This special was shown in select UK, Irish and US theatres. It was the first special shown in IMAX theatres. Big World! Big Adventures! ( not named; does not speak), The Story of Diesel the Diesel Engine, The Story of Emily the Clever Engine ( not named; does not speak), Thomas and the Gingerbread Train, The Missing Christmas Decorations and Last Train for Christmas At the Dieselworks, the workers cannot find the required parts to fix Daisy. Mavis tells 'Arry and Bert that Den and Dart say she may have to be scrapped, horrifying them. They tell Diesel, but he again thinks that they are blaming him. Later at a level crossing, Paxton arrives to tell Diesel about the rumours, but this time Diesel has had enough.

A few days later, Thomas goes to the Steamworks. Luke is there with Victor who jokes that he has found a yellow engine. Rheneas then puffs out of the Steamworks smiling. He has been given a new coat of bright yellow paint. Thomas beams from buffer-to-buffer; a bright new colour really does mean a new life for his friends, and he and everyone else laughs. Duncan and Freddie were going to be included, but when the production crew went to the Talyllyn Railway to measure the engines, Duncan's basis was being overhauled, and could not be measured. Because of this, he was left out until the eighteenth series. Freddie's basis was also being overhauled at the time, but he did not return to the series at any time. Norman was at the Dieselworks when Paxton returned after looking for him, Diesel, Sidney, Den and Dart. [7] Between the thirteenth and sixteenth series, Diesel was the only character from the model series to still be voiced by the narrator in the CGI Series. However, this was only in the US dub.

Diesel is frequently referenced as a metaphor for villains by the character, Lemon, in the 2022 action-comedy film, Bullet Train. The only special to have Park Jeong-uk and Shin Song-i as part of the voice cast for Green Narae Media in South Korea.

Although Diesel made fun of James when he was painted pink, he tried his best to prove himself to be as useful as the steam engines when he took all of the Jobi wood to the Sodor Search and Rescue Centre - only to put himself in danger requiring Thomas to rescue him. [4] However, Diesel tried again to prove how special he is when he took Thomas and Rosie's loads to market and stole James' pigs so that the children could see them. But it was only when Diesel brought the load of slate for the school that he proved himself Really Useful. The following morning, Percy arrives with new spare parts from the Mainland, including spare springs for Daisy, and the workmen fix her up in no time. As she leaves for work, she spots Diesel. She tells him that if he wants the other engines to be friends with him, he has to change his ways. The first appearances of Wellsworth and Norramby Fishing Village since the eleventh series episode, Percy and the Left Luggage and its first appearances in CGI. The first appearance of the Skarloey Railway and its engines, Mr. Percival's first speaking role and the first time he is referred to by name since the twelfth series episode, Push Me, Pull You. It also marks the Skarloey Railway engines' first appearances in CGI.

Series 19 - Henry Spots Trouble, Very Important Sheep ( cameo), Reds vs. Blues ( cameo), Philip to the Rescue ( cameo), Diesel's Ghostly Christmas, Goodbye Fat Controller and Wild Water Rescue

At Christmas time, he was given the job of transporting a Christmas tree to Ulfstead Castle. But the tree caused him to derail and when Diesel passed by, he refused to help Paxton. That night, Paxton pretended to be the Ghost of Christmas Present to try and remind Diesel of the true meaning of Christmas, but Diesel had gotten too scared to listen and ran away. Series 21 - Springtime for Diesel, A Most Singular Engine, Dowager Hatt's Busy Day ( cameo), P.A. Problems ( cameo), The Big Freeze and Daisy's Perfect Christmas Big World! Big Adventures! ( not named; does not speak), The Story of Gordon the Big Engine ( not named; does not speak), The Story of Emily the Clever Engine ( not named; does not speak), The Missing Christmas Decorations and Last Train for Christmas ( does not speak)In the twenty-second series, Sidney shunted a flatbed with parts for a diesel engine but he did not know who they are for. So he became Special Agent Sidney and he and Paxton solved the case of the puzzling parts. The answer turned out to be Sidney himself who needed repairing.