Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends UK Series 1-2 Original Broadcast Version Reconstruction (WIP)

THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE & FRIENDS - SERIES 1, 2 AND 3 VHS PRESERVATION

QUEST

To restore the original UK VHS releases by replacing as much VHS footage with DVD footage as I can (plus a little bit of colour-correcting) and create the best quality versions of these releases possible. It will be as if DVD’s existed back in the 1980’s, this is what an officialy release will pretty much look like. These will include both Ringo Starr’s UK and US narrations for Series 1 and 2, and both Michael Angelis’ 1991 (Episodes 1-16) and 1992 narrations for Series 3. There will be no George Carlin or Alec Baldwin.

For Series 1, I’m aiming to restore the two original 1985 Guild Home Video releases which had 13 episodes on each. I was originally going to recreate the three Kaleidoscope/The Video Collection releases that replaced them but I changed my mind for a few reasons. I want the nameboard sequence between “Percy Runs Away” and “Coal”, which only ever appeared on the “Further Adventures of…” VHS/Betamax and this seemed like the best way to accomodate that rather than doing multiple versions of the the same Kaleidoscope tapes and would also reduce this series down to just 2 files. Secondly, the Guild Home Video releases are extremely rare now (I think they were withdrawn very quickly in favourite of the three Kaleidoscope tapes) and I liked the idea of preserving these instead. I would need a good copy of the Guild ident though.

For Series 2, I’m aiming to restore the 1987 Screen Legends versions with the ident and trailers for Series 2 and Henry’s Cat. Then for Series 3, it’ll be The Video Collection versions.

SOURCES

*Various UK PAL VHS releases of Series 1 and 2 released between 1985 and 1992, mainly for nameboards, episode titles, Series 2 Clearwater Features logos, TVC/Screen Legends/Pickwick Video idents and yellow-line transitions that are unavailable in higher quality.
*“Thomas & Friends: The Complete Series 1, 2 and 3” (2004 UK PAL DVDs) - Restore ‘episode’ footage and audio.
*“Thomas & Friends: Truckloads of Fun” (2005 Australian PAL DVD) - Restore Series 1 and 2 opening titles, nameboards and Series 1 Clearwater Features logos (where possible).
*“Thomas & Friends: Peep Peep Party” (2000 UK PAL DVD) - 1991 Britt Allcroft ident for Series 3
*“Thomas & Friends: Cranky Bugs & Other Thomas Stories” (2002 US NTSC DVD) - Series 2 nameboards.
*“Thomas Gets Tricked/Percy’s Ghostly Trick” (2010 US NTSC DVD Double Feature) - “Thomas & Gordon” opening titles as they’re slightly different to the rest of Series 1, Ringo Starr US narrations and more Series 1 nameboards.
*Alternate audio tracks - Ringo Starr US narration (Series 1 and 2) and Michael Angelis early 1991 narration (Series 3, episodes 1-16) and early 1994 narration (Series 4, 8 episodes) sourced from Youtube.

REQUESTED SOURCES

-Good quality versions of the Guild Home Video and Screen Legends idents.
-More Nameboard and Clearwater Features idents, ideally sourced from DVD’s. I have some already but more would be appreciated if possible.
-Any Scandinavian DVD releases of Series 1 and 2.

RELEASE DATE - When it’s done.

Progress Report
Series 1 - In production
Series 2 - Nearly done, still some VHS colour-correction to do
Series 3 - Complete (1991 & 1992 Narrations for Episodes 1-16 and freeze-frame credits)
Series 4 - Complete (1994 Narration synced with eight 2004 DVD episodes)

This is a labour of love for old-school Thomas fans and while I’m not going to be precious about sharing my work, all I ask is you legally own the official DVD’s/VHS’s and do not sell my work for profit.

I’d love to see a project like this. Tried attempting something like this with Sony Movie Studio Platinum a little while ago taking my VHS transfers and overlaying the episodes with the DVD footage but no luck. I did however remaster the audio by overlaying the VHS audio with that of the 2004 DVD’s which was something.

For the “episode” footage, might I suggest using the 2004 UK DVDs (which use the 1998 remasters) rather than the current Restored versions as they more closely reflect the broadcast/VHS versions.

Another good source for this project would be the 2005 Australian “Truckloads of Fun” DVD which oddly enough uses the original Clearwater masters Series 1 episodes, plus “Tenders and Turntables”, “Trouble in the Shed” and “Off the Rails” even use the CW logos and nameboards as they appears on the 1985-1992 VHS releases. The original masters for the other Series 1 and 2 episodes are also used but they are the singular TV rerun versions with no nameboards and CW logos replaced with the 1991/2 Britt Allcroft Company logos. The episodes from this DVD have been uploaded on YouTube but a couple of episodes have been blocked by HiT Entertainment;

Truckloads of Fun (AUS DVD)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOdYxZaASO4&list=PLonGtgtV8MRdkv3qsbdDoYiYkIyQQt_-K

Also on a side note, Series 3 had an “early narration” (by Michael Angelis) for the first 16 episodes which were only released on the original 1991 VHS tapes then later redone for TV broadcast and later VHS/DVD releases, as did 8 episodes from Series 4. I’ve already done a preservation of these myself but they’re also on YouTube;

Time for Trouble and other stories (Early Narration)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h2Y7ZzXx90&t=193s

Trust Thomas and other stories (Early Narration)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64bYN8csEfA&t=297s

Rock and Roll and other stories (Early Narration)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg0UjeyL5VI&list=PL1XR64NRWmn5pZT8xj1RERC0T5yDxdjwz

Back to your main goal, I really hope you pull this off and I’d love to help any way I can. I’ve already transferred my Series 1, 2 and 3 VHS tapes to DVD which I’m happy to share with you if they’ll be of any use. Also, Series 2 needs to have the “Screen Legends” ident included!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TskJ-lKo0o

That’s fine, I’ll PM you when they’re up. With “Percy Runs Away” and “Coal”, from what I understand the didn’t have nameboards inbetween when they were originally broadcast, just freeze-frame credits for “Percy Runs Away” and original intro for “Coal”. This was also the case on the original 1985 Kaleidoscope VHS releases. This was then altered for the 1988 and 1992 rereleases where they replaced the end credits of “Percy Runs Away” with “Coal”'s end credits (no idea why) and with “Coal” they did the regular intro THEN the nameboards. You’ll understand what I mean when you see them. If you want to recreate the OBV of those two episodes, use the Kaleidoscope 1985 VHS versions, or if you want to have a nameboard sequence, use the 1988/1992 versions.

That’s fine about Series 3 and 4. For me, the early prototype narration is my definitive version as it’s the first version I heard. I just thought they’d be nice to have as an alternate audio track.

UncutIsSuperior said:

alloneword said:

If you want to recreate the OBV of those two episodes, use the Kaleidoscope 1985 VHS versions, or if you want to have a nameboard sequence, use the 1988/1992 versions.

I definitely want a nameboard sequence in between “Percy Runs Away” and “Coal”, just like every other pair of episodes from Series 1 and 2, so where can I find the 1988 or 1992 re-releases of the Kaleidoscope VHS tapes? Thank you.

I have the 1992 rerelease which is in the process of being uploaded. 😃

I’ll PM you when they’re up.

This is the version I have, but this is not MY upload.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OebTUorKJfI

I’ve just started my own preservation of this seeing as I’m having more success now. Unlike UncutIsSuperior’s, I’m going to be using already existing sources rather than creating my own and overlaying DVD footage over VHS where possible and only using VHS footage when there is no alternative. So the “episode” footage will be taken from the 2004 DVD’s, the opening titles (except for the episode titles shots) will be taken from the “Truckloads of Fun” AUS DVD, and VHS for the episodes title shots, nameboards, Screen Legends/Pickwick video logos, scrolling credits and any transition effects. I’ve even gone as far as to overlay the Screen Legends promo which I’m quite impressed with so far.

I’ve started with Series 2 mainly for 2 reasons. One, all the nameboard sequences are the same order throughtout unlike Series 1 so less work there, and two, It’s my favourite season. So far, I’ve just about finished “Thomas, Percy and the Coal AoS” and will do the other two Series 2 VHS’s, then I’ll move on to Series 1, then I will redo Series 3. Series 3 for the first 16 episodes because as already stated, they all have an early prototype narration my Michael Angelis and the early VHS’s have Series 2-style freeze-frame end credits. The opening titles, like Series 1 and 2 will be lifted from “ToF” AUS DVD.

The only drawback is that the transitions between VHS and DVD will me noticeable and Sony Movie Studio Platinum 12 doesn’t have a colour-match plugin but with the results I have, it’s a huge step up from my own VHSrips.

UncutIsSuperior said:

alloneword said:

I’ve just started my own preservation of this seeing as I’m having more success now. Unlike UncutIsSuperior’s, I’m going to be using already existing sources rather than creating my own and overlaying DVD footage over VHS where possible and only using VHS footage when there is no alternative. So the “episode” footage will be taken from the 2004 DVD’s, the opening titles (except for the episode titles shots) will be taken from the “Truckloads of Fun” AUS DVD, and VHS for the episodes title shots, nameboards, Screen Legends/Pickwick video logos, scrolling credits and any transition effects. I’ve even gone as far as to overlay the Screen Legends promo which I’m quite impressed with so far.

I’ve started with Series 2 mainly for 2 reasons. One, all the nameboard sequences are the same order throughtout unlike Series 1 so less work there, and two, It’s my favourite season. So far, I’ve just about finished “Thomas, Percy and the Coal AoS” and will do the other two Series 2 VHS’s, then I’ll move on to Series 1, then I will redo Series 3. Series 3 for the first 16 episodes because as already stated, they all have an early prototype narration my Michael Angelis and the early VHS’s have Series 2-style freeze-frame end credits. The opening titles, like Series 1 and 2 will be lifted from “ToF” AUS DVD.

The only drawback is that the transitions between VHS and DVD will me noticeable and Sony Movie Studio Platinum 12 doesn’t have a colour-match plugin but with the results I have, it’s a huge step up from my own VHSrips.

That would be nice, but do you even know how to do the yellow vertical line split transition in between episodes? If so, could you please teach it to me?

I don’t sadly. Like I say, I’m not “creating” or “recreating” any elements myself. I’m using VHS footage for the yellow line transition effects. One thing I have noticed is while I’ve been overlaying the DVD footage over the VHS footage of the episodes themselves (frame-accurate), the 2004 DVDs are missing the footage where the yellow line wipes would be anyway so for your project, even if you to figue out how to to the yellow line, you may run into some issues there as you won’t have the correct episode frames to apply it to. That’s what I’ve noticed for Series 2. May not be an issue for Series 1.

Just a little update;

Series is mostly done but I still need to do some freeze-frame credits but replacing the last two still credits with screenshots. It’s coming out well so far. All the DVD episode overlaying is done and I even reconstructed the Screen Legends promo as best I could. I could only do it with footage with didn’t have any effects done to the promo trailer itself. My only issue with the VHS footage is the shift in colour and brightness when it goes from DVD back to VHS (ie. even 2nd episode that leads into scrolling credits). I’ve tried dabbling with the colour corrector plug-ins but I wasn’t happy with my progress. Even if I got close with one episode, it would still be way off on another, so I just left them as they are for now. Like i said before, all warts aside, it’s still a huge leap in quality than just watching bare-bone VHSrips. I already did a remastered audio track for Series 2 via Audacity long before I attempted this (again, sourced primarily from 2004 DVD’s and AUS ToF) which has been ported over to this. So just a few more tweeks left for Series 2 and I’ll release it.

I’ve just started work on Series 1 with the first eight episodes, which is largly the same approach, plus thanks to AUS ToF, I can do some overlaying with some of the nameboard shots. One issue I’ve run into is the the framing on AUS ToF for these shots is shifted a bit, so it’s a bit of a job overlaying and matching seemlessly. The yellow line transitions at the begining of each episode (so far) is working as (unlike Series 2) the 2004 DVD maintains the footage in it’s barest form, so I’m able to crop the DVD frame-by-frame inside the yellow line/borders. Not bad for a newbee like me. The end of each episode doesn’t give me the option to do this, so it’s all VHS footage there. Opening credits for this will be just like Series 2 but the trouble here is the AUS ToF DVD has slightly fewer frames so the odd VHS frame will still be in there sadly. The theme tune, I want to keep it retro and true to how it sounded on VHS (the mixing/mastering of the theme varied between Series’) so that’ll be straight from AUS ToF.

As a break from Series 1, I thought I’d also attempt Series 3, buy restoring the original title’s and 1991 VHS freeze-frame credits for Episodes 1-16 and using the early MA narration. These will look the best as there’s no transisiton between the opening titles and the episodes and VHS will only be needed for episodes titles (except for “Mavis”, which will simply be ported over from “TLoF” AUS DVD in full), end credits and “The Video Collection” Ident. I’ve also ported over the “Britt Allcroft Company” ident from the “Peep Peep Party” UK 2000 DVD.

Would love to see a release on this one day, such an interesting topic.

OneEcchiBoi said:

Would love to see a release on this one day, such an interesting topic.

It’s taking longer than I’d expected for a number of reasons, but it’ll be nice to have this done in time for the original series’ 35th anniversary.

I also heard that there used to be a Central logo after the Clearwater and Britt Allcroft logos on these airings. We can either restore the Central logo by doing an upscale of a screenshot, or use a real cardboard version of the logo used by the ITV region which is now in the hands of a person called Matthew Gulliver. http://www.crossroads2001.co.uk/central/collections/collectionmg_files/image001.jpg

I think it would work.

I vaguely remember Central logo from TV airings but it’s been so long I can’t confirm. My project is more about preserving the original VHS releases but for the OP this might be useful. I’d love a higher quality “Screen Legends” and “The Video Collection” idents but there’s next to no hope of that.

After an extended break, I decided to pick up Series 1 again which is requiring more work than Series 2 and 3. This is mainly due to the VHS yellow line transition effects which merge into the DVD episode footage which has to be done frame-by-frame and recently deciding to remaster the audio separately with Audacity just like I did with S2 & 3.

I’ve just finished Episodes 1-8 (Thomas & Gordon AoS) and will begin the remaining episodes as soon as, then my project will be done. If I can get these done by the 35th Anniversary (9th October) that would be nice.

I’m also still open to any better sources anyone can offer me to use, such as higher quality original masters from from DVD sources, etc.

If anyone wants to see what I’ve done so far, PM me.

UncutIsSuperior said:

alloneword said:

After an extended break, I decided to pick up Series 1 again which is requiring more work than Series 2 and 3. This is mainly due to the VHS yellow line transition effects which merge into the DVD episode footage which has to be done frame-by-frame and recently deciding to remaster the audio separately with Audacity just like I did with S2 & 3.

I’ve just finished Episodes 1-8 (Thomas & Gordon AoS) and will begin the remaining episodes as soon as, then my project will be done. If I can get these done by the 35th Anniversary (9th October) that would be nice.

I’m also still open to any better sources anyone can offer me to use, such as higher quality original masters from from DVD sources, etc.

If anyone wants to see what I’ve done so far, PM me.

Hope there will be a nameboard sequence in between “Percy Runs Away” and “Coal”, but still, can’t wait to see this.

Not in the “main” project as it’s all about restoring the original VHS releases but I will do a separate “Percy Runs Away & Coal” video with the nameboard sequence. I honestly can’t find any confirmation either way as to how those two episodes originally aired. I know they aired back-to-back but from what I’ve researched there was no nameboard sequence between them in this instance.

There is this however;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTQi8A1E2Hg&t=362s

The nameboard sequence is the same as what’s used in the 1988/1992 VHS with no Fat Controller “Next Story Coming Up” still shot. Just a very lousy jump-cut. When the time comes, I will restore it properly with said still shot.

I’m also in the process of adding the redone “final” version of Michael Angelis’ narration for Series 3 to my early narration VHS preservation so you’ll have the option to watch them with either narration.

Found this just now. It’s a cam-capture of “Percy Runs Away" & "Coal” taken from different VHS releases;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEqlkJIo4jo&t=14s

The first is taken from the 1988/1992 release which I have and the second is from “Further Adventures Of Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends” 1985 VHS(https://films.discogs.com/release/358471-further-adventures-of-thomas-the-tank-engine-friends) which was the first time the original Series was released. “FAoTtTE&F” is really hard to find but I would much appreciate a capture of this for my project. Until then I’ll see what I can do with the 1988/1992 version. I don’t know if this confirms how the two episodes originally aired though.

I am still working on this gradually but Series 1 is proving to be a bit more hassle than Series 2. I yellow line transitions from VHS to DVD footage is frustrating so I’ve decided to save that until last, maybe ‘release’ a version without them redone and just have the episode footage inserted in and the nameboards completed with what’s available. Obviously, I’ve missed the 35th Anniversary deadline.

The nameboards themselves are proving to be an unexpected problem as well. The footage on the “Truckloads of Fun” AUS DVD are framed slightly differently compared to the VHS versions, in that they’re shifted to the right, so I’m having to line the frames up properly as I’m overlaying them over the VHS. As the frames are shifted over, they do have more image on the left-hand side but less on the right and idealy I’d like to have the more complete, widest frames. This in turn is proving difficult as the settings I’m using on Sony MSP won’t allow this as I’m using DVD/MPEG2-complient settings. It’s a little hard to explain without seeing it for yourselves but there are black bars on the sides and I just can’t get rid of them without losing the extra left-hand-side image, so I may have to sacrifice this and just match the frames as they appear on VHS.

On a positive note, I have decided to include the Ringo Starr US dubs of Series 1 and 2 as a 2nd audio track (high-quality ones sourced from YouTube) and for Series 2 they synced up really well. Only “Saved from Scrap” had to be altered to match the UK timing.

Like I say, I’m still working on this but its all proving to be more challenging and time-consuming that I thought. There’s no telling when I’ll be finished and with the sources I have, it’ll be as “finshed” as it can possibly get. I’ve wanted to see a project like this for a long time and there’s almost no chance of an official release so that’s why I want to complete this.

Obviously, I’ve missed the 35th Anniversary deadline.

If you’ve missed the 35th Anniversary, Maybe I hope you’ll restore it for the 40th Anniversary in 2024.

VintageMan94 said:

Obviously, I’ve missed the 35th Anniversary deadline.

If you’ve missed the 35th Anniversary, Maybe I hope you’ll restore it for the 40th Anniversary in 2024.

Hopefully I’ll be well and truly done by then!

alloneword, check your PMs (I started a private topic with you about this subject matter).

James and the Express, and the entirety of Series 2-3 do not include a remastered stereo soundtrack.