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Thomas & Friends

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Thomas & Friends
Thomas the Tank Engine.
Created byWilbert Vere Awdry
Britt Allcroft
StarringRingo Starr (1984–86)
Michael Angelis (1991– U.K. series)
George Carlin (1991–98 U.S. series)
Alec Baldwin (1998–2003 U.S. series)
Michael Brandon (2004– U.S. series)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of episodes234
Production
Running timefive minutes (series 1-7) seven minutes (series 8-)
Original release
NetworkITV (UK) (1984-91, 2003+)
Nick Jr. (UK) (1998+)
BBC Kids (Canada, 2001+ occasionally airs)
PBS (USA)(2004+)
ReleaseOctober 9 1984 –
Present
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Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends (changed into Thomas & Friends) is a children's television series which was first broadcast in 1984.

The series was based on The Railway Series, a series of books created by the Reverend W.V. Awdry. They deal with the adventures of a group of anthropomorphised trains and road vehicles who live on the fictional Island of Sodor. The books were based on stories Awdry told to entertain his son Christopher during his recovery from the measles. Many of the stories are based on events from Awdry's personal experience. During the 1980s the television rights were sold to Britt Allcroft and she began producing the series. The show has been narrated by, amongst others, Ringo Starr, George Carlin and Alec Baldwin.



Characters from the series

Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends may have the largest regular cast of any children's television series. Some of the more notable ones are:

Thomas the Tank Engine

A small blue tank engine. He is cheeky to the bigger engines and can be bossy towards the smaller ones, but he works hard and is kind to new arrivals. He worked at Knapford station for many years, but after rescuing James (see below) he was rewarded with his own branch line. His best friends are his coaches, Annie and Clarabel.

Edward the Blue Engine

An old engine who is a friend to all. Despite his age, he is a reliable engine who will do anything to help others. Like Thomas, he has a branch line of his own, but he also helps out elsewhere on the railway.

Henry the Green Engine

A big engine who is at home pulling passenger and freight trains. He used to suffer from poor health, but a complete rebuild cured this. He can be quite highly strung at times.

Gordon the Big Engine

For a long time, Gordon was the biggest and fastest engine on the railway. His job is to pull the Express, the most important train on the railway. This can make him boastful, but he does take pride in his work.

James the Red Engine

James is very proud of his shiny paint, and is therefore rather vain. He can also be petulant and bad tempered, and he hates pulling trucks. However, he is not afraid to apologise when he realises he has made a mistake.

Percy the Small Engine

Percy was bought to help out when the big engines went on strike. Despite his youth and small size, he knows how to put the big engines in their place when they order him around. These days he mainly works with Thomas and Toby on their branch line.

Toby the Tram Engine

An old tram locomotive with an unusual square shape. Toby works at the quarry and on Thomas' branch line. He is wise and experienced, but can get annoyed when the younger engines think they know best. He has a coach, Henrietta, with whom he has worked for many years.

Duck the Great Western Engine

A strong tank engine from the Great Western Railway who "makes everything run like clockwork." Unfortunately, his pride in his old railay can be tiresome for the other engines, who are tired of hearing that "there are two ways of doing things: the Great Western way and the wrong way." He was eventually rewarded for his efforts with a branch line of his own, on which he works with Oliver. He has two coaches, Alice and Mirabel.

Donald and Douglas

A no-nonsense pair of twin engines from Scotland who were saved from scrap by the Fat Controller. They are used all over the railway for goods work, but help out with all sorts of other jobs when they are needed. They really come into their own in winter, when they are used to clear snow.

Oliver the Western Engine

An engine who escaped from British Railways (the Other Railway). The admiration of the big engines led him to become conceited, but he has since learnt sense. Like Duck, he was built by the Great Western Railway, and now works on the same branch line along with his coaches, Isabel and Dulcie, and Toad, his brake van.

Annie and Clarabel

Thomas' coaches. Although they are old-fashioned in appearance, Thomas would not swap them for the world. They are always on hand to give Thomas sensible advice, although whether he listens or not is another matter...

Emily the Beautiful Engine

An elegant engine who is fairly new to the railway, but who is popular and well-regarded. However, she can be bossy and rude, and this can cause friction between her and the other characters.

The Fat Controller

The man in charge of all the engines on Sodor. He is firm but fair, and is rarely seen without his top hat and tailcoat. His real name is Sir Topham Hatt.

Bertie the Bus

A bus who enjoys a friendly rivalry with the engines when he is not helping them out. He is most famous for the time he raced Thomas. He is cheerful and enthusiastic.

Harold the Helicopter

A helicopter who works for the coastguard. He likes to think of himself as ultra-modern, and once had a race with Percy. Despite his boasting, he is a good friend to everyone, and helps out wherever he can.

Devious Diesel

A thoroughly unpleasant diesel shunter who told lies about Duck. The Fat Controller sent him away, but he has returned to Sodor on a number of occasions. At the moment he appears to be living on the Island, but it is not clear whether this is permanent. He can always be guaranteed to cause trouble, wherever he is.

Skarloey

An old engine who lives on the narrow gauge railway. He is over a hundred years old, but works as hard as anyone. He enjoys taking visitors to see the spectacular scenery along his line.

Rheneas

Skarloey's brother, who was once nicknamed "the Gallant Old Engine" because he brought a train full of visitors home despite being badly damaged. This saved the railway, and earned him the respect of all the other engines.

Rusty

A little narrow gauge diesel who performs odd jobs around the line. He is a very agreeable character who makes friends easily.

Duncan

An engine who means well, but can be rude, obstinate and headstrong. He gets very annoyed when he doesn't get his way, and is famous for "rock 'n' rolling" along the line.


For information on other characters, see the article Minor Thomas Characters.

Episodes

There have been nine seasons so far.

Movies

There have been two "movies" so far

Thomas and the Magic Railroad

A theatrical release which starred Alec Baldwin, Mara Wilson and Peter Fonda among others. It was, unfortunately, not a great success. Among the criticisms levelled at it were that the plot was confusing, that not enough screen time was given to the familiar characters and that the story was not faithful to the spirit of the original series. However, it does appear to be popular with younger children (according to reviews on the Internet Movie Database.

Calling All Engines

There is some debate as to whether this straight-to-video release is a sequel to the earlier movie or not. It features characters from the movie, namely Lady and Diesel 10, but no reference is made to the events of the earlier film.

In any case, this release was far better received by fans of the series than Thomas and the Magic Railroad. The story revolved around the attempts of the engines to work together to ensure that Sodor's new airport is completed on time.

Thomas Songs

Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell wrote songs for the Series from 1994 to 2003, Series 4 to 7. A lot of the time these songs were based off character themes which they had composed and were used as background music.

The first nine songs were released on an audio cassette in the mid 1990s by EMI, and featured them around narration of a story, which was told by Michael Angelis. The story was about the "Best Kept Station Competition", of which a later year's competition was shown in Series 6's "Percy & the Haunted Mine". The songs "That's what friends are for" and "Rules & Regulations" have never been given music videos, though, unlike every other song created for the series.

SERIES 4 - KEY: *** only on Sing-Along & Stories

  • Thomas We Love You (aka Thomas's Anthem) video: "Percy's Ghostly Trick"
  • Let's Have A Race***
  • Gone Fishing Video: "Rusty to the Rescue"
  • Toby***
  • Don't Judge A Book By It's Cover Video: "Thomas & the Special Letter"
  • Island Song Video: "Thomas Meets the Queen"
  • Really Useful Engine Video: "Gallant Old Engine"
  • That's what friends are for
  • Rules & Regulations

SERIES 5 - KEY:*** only on Thomas's Trackside Tunes

  • Night Train Video: "Cranky Bugs"
  • Accidents Will Happen video: "Races, Rescues & Runaways"
  • Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining Video: "Spills & Chills"
  • It's Great To Be An Engine video: "Make Someone Happy"
  • The Snow Song video: "Thomas' Christmas Wonderland"
  • Donald's Duck***
  • Sir Topham Hatt***
  • Come For The Ride***
  • Harold The Helicopter***
  • Percy's Seaside Trip***

SERIES 6 -

  • James The Really Splendid Engine Video: "Salty's Secret"
  • Little Engines video: "Percy's Chocolate Crunch"
  • Down By The Docks Video: "James & the Red Balloon"
  • Winter Wonderland Video: "Thomas' Snowy Surprise"
  • Boo Boo Choo Choo Video: "Thomas & the Jet Engine"
  • Never, Never, Never Give Up: (So far, only in a Special VCD Called "Sing-Along with Thomas")

SERIES 7 -

  • 5 New Engines In The Shed
  • The Red Balloon
  • There Once Was An Engine Who Ran Away
  • Troublesome Trucks

With the dawn of the new era in Series 8, Ed Welch took over as the song writer, to go along with the new music, composed by Robert Hartshorne.

SERIES 8 -

  • The Sounds Song: Short Version: Steamies vs. Diesels Long Version: Songs from the Station
  • Emily: Short Version: Track Stars Long Version: Songs from the Station
  • Surprises: Short Version: Thomas' Sodor Celebration Long Version: Songs from the Station
  • A World Around You: Short Version: It's Great to be an Engine Long Version: Songs from the Station
  • Determination: Short Version: ??? Long Version: Songs from the Station
  • Patience Is A Virtue: Short Version: ??? Long Version: Songs from the Station
  • Ode To Gordon: Short Version: ??? Long Version: Songs from the Station
  • Engine Roll Call: Steamies vs. Diesels

CALLING ALL ENGINES -

  • Dream Song
  • New Engine Roll Call
  • Busy
  • Try To Do Things Better
  • Together We Made It Happen

SERIES 9 -

  • Party Time
  • Buffer Up & Share
  • Seasons
  • Brave Little Engine
  • Whatever We Do
  • Day & Night

Songs were also composed for the film "Thomas and the Magic Railroad":

  • He's A Really Useful Engine
  • Shining Time
  • I Know How The Moon Must Feel
  • Some Things That Never You
  • Summer Sunday
  • The Locomotion

Series History

The series was first broadcast in 1984 on ITV in the United Kingdom. It was shown throughout the late eighties and into the early 90s when it was taken off the terrestrial UK network following broadcast of the third series. Between 1993 and 2003, Thomas was never shown on terrestrial UK networks, although did make a comeback on satellite through Cartoon Network in the mid 1990s, and then Nick Jr in 1999/2000, where it has remained since and become a popular fixture, even stretching to their involvement with Gullane and HIT Entertainment on recent series of the popular children's series.

Thomas also made a comeback on ITV in January 2003 with its sixth series of five minute stories. The sixth and seventh series were shown in their entirety in 2003/4, with the eighth only having 13 episodes aired, possibly on account of the new format for the programme. Due to a new agreement between ITV and the Programming Authority which allowed them to cut their children's TV output in mid 2005, there is no definite guarantees that the remainder of Series 8 will be aired, or that any of Series 9 will be broadcast either.

File:Shiningtimestationlogo.jpg
Thomas & Friends was debuted in America on Shining Time Station in 1989.

In 1989, Thomas and Friends was shown in North America, in a television series called Shining Time Station which was broadcast on PBS. Storytime with Thomas is another American spinoff that aired in 1999. Today, Thomas and Friends is broadcast in more than twenty languages around the world. In 2000 Thomas moved to the big screen, with the release of Thomas and the Magic Railroad. The film was not a great success at the box office. Another film (only for DVD and video release) called Calling All Engines was released in Autumn 2005.

The Thomas and Friends stories were five minutes long. The first two series were broadcast in the UK in blocks of two episodes at a time, this was changed to one episode at a time from series 3 onwards.

In 2004, the series began using computer animated special effects and the story length changed from five to seven minutes. A half-hour show format (aired on PBS and Treehouse TV in North America and on Nick Jr in the UK from 2004) was also adopted, showing three episodes plus puzzles, songs, and mini stories. The new series made major changes, such as changing the famous theme tune, and took on a more moralistic stance than previous series. This was at least partly due to complaints from parent action groups that the series trivialised railway accidents.

Animation

The series is animated using live action remote control models. This is a rarity in children's television, although [[[Gerry Anderson]] made use of similar techniques in his Supermarionation series.

The animation process is quite crude, as it means that only the vehicles can move. The human characters are generally motionless, although very basic stop motion animation is used if they have to move. Similarly, although the engines talk, their lips do not move. Their eyes, however, can be moved by radio control.

Each character has a wide range of facial expressions. These are conveyed using interchangeable foam rubber "masks" fitted to the front of the character.

Production history

The series has gone through numerous changes throughout its run. The producer is in charge of every aspect of the show for the relevant season(s)

Originally the series was produced by Britt Allcroft Ltd (Britt Allcroft's company) and Clearwater Features Ltd (David Mitton and Robert D. Cardona's company). Clearwater closed down in 1990 and Britt Allcroft Ltd (which changed to Gullane Ltd in 2000) produced solo until 2003, when HIT Entertainment bought the company and now runs its operation. HIT Entertainment was bought over in 2005 by Private Equity firm - Apax. Contrary to speculation and rumour, Apax are NOT a production company, and there is very little change likely to be made to the production side of HIT.

The series has always been filmed at Shepperton Studios.

Television series trivia

  • Since 1984, the show has been filmed at West London's Shepperton Studios. The layouts are expansive and fit in a hangar-sized room. The train miniatures are set on remote control and filmed using a 35mm camera, in order to get quality shots from such small objects. [1]
  • Stories were adapted from The Railway Series books in the first four series.
  • From 1998 onwards stories were written especially for television. First by the then producers of the show Britt Allcroft and David Mitton (series 5), and then by a much larger team of hired writers (series 6 onwards).
  • Throughout series 6 and 7, David Mitton continued to provide storylines and wrote his final script during the show's sixth run, "Edward the Very Useful Engine".
  • The narrator provides the story and the character voices.
  • In the Japanese version, individual voice actors did the characters' voices instead of the narrator.
  • In some episodes, old models used in Thomas' short-lived sister show, TUGS appear.
  • Season 7 had the most stock footage.
  • Season 7 was the last season to use 35mm film and the Original Thomas the Tank Engine Theme Song
  • In the American version of the first two seasons and in other few seasons, the episodes had different titles.
  • Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell composed the show's original theme song and music from the years 1984 to 2003. In 2004, Robert Hartshorne took their place as composer, while Ed Welch wrote the new theme tune and the songs.
  • In America, the original music in season 7 was revised to the new season 8 music for some reason.
  • The director was David Mitton until he retired in 2003. However, Steve Asquith replaced him from 2004.
  • The new Thomas & Friends theme song is "Engine Roll Call".
  • A "New Engine Roll Call" song will be an extra on the DVD Calling All Engines
  • Thomas the Tank Engine was in The Guinness Book of World Records 2004 for the world's largest model railway for the Thomas & Friends Big Live tour 2002; the model in question was a model of James. Gordon, who is bigger than James, did appear in the show, although a full model of him was not made. His front was seen sticking out of the shed in the scenes at the shed.
  • Lady isn't actually based on any existing steam engine
  • Donald and Douglas star in Season 8, they appear in "Edward the Great", but it was only a deleted scene. They were mentioned in the episode "You Can Do It, Toby!".
  • The Fat Controller appears every Season 8 episode except for "Don't Tell Thomas".
  • Season 9 is the first season where Thomas appeared in all 26 episodes.
  • "Bold and Brave" was the only episode where Ben appeared, without Bill! Both also appear in 'Thomas' New Trucks'
  • Season 9 was broadcast in America from September 2005, and on Nick Jr in the UK during November 2005.
  • Daisy's face is the same as Boco's Face used with make-up and eye lashes
  • Elizabeth and Isabella have the same face and model, only painted different colours
  • Bertram the Old Warrior has Duke's body repainted, and Smudger's face!
  • Thomas and Percy have had a few face switches, from time to time as did Duke who had Sir Handel's face on once.
  • According to Britt Allcroft, Bertram is supposed to be a tank engine, not a tender engine!
  • Thomas appears in every season 8 episode except for "Squeak, Rattle And Roll"
  • In 'Peter Sam And The Refreshment Lady' Henry had Gordon's face on and in 'Edward And Gordon' Edward had James' face on!
  • The Fat Controller appears in every season 6 episode except for "Jack Jumps In" and "A Friend In Need" He appears in every season 7 episode except for "Bill, Ben And Fergus" and "Best Dressed Engine", although he was mentioned in those episodes.
  • Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Toby, Bertie, Annie, Clarabel and The Fat Controller are the only characters to appear in every season of the show.

Narrators

  • Ringo Starr (U.K. narrator: 1984–1986; U.S. narrator: 1989). Beatles Drummer, Ringo Starr, narrated the first two TV series of Thomas and Friends from 1984 to 1989. Ringo did the original UK narration for the series, and then when exported to the US, parts of it were renarrated and replaced. Ringo also contributed his services to Ladybird Audio Book tie-ins for the series, and appeared in Shining Time Station as the first Mr Conductor, before returning to persue his musical career with his All Starr Band.
  • Michael Angelis (U.K. narrator from 1991; U.S. narrator 2003-04). Angelis has narrated the series since 1991, and been the longest standing narrator for the series in its history. He began in the 3rd series, and continues to narrate the British series as narrator today; he wasn't mentioned in the credits in the fifth season of the British series. Angelis also replaced Baldwin for the beginning of the seventh season of the U.S. version for only one DVD called "New Friends for Thomas". He has also narrated special straight to DVD episode - Calling All Engines
  • George Carlin (U.S. narrator: 1991–1994). Carlin was the first American to narrate the series; he replaced Starr in 1991 for the American series and "Shining Time Station" as the Mr Conductor character. In the American series, Carlin re-narrated the first two seasons due to Shining Time; in 1998, he left the series to pursue his career in comedy.
  • Alec Baldwin (U.S. narrator: 1998–2003). Baldwin replaced Carlin in 1998 for the U.S. series; he left the series to pursue film roles. In the American Series, Baldwin renarrated seasons 5-6 due to Storytime With Thomas
  • Michael Brandon (U.S. narrator from 2004). Brandon renarrated part of the 6th series for television broadcast and narrated the 7th, 8th and 9th seasons, as well as the straight to video special - Calling All Engines, he continues to narrate the series in America today.

Thomas video games

Thomas models

File:Thomaslioneltrain.jpg
A Thomas the Tank Engine model

Hornby Railways produce a range of OO scale Thomas Models. The models are not particularly detailed, but suitable in their role of toys. In the United States, Lionel offers a range of Thomas models in the larger O scale. Ertl, now defunct, produced a range of die-cast and plastic models. Learning Curve of Chicago produces and distributes the Thomas Wooden Railway System, which includes most characters, wooden track, stations, bridges, tunnels, and buildings, designed as educational and learning tools for young children. They also produce the Take along Thomas & Friends range of travel Thomas playsets. Tomy produce a Motor Road and Rail plastic train model set with battery powered engines and a wide range of track types and Thomas characters. Other Thomas models and toys can be found below under 'Thomas Merchandise'.

Day Out with Thomas

Percy the Small Engine on the Llangollen Railway in 2005

Preserved Railways in Britain regularly run "Friends of Thomas" weekends. A "Thomas" locomotive is brought in, and the resident locomotives have faces attached to them. The Mid Hants Railway even went so far as to rebuild one of their engines completely in order to produce an exact replica of Thomas. Other railways generally repaint a similar-looking engine in Thomas' distinctive blue livery. According to the National Railway Museum, there are currently seven engines masquerading as Thomas in the UK. However, this number is subject to change.

Perhaps the earliest example of an engine being repainted in Thomas livery was the Talyllyn Railway's Sir Haydn, which was repainted in the early 1980s to resemble Sir Handel as a tribute to Rev. W. Awdry, a lifelong member of the railway and whose books had played a significant part in advertising the line. Christopher Awdry repaid the favour in the book Great Little Engines, in which Sir Handel actually visits the Talyllyn Railway. Since then, the railway has always had at least one engine appearing as its opposite number from the Railway Series. Peter Sam and Duncan have also been recreated, Duncan being the current engine.

The first Thomas replica was the Nene Valley Railway's Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0, whose story is told on the railway's website. This engine was built in 1947 to work the Peterborough factory of the British Sugar Corporation. This engine was acquired as a shunter by the railway society, and its blue livery meant that it was quickly nicknamed 'Thomas'. In 1971 Rev. W. Awdry made the name official.

Since then, the number of Thomas characters who have appeared on preserved railways have become almost uncountable. It seems that nearly every character has been represented at some point, and the railways often create their own characters by adding a face to one of their locomotives. In addition, the railway's staff often join in the fun- there is nearly always a larger member of the Society to dress in top hat and tailcoat as the Fat Controller.

Days Out With Thomas have divided the preservation movement. There are many who feel that to repaint a locomotive as a Thomas character is to rob it of its dignity, particularly in the case of main line engines. Other objectors feel that these events are too commercial. More than once, railways have clashed with Gullane and HIT Entertainment over matters of accuracy. For example, certain 'Fat Controllers' have been banned for such offences as having beards and not being quite as large as HIT or Gullane felt the role required. They have also insisted that each event should have a Thomas character approved by the entertainment company. The Awdrys, it should be noted, generally take the side of the preserved railways in such disputes.

Perhaps the ultimate example of this clashing was when the copyright holders demanded that the Talyllyn Railway's 'Peter Sam' should have his face changed in order not to resemble the engine as he appeared in the books because they felt it violated copyright. This caused a certain amount of outrage among preservationists who felt that, since Peter Sam was based on the Talyllyn Railway's Edward Thomas in the first place, it was unreasonable for such a complaint to be made. Nevertheless, Peter Sam's face was remodelled, and Talyllyn characters since then have carried faces that do not resemble anything from the books.

In defiance of the entertainment companies' rules, some railways chose to devise their own non-Thomas events, such as the Embsay Railway's 'Happy Tank Engines Weekend', which resembled a Thomas event in all but name.

It is important to note, however, that Thomas events do have a valuable part to play in the preservation movement. They are significant fundraisers, attracting large numbers of families who might not otherwise visit a steam railway. For some lines, this monetary boost can mean the difference between life and death.

There are other benefits to these events. Thomas characters visiting other lines can act as "roving ambassadors" for their railways, advertising them far from home. They also mean that smaller engines, which might have little practical use in everyday service, to make money for the line. Many railways have a Class 08 diesel shunter normally used for moving engines and coaches that is repainted black and dressed up as 'Diesel' for the events.

In the United States, somewhat similar events take place on tourist railroads. The Thomas for these events normally is the one owned by the Strasburg Rail Road in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is full sized and fully functional.

It began life as Brooklyn East Terminal District locomotive 15. For years it moved freight around the Docks of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Strasburg Railroad bought it after it had been retired, moved it to its shops in East Strasburg, and rebuilt it from the ground up into a Thomas.

There are currently a few non-powered copies for other railroad musuems to use.

Whether one is for or against the events, it seems likely that they will go on for quite some time.

Thomas Merchandise

See Also

Minor Thomas Characters

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