What Hit Did Better than The Railway Series

[@dadocta5168]

Hi everyone, UPDATE: I have uploaded a follow-up, HQ version, and a tutorial how I created the SFX at 13:18. Links to all three videos are in the description. Thank you so much for the support. It means the world to me. ❤

[@racheljackson4428]

I never heard of a compellingly clever arc like Hector the truck. also you are hilarious man! LOL thanks for your interesting analysis.

[@dadocta5168]

@@racheljackson4428 Why thank you! I feels accomplished how much I convinced people of the Hector arc.

[@thedragonking4862]

I never thought the HiT era was THAT bad. No it’s not perfect and it suffers when compared to the classic series but I think of it as nostalgic. I definitely see its flaws, but it did do a few good things here or there. Big world big adventures was when you can clearly tell that the charm of it has disappeared, and even more in All engines go.

[@dadocta5168]

The Hit era may be going through a redemption phase like the Star Wars prequels; it'll never be as good as the original and still has major flaws, but there are nuggets of good spread throughout. It didn't totally lose the franchises identity.

[@jacobmassey3897]

Are you honestly going to say you prefer BWBA over All Engines Go? At least that stuck closer to traditional Thomas logic rather than sending him around the world just so they could sell more merchandise.

[@aessseomi]

​@@jacobmassey3897have you ever even watched AEG? they are jumping through tracks and can turn around by hopping like bunnies. if anything AEG is even further away from train logic than BWBA.

[@jacobmassey3897]

@@aessseomi sorry I got AEG mixed up with Calling All Engines 🤣

[@OfficialRHPLAYZ]

So true

[@bladeobrian2144]

As someone who was going through adolescence at the height of the HiT era and used it as an escape from the horrors of middle school. I will take HiT’s worst over the turds that Mattel is pushing out nowadays!

[@FlyingDuckMan360]

In my opinion, Thomas' first dark age, the HiT Era was nowhere near as bad as his second, which started in late 2017 and is still going on to this day. Sure, the episodes became more formulaic and less grounded in realism, but nowhere near the point of the Big World! Big Adventures! era or the All Engines Go! spin-off. At the time, Thomas' show still had a comfortable home on PBS, the network that made Thomas a success in the US in the first place, since Thomas had previously aired on it as part of the Shining Time Station spin-off. The show also used scale train models for eleven and a half seasons. What I mean by that is Season 12 was when the show began making the transition to CGi, with it being used for the engines' faces, people, and animals. Season 13 was when the show was fully CGi. Also, Thomas had high-quality merchandise lines like Wooden Railway, Take-Along, and Trackmaster, which children and collectors couldn't get enough of even though they were everywhere at the time. Thomas' merchandise sales at the time were the reason why HiT made the wise choice to shelve Barney the Dinosaur in 2009 to focus more on their really useful engine. Nowadays, Thomas' merchandise has sadly decreased in both quality and quantity, and Mattel seems intent on sending Thomas to the scrapyard while simultaneously bringing Barney back from extinction.

[@Ryaify69]

THATS WHAT IM SAYING

[@cinnamonmantrainsareawesom7224]

Yeah and take priority in Barbie if the movie is any indication

[@Marcus-nn6js]

Yes

[@TheTSMBoi]

Thomas should be sold to someone else since Mattel is more interested in Barney and Barbie and Hot Wheels more than Thomas. But the 2025 movie and/or some unreleased stuff could revive Thomas for the better.

[@sceptilesteven]

Another thing hit did better : introducing a number 7 narrow gauge engine and actually giving them a personality

[@stuartbarclay7940]

To me, the HiT-Era (Along with TATMR) is overhated and underrated. Hector's arc is really cool!

[@dadocta5168]

I feel like the Hit era is going through a redemption phase like the Star Wars prequels. Just hope Unlucky Tug brings this up in his Season 12 retrospective.

[@Ichigo-HKC]

The unlucky tug sent me! Awesome video and channel mate!!!

[@dadocta5168]

Thank you and welcome to the house of Da Docta!

[@peytonwright4732]

18:49 James: *NOBODY IS SMARTER THAN MY SMART, RED PAINT!* 😂😂😂

[@joshuaW5621]

This is why I’m planning a video about Dudley. The steam and diesel conflict needed to be fleshed out a little more in the Railway Series.

[@evertonmignac-D7101]

You know, I've only met your channel existence by the means of this video a couple of minutes ago, and you my good sir have made quite the impression on me so far. A real piece of good work if I say so myself; Gotta say, nice impression of Dr. Robotnik at 18:05 & 18:49 by the way.

[@dadocta5168]

Thanks for the nice compliment. I thought I was doing my own thing but okay.

[@evertonmignac-D7101]

@@dadocta5168 Your welcome lad! : )

[@spiderfan2003]

Great episode dude, you made me think of these later episodes in a new way

[@dadocta5168]

That was the goal 😊

[@SebastianRangel-j8k]

@@dadocta5168 I love you're use of the term hate bait

[@andreiemanueltudose2445]

You know that's something unexpected Hit did something better than the RWS? Well that's something you don't see everyday great video Sir

[@dadocta5168]

Thankyou very much. I wonder if Unlucky Tug will talk about it when he gets to S12 of his Retrospective series.

[@andreiemanueltudose2445]

@@dadocta5168 Your welcome and yea let's hope that happends

[@allison122477]

Honestly, Chris’s RWS Books are the HIT Era before there was a HIT Era

[@LegendaryCaptain]

Especially cause the Narrow Gauge stories were also the weakest of them too. Other similarities -Little Western thrown to the wayside -Thomas being obsessively pushed forward -Gordon stories being the best -lots of one timers introduced which fun fact a good number of Chris awdry characters ended up becoming merchandise anyways (mainly wooden railway)

[@AmirPrinceling]

​@@LegendaryCaptainThomas was only shown as much as he was because it was pretty much a requirement from the higher-ups. They wouldn't put his books out unless Thomas was in damn near every book. Wasn't Chris' choice. He also wanted to do much more, like introduce an engine from the Barry Scrapyard, make a character the same class as Wilbert that would stay on the railway, etc

[@tudorbrancuturcu5996]

Your humour is amazing

[@dadocta5168]

You know one of my friends told me I need to explain the joke before the punchline? I'm glad my jokes are connecting with other people :)

[@xtremespotzu]

To be fair, Christopher prolly coulda at LEAST fleshed out his characters some... if it weren't for those stupid execs pushing for "moar Tommy shunt other characters aside" and them rushing him. Kinda like how Wilbert was rushed into writing James' story. But yeah, you KNOW somethin's wrong with a RWS book or story when even Hit executes what the book was trying to.

[@dadocta5168]

It's a shame no one has ever made a "Complete" History of James the Red Engine...

[@champ2stay920]

Does the name The Unlucky Tug mean anything to you?

[@dadocta5168]

@@champ2stay920 Yeah I hope he makes it one day ;)

[@champ2stay920]

@@dadocta5168 kzbin.info/www/bejne/bX3bZYygm5mMg8k&pp=ygUtdGhlIGNvbXBsZXRlIGhpc3Rvcnkgb2YgamFtZXMgdGhlIHJlZCBlbmdpbmUg

[@____Simon____]

​@@dadocta5168He already has.......

[@dadocta5168]

@@____Simon____ Okay truth be told, this idea came to be after I noticed he failed to mention Hector in both the History of James and Complete Model Timeline. Originally I had another All Engines Go video in mind but I had to get this done as quickly as possible for his Retrospective series. Please help me spread the word!

[@OWpictures1450]

This was the first video of yours I’ve watched and man oh man… what a great way to start

[@dadocta5168]

Glad to have impressed you 😊 hope you look forward to see what else I have to offer throughout 2024.

[@tyd521]

7:57 this literally made my week

[@randomdudeproductions4835]

This is genuinely the funniest thing i've seen in the Thomas fandom since TTTE YTP's i love this!

[@dadocta5168]

I'm glad I could fill in that empty space for you :)

[@SPAnComCat]

My God, I Never Realised how Your Voice Sounded like the Narrator in that Show! Very Impressive!

[@dadocta5168]

Which show and which narrator?

[@SPAnComCat]

@@dadocta5168Sorry, I Forgot. Oops.

[@SPAnComCat]

Sometimes it's not Easy to Keep up when Someone like Me who is on the Autism Spectrum.

[@FunAngelo2005]

I like your toad impression 12:04

[@SparklingJam]

13:09 I’m dying you need to make more redubs of Thomas episodes and make them overly British

[@peytonwright4732]

0:12 Giggity.

[@Xylem3Keys]

I love your rage XD All that aside. Very well said!

[@xtremespotzu]

8:59 I see whatcha did there 😏 James playing Old Stuck Up, eh?

[@wharfstudios]

Someone please correct me, in a season 8 episode, 'James Goes Too Far' James receives a much better handling of his warming up to Diesels compared to James and the Diesel Engine. Did the respect for Diesels continue after that episode? Or was that one of the many lessons forgot by the characters?

[@TankEngineMedia]

I never thought I see the day that HIT did better with James’s prejudice arc then TRS ever could. It’s surprising that James’s arc would be done very well would be the this era which you wouldn’t expect to see, maybe I might watched these 2 episodes to see for myself

[@dadocta5168]

I can see someone remaking these 2 episodes back-to back and the reason Thomas is ordered to take a large delivery is because winter was coming which transitions smoothly into James Works it Out.

[@Matts_Creations]

Tbh, this is just James arch and him being consistent through the show entirely

[@dadocta5168]

Did you even know James had an arc before? :)

[@xavierjuno4572]

​@@dadocta5168in the railway series not really but the Awdry's left so many fundamental traits that the TV series simply expanded upon them

[@Ninja11125]

Fr

[@dadocta5168]

@@xavierjuno4572 But in this instance, it is something original (Hector) and something expanded upon (James).

[@Keaness]

Cristophers stories cop way too much crap. He had to make do for what shitty place the franchise was going.

[@flyingscottproductions1937]

im glad somebody agr4ees with me because james works it out is my favorite episode in the hit era just for the fact that james and a truck have a story sometimes i wonder if hector can work in classic stories

[@PepsiTrain26]

NOBODY IS SMARTER THAN MY SMART RED PAINT! Also, Hector is truly the 2nd best character in the Hit Era with my favorite being Stanley. Hector is actually in my top 10 favorite characters.

[@percyengineproductions061]

4:20 could u translate that?

[@dadocta5168]

"This company is a bunch of bloody rac*sts"

[@lukajakobovic]

I am Croatian, and I don't understand it...

[@garrettsmith2776]

18:27-18:30 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 😂 I wouldn’t be surprised if HiT’s executives hired and appointed new employees randomly regardless of their skill level.

[@IsleofPigsStudios]

19:26 I don’t understand why he didn’t return in the CGI era, it’s a neat concept

[@dadocta5168]

It makes Hector more special as something exclusive to the Hit era. Personally I'm fine with the short number of episodes he was in, means less of a chance to ruin his character.

[@DavidBContentExtravaganza3967]

@@dadocta5168 Though it would be nice to see him return in CGI for more appearances, even in Brenner era which would do well with his character.

[@MakriaMicronation]

Everyone thinks the HiT era is bad but that shit was my whole childhood its so nostalgic, for me the HiT era was really good. Only because I have nostalgia glasses on but still. Calling All Engines has to be one of my favorite movies because of all the fond memories I have of watching it while eating dinner and learning how steam engines and diesel engines work.

[@Anchovistic]

8:27 Why I come to see this video every day.

[@TheCyberman1966]

Ok genuine question where in this video is a bit of music from monster musume used as I can’t find it

[@dadocta5168]

It's the cuckoo sound at 8:38.

[@shaneturner500]

I happen to like season 12 and the cgi era. I wish they would’ve kept the formula for season 12, which combined animated people and faces with the model series, making it much more alive and real. I like the cgi series (mainly the adventure begins) because it actually took into account the workers who did the work of coupling engines to trains.

[@ryanishere07]

8:59 got me laughing

[@mouseylings6394]

0:33 although the correction is more real i love the yellow tint of s11

[@mr.m4275]

0:28 what's the song?

[@Trainboy17]

If James' Prejudice Towards Diesels Was Going To Be Resolved In The Book. The Works Diesel Could Have Been Mentioned By Bear, Boco, Or Henry A Few Times Implying That He's Helping Out The Railway Like Bringing Supplies From The Mainland. James Is A Little Unsure At First Say After Old Stuck Up Was The Third Book Or Something And Then In Deep Freeze James' Prejudice Dies Out Completely. but to see hit write a character arc like so and not just make hector for merchandise?...good god someone at the writing staff should have been given more creative freedom! And LOL At 8:26, 12:04, 13:06, 17:50

[@LUKERILEY-i5d]

The Unlucky Tug sent me here

[@dadocta5168]

Sjajno! Glad to hear :)

[@Duckboi197]

Same

[@terrantitanium6441]

I actually recently rewatched series 12 and I actually really really liked this episode. At least a lot more than everything else around it

[@RailRocket05]

0:30 Yo, Thats Me!

[@dadocta5168]

Hey good to see you! Thank you so much for letting me use your video :) What did you think of the rest of it?

[@Anchovistic]

There was just so much could have happened in James and the Diesel Engines since the era was a bygone era for steam engines, but I guess Chris just really did not know how to write about conflict. I don’t even know why Fire Engine is even in that book. It's just so unrelated with diesels.

[@Silverlink28]

I wonder what the James book would’ve been like if it wasn’t rushed

[@angelobates601]

I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it. I REALLY love this video

[@dadocta5168]

and I really love this comment :)

[@Martin24720]

7:30 Put yah' anchor laddie! That's what he |propably| said

[@MacsensRailway]

James likes Boco and bear but he dosent trust the other diesels

[@tudorbrancuturcu5996]

You know this is good. When The Unlucky Tug shouted this out

[@Waskotorowy]

Bro should have made this a typical "thanks for watching" troll

[@Hicurius]

I like it when people bring up hidden gems in the HIT era. Nothing is purely good or purely bad and it’s good to remember that. Otherwise great things like Hector the Horrid get overlooked just because of the era they are in.

[@dadocta5168]

More so with James Works it Out. No one seemed to understand what that episode did for the character providing James a character arc unique to him.

[@Hicurius]

I agree, and I’m glad you were able to point it out. It’s something I wouldn’t have noticed. Personally I think there are two reasons why this hasn’t been talked about often if at all. Firstly, this episode is in Series 12, a series that a decent amount of people (myself included) have ignored. Secondly, the two episodes and a series apart so continuity is not as easy to spot as two episodes in the same series such as The Sad Story of Henry and Edward, Gordon and Henry in Series 1.

[@tudorbrancuturcu5996]

4:20 - What did you say?

[@dadocta5168]

"This company is a bunch of bloody rac*sts"

[@tudorbrancuturcu5996]

Racist isn’t a Bad word

[@dadocta5168]

@@tudorbrancuturcu5996 I'm not taking any chances.

[@MrSonicHedgehog]

12:54-12:56 I see Rosie as Thomas's sister while Emily is his missus. Blame Amy Rose for my passive hatred of her (Rosie just feels like an engine version of her) while AaronCottrell97 gave me a better path to enjoying her as a character

[@TronicSSJ07]

Or what if he’s just got unspoken rizz, like Sonic does? 💀

[@mohannadalswailem69]

Remember to keep comments respectful and to follow our Community Guidelines

[@bellingermoody8084]

9:00 Da Docta turns into Keith Wickham James voice

[@Archiebugg]

7:30 I think he said “get the anchor ready”

[@pranavrao6370]

Me anchor ready?

[@JVMonge]

After you said “but it’s real, it’s exists, and it’s called…” like right after an advertisement for raid shadow legends played

[@joshuacurphey3242]

I thought James' exceptions in his prejudices against diesels was clear; there may be one or two he doesn't hate (see BoCo and Bear), but he still overall has prejudice against diesels and it's not until him having to be rescued by one (even though it may be a shame that it wasn't one that had already appeared in the books) that leads to him completely dropping the matter. I also actually rather liked James and the Diesel Engines but it is rather interesting that HiT decided to take something that The Railway Series tried to do and improved on it. I also think that the TV series' adaptions of The Flying Kipper, Percy and the Trousers (A Scarf for Percy) and Henry and the Elephant were better than the Railway Series stories that they were based on.

[@dadocta5168]

I don't know if they took inspiration from James and the Diesel Engines but it is funny the final chapters/episodes both suddenly take place during winter when the other stories did not :/

[@danielsellers8707]

Maybe Old Stuck Up is the same diesel as in Bowled Out as they're the same class...

[@garrettsmith2776]

Yeah I almost think that Crossed Lines could have been first, and Old Stuck Up second with your outrage towards it, or that they could have removed the line stating James liking Bear and BoCo replacing it with him just about tolerating Bear and BoCo but under protest. I do think Fire Engine would have not been a black sheep in the book if Henry and James were swapped, the coaches be swapped for slow goods, and Edward would be swapped for BoCo or Bear. Finally, maybe Deep Freeze could’ve had the works diesel swapped for again BoCo or Bear depending on who didn’t get swapped for Edward in Fire Engine. The end of the story would be a long and detailed confronting by BoCo and Bear to James about why he just can’t let his prejudice go and you can probably guess where it is going to go, so I will stop there.

[@Cyberleader19]

4:20 I love that part lol

[@Grenko]

My immediate response is absolutely nothing, but I'm a person who likes to hear people how!

[@IsleofPigsStudios]

21:24 It’s a better story arc than whatever the heck was going on in The Angry Birds Movie 2

[@STA4YouTube]

*throws up absolute sh!t after watching that monstrosity* The first one was MUCH better.

[@tudorbrancuturcu5996]

18:27 What language is that?

[@dadocta5168]

Same as before.

[@Unknown-cl1qj]

Where’s that puking scene from?

[@dadocta5168]

Spies in Disguise.

[@easternwoyer3876]

Real question is what didn't they do better

[@MrNoUsername]

0:47 *H O M P H*

[@dadocta5168]

How is that not a meme?

[@RedSudrianLionProductions95]

I’m Not Even Sure If The HiT Era Is Even Canon. Since I Don’t Think Any Of The Events Of The Classic Series Were Even Mentioned In The HiT Era.

[@dadocta5168]

It's funny you say that because even without the classic era, James still had bad run ins with the trucks in the Hit era: James Gets a New Coat + Thomas' New Trucks both show James in a pickle dealing with Sodor's hooligans. Almost like a four part arc, rather than a two parter.

[@joshuaW5621]

There are definitely certain episodes that I don’t consider canon.

[@Bucket_Noob12]

I used to have a CD that includes 4 HiT shows in it I always skip the others to the Thomas part and the episode I saw many times is Thomas and the inflatable snowman and nevvel the new engine (forgot the episode name) yes it was repetitive but I enjoyed it

[@andyalex115]

7:25 How

[@MichaelS1995]

Hector was brilliant. Only HiT era character I still like

[@dadocta5168]

What other Hit character has a story as good as his? :)

[@Matts_Creations]

I will be honest, I grew up with the Hit era, and the classic era. There were some episodes that were better than most episodes in the Hit era.

[@terimcgowan8759]

Hey this video was made on my 11th birthday

[@P-Star7511]

I'm not saying that the HiT Era is bad, I'm just saying that if HiT Entertainment learned about what made Thomas special, maybe they can improve a lot better. Seasons 8-12 would've been great hits! (pun intended)

[@spartan117ak]

4:11 prejudice makes more sense then racism anyway... they're trains. not all prejudice is based on race in the human world either, class, faith, disabilities... you're using the right word is what I'm saying

[@IsleofPigsStudios]

8:52 I haven’t read the book but by the looks of things, it seems that James in this book has a bad arc.

[@seanalailima5929]

And wasn’t Rusty narrow gauge?

[@tuna_yhr]

Rusty on the gauge line-

[@bellingermoody8084]

Hector the horrid is my favorite.

[@abbeyroadfan94-J.P]

Amazing

[@Dat-Mudkip]

16:14 You could call him "Hector the Humbled".

[@Nostalgictvpunkcraver]

13:26 LOLLLLL

[@ballcoach8683]

If someone asks me the HIT era and the Big World Big Adventures are BOTH good in my book.

[@freddiemckenna]

I like the hit era of Thomas

[@ildaargueta9]

12:54 - 12:58 crazy bro

[@csxguy3002]

11:27 Sums up why Brandon is better than anglis in the HIT ERA

[@darkassassin395]

I swear am I the only one who likes the HiT music? ;-;

[@dadocta5168]

You'll be happy to hear as I was editing this going through instrumental versions of the episodes I was thingking to myself "This is kind of refreshing". Mike O'Donnel & Junior Campbell will always be definitive Thomas music but I kinda take back what I said about Hit's music.

[@andyalex115]

Robert Hartshorne really is underrated, I am a big fan of the Themes he gave the characters in the US version of Season 7 like Arthurs Theme and The opening theme from "Percy gets it right"

[@mispinchergamings3470]

8:32 to 9:13

[@Anchovistic]

Why I come to see this video every day

[@spyfan62591]

8:18 I NEVER REALIZED!!! 8:52 LOOOOLLLLLL

[@doctorwhosit3896]

I’d rather have more era than all engines go.

[@terencewilliammckenna6121]

Wow

[@ABoyWithAblueShirt]

Hi

[@mispinchergamings3470]

cam here form tug

[@andrewshearsby8125]

Thomas should've gone super saiyan

[@TrainBoyOhio]

In my opinion, the hit era season 8-11 is average in my opinion

[@MatthewMiranda-l2t]

BoORING MUSIC?????? First off Determination Second Navigation Third Strength Fourth Ode To Fifth Thomas's Hit Theme And 6th Thomas YOUR THE LEADER!!!!!!!

[@dadocta5168]

You know what's funny? As I was going through instrumental versions for background music I was thingking to myself "This is actually kind of refreshing". Mike O'Donnel & Junior Campbell will always be the definitive Thomas composers but yeah I kinda take that part back now.

[@MatthewMiranda-l2t]

@dadocta5168 I should also Mention Hit gave Thomas a Girlfriend , After all Hector Scaring Rosie is what made Thomas Snap

[@Gordonjamesheneryproductions]

7 Gordon hit theme

[@Gordonjamesheneryproductions]

8th the runaway theme from thomas to the rescue

[@mispinchergamings3470]

9:25

[@uhh443]

Hit also made toys and the rail way series did not therefore hit is better and the railway series ruined thomas

[@Thomasin_motion]

Wack

[@Beutepanzer]

And zero fact