Has it been over a month since the last post? Wow!
With the recent announcement that Andrew Brenner is stepping down as head writer for Thomas and Friends after season 23, I figured it might be fitting to rank the writers from seasons 17 to 22 from least favorite to most favorite. Including Brenner himself, there have been eleven writers across six seasons, and four of them (Larson and Beaumont, Huckerby and Ostler) worked in pairs, so those will be ranked together.
A few conditions, though:
- Although Pressman and Larson both wrote for the model era, I will only consider their contributions to the CGI era, though I will touch on their model contributions for a bit.
- I am basing my judgement on the writers for their contributions to Thomas and Friends from season 17 onwards, not their careers as writers on whole.
- Even though Sam Wilkinson (Emily Saves the World) and Robin Gay (Goodbye Fat Controller) made some contributions to the aforementioned episodes, they will not be listed since they're technically not episode writers.
That out of the way, here's my ranking of the writers!
Least Favorite: Becky Overton
To be fair, Overton wasn't so bad during season 19. She did push for Henry no longer being an over-the-top worrier, and played a role in developing Diesel's character (even if Ghostly Christmas is practically a story that's been adapted to the point it's cliche). If that was her only season, that wouldn't be so bad...
But then season 22 came around, and it almost felt like she didn't give a damn about giving anyone any character in India, not helped by the fact Thomas was constantly in the spotlight whereas the attention could've gone to any of the Indian engines. Rajiv is still the best of the bunch despite feeling like an Indian James, Shankar was alright, Ashima was as appealing as a wet sock, and Noor Jehan was just... there.
And whilst Thomas Goes to Bollywood is my most hated episode of the show, Apology Impossible has the "honor" of having the worst message the show has ever spewed. Saying that you shouldn't defend yourself against bullies will result in unfortunate implications and destroys the development Philip and especially James went through. And no, it's not being let off the hook just for being a Sodor story.
On the whole, Becky Overton is the worst of the current writing team, and the sad fact is that she honestly had potential. I'm not looking forward to her presence in season 23, if she's writing for it, because how she depicted India didn't leave me with any positive feelings whatsoever.
8. Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostler
Before Becky Overton's writing in season 22, I considered Huckerby and Ostler the weakest writers of the current era. Their writing together was inconsistent at times - for every Duck and the Slip Coaches and Toad's Adventure that they excelled in, there was a Helping Hiro and Samson Sent for Scrap that they messed up. And then there were the middle of the road scripts like Signals Crossed and A Cranky Christmas.
I think that both of them together were better than Overton - not by much, but still - simply because they never sent out bad messages for children in any of their episodes. Though I wonder if they could've improved had they stayed on...
7. Tim Bain
So far, he is the only writer on the list not to write for a Sodor-based episode. Whilst Becky Overton felt like she didn't care about the narrative when it came to Indian facts, Tim Bain blended Australian culture into his narrative pretty well for the most part - it helps that he's Australian himself.
In fairness, I get that the international gimmick isn't for everyone. It wasn't really a bunch of episodes I'd revisit that often, but there are some I would like Outback Thomas. I won't go into much detail about the episodes since I covered them pretty recently, but Shane is one of the best international characters of the show alongside Aubrey and Aiden (voiced by Bain). Overall, I'd go far to say as a writer, Tim Bain's a bit underappreciated, and I'd love to see him tackle a Sodor story.
6. Paul Larson and Laura Beaumont
Paul Larson's connection with the franchise traces back to the sixth season in 2002. He gave us gems like Peace and Quiet, The Spotless Record and Gordon Takes Charge, but at the same time, he gave us stinkers like Rusty Saves the Day, Rheneas and the Dinosaur, and Saved You!. Put simply, he was the Becky Overton of the model era. (Yeah, I know; I'm talking about Becky a lot in this post.)
When he came back for season 17, he was paired with Laura Beaumont, who worked with him and a few others on Fireman Sam, and their writing collaborations were... interesting, to say the least. I mean, Steamie Stafford is far from the worst episode ever written, but it felt rather childish at times. Some of their best episodes to me were No More Mr. Nice Engine, Not So Slow Coaches and Emily Saves the World.
What makes their writing work at their best is being able to meld slapstick with story - for example, the globe and Emily going past the Fat Controller at the animal park - and bringing out some fantastic character interactions in the likes of The Thomas Way and Henry's Hero. A shame they're not involved in the show anymore...
5. Andrew Brenner
Now we come to the big man himself.
It's safe to say that Brenner's had a rather interesting reputation since Blue Mountain Mystery. His works during 2013-14 have all been met with positive reception among the fans, being viewed as a return to form for the show. But then came 2015 when he put out The Adventure Begins and Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, people began to treat him like God. I didn't, especially since he was prone to making mistakes like any other writer.
His first real stinker was The Other Side of the Mountain, which was practically a rewrite of Thomas' Shortcut from two seasons previous, and Philip didn't leave the most positive impression in his debut stories, but he did improve in Toby's New Friend. Sadly, that was in the same season which gave us Three Steam Engines Gruff, which I previously thought to be the worst episode of the show. Saving Time and Pouty James also didn't help Brenner's standing either, and nor did The Great Race.
Salvation came to Andrew, however, in the form of adapting the Arlesdale Trilogy for CGI, and Journey Beyond Sodor had a clearer idea of what it was going to be, but sadly, many people dismissed it as a sign of dark times to come. The final straw was Forever and Ever (an episode I still consider good, by the way).
Many fans were angry at that episode for being called out (and rightly so, if you ask me), and even demanded for Brenner to be fired, but I think the joke's on them; he had left the month before that episode aired. At the same time, it's harsher for me since I called at one point for him to step down as head writer and stick to adaptations. Now I'm wishing I hadn't said that in hindsight.
So yeah, Brenner had his problems, but he still gave off some great episodes, so I think it's only right to put him in a spot to reflect that.
4. Davey Moore
Well, this is gonna be fun!
Out of the writers on this list, Davey's the only one who has turned up to write at least one episode for six consecutive seasons - no joke! He's perhaps the most prolific writer of the current era, even having written nine episodes in season 22, five of which were based in China, which were hit or miss at best.
Actually, calling him hit or miss is a bit of an understatement. I might be alone on this, but I think that his great episodes outweigh his bad episodes significantly. He's given great stories like Duncan and the Grumpy Passenger, Love Me Tender, Den and Dart, and my favorite from him, Daisy's Perfect Christmas. Of course, he still wrote duds like Rocky Rescue and Emily in the Middle, hence he missed the top three, but still.
Davey Moore has quite possibly the widest range of storytelling as a writer, and I doubt he'll be going anywhere any time soon.
3. Lee Pressman
Paul Larson has a chapter of his own in the model era, but by contrast, Lee Pressman has just a small section dedicated to his only model episode, Gordon and Spencer. It was only when Lee returned with Kevin's Cranky Friend that fans began to notice him again.
Rather unfairly, he's been dubbed the most "Miller-like" of the current team. I don't get it. It's not like he's having engines pull balloons on flatbeds (excluding a moment in Dowager Hatt's Busy Day), or claiming that fireboxes are on fire. I do think, however, that if the writers were high school students, Lee would probably be the class clown, except much of his comedy is actually entertaining and does nobody no harm.
Every writer has his or her own quirk that makes them stand out, and whenever Lee writes a great episode (and I mean, a great episode), he also doesn't take himself seriously and has fun with them. Still, he had the odd dud like Salty All at Sea and New Crane on the Dock, but they were few and far in between.
Overall, Lee Pressman's the most underrated writer of the show, and hopefully one day, his writing will get the recognition it rightly deserves. Counting on Nia, for me, was a great way for him to end his time with the franchise, especially how she was implied to be dyslexic. It just goes to show how diverse planet Earth truly is. If only the heartless monsters could see that...
2. Helen Farrall
What's this, I hear you cry? Helen Farrall only at number two? Well, we'll get to that in a bit.
I'll start by saying that sometimes, the most unknown of people can leave a great impact. Before Lost Property, nobody knew who Helen Farrall was and thought it would be a Brenner script. Throughout season 19, there was a common trend in Helen's writing; she wrote simple, slice-of-life stories and even added in drama in stories like Slow Stephen and comedy for the likes of Henry Gets the Express. Her episodes felt a lot like traditional Railway Series storytelling, and all of her character dynamics from Glynn and Stephen to Skiff and the Fat Controller were second to none.
The only episode of hers that wasn't well-received by many was The Big Freeze, but given her record during the show, I think having one episode fall flat is very impressive. She was fantastic from start to finish, and I was greatly disappointed that she was leaving the show, especially since she was leaving behind big shoes to fill. But I think we may have found a suitable replacement for her...!
Favorite: Michael White
Yes, he's only written for two episodes of the show, and yes, he's one of the newest writers, but I absolutely love both of Michael White's episodes, Hunt the Truck especially.
I subscribed to his YouTube channel some years ago (I forget when specifically), and enjoyed the model work he did for his replica of the Ffarquhar branchline and his engines. In fact, it almost inspired me to try some model railway making of my own, but due to costs and travel, it's some ways away.
And when I heard the bombshell that he had become an actual writer for the show, I was excited and wanted more. His writing so far is amazing. He took Railway Series quotes and turned them into episodes for the modern audience. Even if Michael doesn't get more than three episodes per season, I think that'll make his writing feel more special, and easier to appreciate, especially if the show dwindles once again in quality. Right now, Michael White is the writer the fanbase deserves.
Let's hope he'll carry on Helen's legacy whilst simultaneously carving his own!