so magnificent. “Comfy” really is the perfect description of season 4.

The montage at 9:57 is a beautiful summary of Season 4's visuals, especially when it's paired up with the instrumental version of Pure Imagination.

Despite its continuity errors, this season really does capture the essence of the storybook world Season 1 had. I love how they incorporated the SR engines and the Bluebell Railway despite how controversial the latter of which is. And boy, oh boy, is the music in the episodes and the videos just amazing as well as the sets being pure eye candy.

Episodes that combine 2 stories into 1 in the classic series: Edward and Gordon (Edward's Day Out with Edward and Gordon) James and the Coaches/James Learns a Lesson (James and the Top Hat with James and the Bootlace) Whistles and Sneezes (Gordon's Whistle with Henry's Sneeze) The Trouble with Mud (an original story with Leaves) Special Attraction (Toby's Seaside Holiday with Bulstrode)

Season 4 is a gem

Season 4 still portrayed Thomas as a cheeky, selfish, impatient ,careless jerk, but also showcases his new humble side. I agree with Nick that Special Letter was the crash that really damaged Thomas and his personality. It made him stop and think of his personality and help shape him up, telling him that "it's time to grow up Thomas", says his conscience. He's come so far from being the cheeky punk he was in Season 1, all the way to a mature teenager if you get what I mean. 😊❤❤❤❤

George Carljn voicing a character named after him is an extremely bizarre coincidence.

“Home At Last” will always be my favorite Season 4 episode because of how Sir Topham Hatt reprimanded Duncan and the latter’s first line.

Season 4 was definitely Thomas' magnum opus

Adding “World of Pure Imagination” to this video was legendary. Definitely got me in my nostalgia today 😌

After commenting about S3, I was now into my favorite season of the show, which introduced the Skarloey Railway, Stepney, and the last season to adapt from the railway series and wouldn't be done again until S20 almost 20 years after S4 was released.

I can easily say that season four is my favorite Thomas season.

That first ad cutoff before seeing my boy get ramsacked by three wagons had me rolling. 💀

The Unlucky Tug more like the Unlucky Chad. So glad this content lives on.

For many people, the most iconic depiction of a train is a big powerful engine with a passenger train (usually a streamliner) barrelling down a straight track towards you - itself kind of a legacy of those promotional posters and advertising promoted by railway companies, showcasing their prestige trains in the golden era of rail travel during the 20th century. Gordon symbolises this in Thomas & Friends in relation to presence and image. But for a fair number of people, seeing a small steam engine with a matching train that is basically no bigger than your average road vehicle plying its way around scenic valleys and through majestic woodland is just as striking an image, and the latter is so beautifully captured in the sets for Season 4, showing the model-makers had reached a peak in their craftsmanship and quality whilst working with their budget. The stories, as with their book counterparts, also demonstrate how avid Wilbert Awdry clearly was about narrow-gauge railways. I also want to mention that 'Rusty to the Rescue' was most likely written at short notice in order to fill a void for an action story, as well as give Rusty something extra to do and introduce Stepney in a more direct way. It practically recycles and even alludes to the events of 'Escape' as a case in point. Regards, Samuel Farris.

I think with Special Attraction, it’s supposed to go something like this: Toby gets excited to be a special attraction but gets there too late, and misses out. Bulstrode becomes a special attraction himself, but not in a good way. And Toby notes this. Something like that. Idk

Season 4 is just so comfy. I would do with what Unlucky tug said snuggle myself in a warm blanket with some hot chocolate and watch the series. This season was cool with the narrow gauge engines.

It cracks me up thinking about how Britt goes through all that effort to write the script as "The little diesel refused👉🏻👈🏻😊" as the clip plays of Awdry’s "HE THINKS HE CAN-"

Every season of classic Thomas is great, but if you ask me, Season 4 is the greatest of them all. The beauty of the sets in this season is simply unparalleled, and the Island of Sodor feels more whole and united than in any other season before or since. The wonderful narrow gauge stories of this season fascinated me when I was young, and they still do to this day. While the standard gauge half of the season my feel a bit disjointed, it still has some great stories to offer too. Season 4 has such a good, comfortable vibe to it, and it'll never get old for me.

I think this was my favorite Thomas Retrospective you've done so far. Season 4 is my favorite season of all time. There's just something so magical about it, I cannot explain why, but I think your retrospective did all the talking. In December 2020, after what was probably the worst Christmas I ever had, on Christmas Eve, I popped in the Season 4 UK DVD (from the 2004 box set) on my Region-Free Blu-Ray player with my big TV and surround soundbar, and watched the first 14 episodes without stopping. My mood was lifted somewhat and I felt really comforted to know that this season was like a magic elixir, better than any eggnog, beer or wine could ever do. In July 2021, when I was given vacation time from work, I made a decision to re-watch the first five seasons, and the day I watched Season 4 was definitely the highlight of a week off that didn't go anywhere what I'd planned at all. Finally, after your retrospective came out in August last year, a month later, I re-watched Season 4 over the course of two days (Episodes 1-14 one night and Episodes 15-26 the next), taking in everything you say in this video, and everything you said was on point and made total sense. Tug, if you happen to see this comment: Even though I enjoy all your videos (I've even watched them with my mom and shared a few of them with my uncle), this video particularly hits home with me because it explains why Season 4 is my favorite season better than if I'd tried to do it myself. This is my favorite video you've ever done, and I hope it doesn't leave RU-vid again. Thanks for reuploading it.

Season 4 is the best season of the show, hands down. While it’s not my favorite season, this season is the peak of the show. So many fantastic stuff in Season 4. Plus it came out the same year I was born (1995), such great timing when Thomas and Friends was popular.

I always found it weird the Thomas telling the duke story, but I think it makes sense. If Thomas and Edward were the first ones to the railway, they would’ve heard about Peter Sam and Sir Handel. OR Edward told the story to Thomas and Thomas just remembers.

Four Little Engines is my favorite episode this season because I just love the way it introduces the connection between the standard gauge and narrow gauge railways. I also just love Skarloey’s determination and courage to get the passengers home. The last 3 lines in this episode are just heartwarming to me as well.

This. This is the best season of the classic series. The stories, the beautiful sets, music, the Skarloey Railway especially, it's just fantastic.

This season was my favorite as well. If anything, it defines my love for the show. I think that it made the biggest impression on me subconsciously. Even though I didn’t remember any of it, I was still able to immediately regain all of those memories when hearing parts from episodes again. I think there were only two episodes that I didn’t watch when I was younger, and I watch them just last month

Something this season shows is how to do 'trains just moving along their rails" right. That one especially got lost in the cgi era. They focused so much more on the faces and making things move that didnt move before, that they didnt craft landscapes, lighting and theme nearly as much or well as they did in the model series. And this is not to be underestimated. We humans experiance trains, like this. We stand somewhere, watch a landscape, and a train move through it. Or we're in the train moving past the landscape. We dont follow a moving train, or are up close to them for extended periods of time. Nor do we watch faces move during stories. We watch face expressions at best. The rest of the time we listen and look at everything around. This is why season 4 is the most stunning and beautifull. Itsnot only beautifull. But its beauty is presented like we as real people would see beauty in real landscapes.

This man needs a raise the work you have been making, especially since these videos are outstanding. You really deserve more credit and appreciation for masterpieces you're creating for us 👏👏

19:35 You know I really wish they make an adaptation for a episode when Thomas gets punished for his crash, and him trying to redeem himself

Given how much Peter Sam has gone through in one season, I feel like he deserves a sodor’s finest. He went through so much in the books and tv show, heck he was the only original skarloey engine in the miller era to get a spotlight episode

Fantastic video! Season 4 is an amazing season. The Narrow Gauge Engines are great and the episodes with them are classics and wonderful. Season 4 is my favorite season. It's an amazing season.

Season 4 in one word: Wow.

20:52 Henry grunted dreadfully "BOAT HORN INTENSIFIES"

I love watching these retrospectives! I didn’t care as much back when they were originally posted but I am starting to enjoy these :)

Looking at those clips, the Narrow Gauge railway really was "a world of pure imagination" which makes that song from the original Willy Wonka film more fitting.

a world of pure imagination for sure

This season was my favorite as a kid and honestly still is, the narrow gauge engines are some of my favorite characters and George Carlin really does his best narration this season, I give the prop team such credit, the narrow gauge engines weren’t easy to work with but they did it and the sets this season were beautiful

Season 4 is my all-time favorite Thomas Season. Also: 32:55 is the best shot of all time of the whole series

4:41: If I were to watch Season 4 in full, I would put Granpuff first, all the non-Stepney episodes next (while trying to somehow make Thomas and the Special Letter the 100th episode; unless watching those episodes in order is important), then Sleeping Beauty, all the narrow-gauge episodes, and FINALLY all the Stepney episodes.

Dude i absolutely love season 4!

Even though Duck didn't get to hear the rest of the story, since he requested the happy ending and what seems like weeks later, 😂😅 I'm sure Thomas told Duck the story the next time he saw him. That little cheek. 😅😂😂😂❤😊 Love how he's in full character in this Season. I'm am here for it. Love it! ❤️ 😂😂😂❤❤😊

Of the classic era seasons, Season 4 was always the most elusive season to me. I rarely, if ever saw Season 4 DVDs in stores in my area compared to the other pre-HIT seasons as a kid, to the point where I only ever actually owned ONE Season 4 DVD as a kid (Thomas and the Special Letter). As such, the only way I could catch Season 4 episodes before I discovered the internet was either through reruns on Sprout (Which thankfully wasn’t that hard; Sprout gave a lot of preferential treatment to Seasons 3 and 4 TBH. You’d see a Season 2 or 6 episode crop up from time to time, but 1, 5, and especially 7 were very rare sights) or through my local library’s DVD section. Because of how elusive it was to me as a kid, I always held Season 4 in a very high regard. There’s a lot of banger episodes here, especially in the Narrow Gauge half. Season 5 will always be all-time favorite season due to the fact it was my introduction to Classic Thomas, but Season 4 is a close second.

tbh smudger should have gotten that MVP award

11:42 about here i got a perfectly timed ad when the crash sound happened

Season 4 is my favorite season.

New idea. All Thomas fans start movement to convince Mattel to fix Thomas, it’s called #SaveThomas

I've always found this season to be weird; when it's focused on the narrow gauge engines it's some of the most beautiful and engaging bits of Thomas. When it moves back to the main line engines, the magic goes away a bit imo (although Henry and the Elephant is a nostalgic episode for me)

Season 4 has my favorite episode of all time gallant old engine

If you ask me, regardless of Mattel, Andrew Brenner can make a fantastic TAB movie of all narrow gauge episodes from Season 4 in it.

I love that you put the music to the Island of Sodor song into the end of this video. It's so damn BEAUTIFUL. It's my all-time favorite song. It really tugs at my heart strings and tries to make me tear up

6:10 ITS THE CHANNEL BANNER

Season 4 out of the first 5 season s, my personal favorite season. I remember as a kid watching all the seasons in order when my parents bought me the DVDs and VHS tapes. I'm always excited to watch a brand new season DVD when you finish the previous one. I remember watching it over and over again because it was so comfy. So relaxing. I would sometimes put on Season 4 episodes as a kid before I went to sleep and still do to this day. Seasons 1-5 were indeed the Golden Years of Thomas. Those were MY seasons. The stories were perfect for bedtime stories. The sets looked better. Sodor felt MORE REAL this year. I knew ij my Heart that Sodor was real. Thanks to the realism Season 4 brought. The engines looked more real (especially that shot with Henry that I'll never forget as a kid), the score was a banger, and both Carlin and Angelis nailed this season. Especially George, ending his last season of Thomas with a bang. Not only was he my favorite narrator, but he and Angelis were the best narrators. ❤❤😊R.I.P George and Michael.😂😢😅😊 As Willy Wonka would describe Season 4 as "pure imagination." 😅😂😊😂❤

I remember having the gallant old engine vhs when i was little the sets are so beautiful 🥹

This will always be my favorite retrospective.

The Duncan and the fat controller were roasting each other

20:53 I laughed at this moment

Season 4 is the one I remember the most. In particular, I remember the narrow gauge episodes the most. I loved watching those when I was a kid. This is probably why the Skarloey Railway theme is the most memorable theme for me. 9:58 wow, just wow. I didn't expect to hear Willy Wonka and at 26:46, FTL music. I really adore your music choices for your videos because they are music I am personally familiar with or listen to.

This is where we met the Narrow Gauge engines.

I would say that S5 is my favorite one. Don't get me wrong. I love S4 and everything about it truly an amazing Season! Seeing all the Narrow Gauge Engines back is just so Nice! Also how is you're channel going? This is amazing! You're channel didn't get copyrighted twice as it happend once already. I just wanna say that stay safe from RU-vid. I would suggest that anything that happends in it stays decent to without anything happening. Also stay safe from all of the other things! Btw so happy you got back uploading! I know I already said it before but I am saying it again! That means I care about you (Mostly) and you're channel! Keep up the great work and stay strong! 💪🔥

Season 4. My favorite season of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. The sets, the music, the stories the introduction of the Skarloey Railway, absolutely fantastic. I loved rewatching my Rusty to the Rescue and Thomas and the Special Letter VHS tapes alot as a kid. To me Season 4 is the peak of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends.

The Narrow Guage Engines Are Awesome

season 4 is one of the ones I watched vhs as a wee kiddo- so many moments like the elephant, bullstrode's gurgling, and Thomas' "and I know what I'm talking about" are seared into my memory despite how young I was and how much has faded. Hearing those soundbites makes me feel like a tiny child again every time Funnily enough I have no recollection of the narrow gauge engines. But the mountain landscapes and Smudger getting shedded feel so familiar that I think I must've seen them, just forgot about them till rediscovering TTTE through your videos. I retained so much less than I thought of the show that it's been a wonderful mix of revisiting nostalgic memories and discovering parts of the series for the first time

Smudger’s laugh will always tickle me😂😂😂

that soarin music at 7:45 goes so hard 🔥

12:39 I like to believe Duck and Donald weren’t part of the north western railway yet and went on the rail tour with the queen as escorts, hence why Topham purchased them and why he didn’t know of Douglas.

Several things about Rusty to the rescue: - It could be a retelling of the real-life preserving of stepney. - I don’t find it that bad. - Not all diesel engines have taken over from steamers. - I do wish that Awdry had help writing the story, too.

WORTH THE WAIT! again.

0:38 “and the one that- OH GOOD-HEAVENS WHAT HAPPENED TO PETER!”

My favorite episodes from seasons 1-4 are: Season 1, James in a mess (Dirty objects) Season 2, a tie between: Old iron, and A close shave for Duck (A close shave) Season 3, a 3 way tie between: Trust Thomas, and Thomas, Percy, and the dragon, and James goes Buzz Buzz Season 4, another tie, Gallant old engine, and Henry and the Elephant

The Pure Imagination montage is my favorite part of the video.

Colors of Narrow-Gauge Engines: 🔴 - Skarloey 🟠 - Rheneas 🟡 - Duncan 🟢 - Stuart/Peter Sam 🔵 - Falcon/Sir Handel 🟣 - Mighty Mac 🟤 - Duke & Rusty ⚪️ - Freddie

I think Season 4 is honestly one of the series I remember the most tbh

Sir Topham Hatt: “You are not a popstar! If it happens again…I’ll beat the shit out of you. Need I say more?”

I always loved the seasons that told a overarching story more than the more episodic ones.

Man season 4 is my favorite season I just love the look of it plus it introduced the narrow gauge engines

Like you Tug, being born at the time of Season 4, I think if I had to have a favourite season of Thomas, it would be this one. Makes me embarrassed all the more I haven't been to North Wales, but I've seen Stepney three times in real life.

Set Designs... 10/10 ⭐ Character Props... 10/10 ⭐ Story Adaptions... 9/10 ⭐ Score... 10/10 ⭐ Directing... 10/10 ⭐ Narrations... 10/10 ⭐ Everything about Season 4 is wonderful, if not perfect. Debate if you will but it's undeniably PEAK Classic Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends in my opinion, not even the dark and thrilling roller-coaster rides of Season 5 beat the simple & cosy feels this season radiates, it's just so magical. 🥰 The cherry on top the cake being it's half Narrow Gauge, half Standard Gauge... perfectly balanced, as all things should be. Season 4 is king. 👑

Must admit, was NOT expecting the FTL: Faster Than Light title screen music to come up here.

I'm surprised that Rusty was kept gender neutral in the show because I honestly never noticed that while watching. I think it's interesting because it lets the viewer to decide how to refer to Rusty

I watch the retrospective quite often. Heck I even got myself a Gauge 1 Thomas prop replica based on Season 5. My plans are to acquire the narrow gauge engines in small scale O gauge like here in Season 4. It’s gonna take a few years but after watching this I really wanna start saving for the narrow gauge engines but one thing at a time I guess.

I once again reiterate that that is the greatest season. Also, Sir Handel has just about as many leading roles here as he does in the rest of the show. Sir Handel deserves better.

I swear, there’s a curse on the Flying Kipper. Something about that particular train and how it keeps getting into accidents. I like to think a ship had that name and got wreaked on Sodor long ago and the ghost of the captain is out for revenge.

Had a Peter Sam diecast toy as a kid , along with many others, mainly Thomas and his coaches, Percy, Gordon, James, Toby, Bill, Ben , Donald and Douglas and Peter Sam who was probably my favourite, might of had few others but can't remember

The sets in season 4 look very real and look like paintings just like season 1.

9:58 BEST MONTAGE OF THE YEAR

Nice model

Agreed. Special funnel is always one of my favs

For me, this is kind of my end with Thomas the Tank Engine. I was born in 92, and basically seasons 1-4 kind of dictated everything in my life, and perhaps I just found season 5 too different since GC wasn’t narrating anymore, but it didn’t quite fill me with the same magic as a child. I do think you’re right that the world building looking back is kind of crazy. I never really considered the amount of story arcs and connection everything had.

Makes me so happy.