Thomas & Friends

Thomas & Friends is a friendly kids TV Show.

Thomas & Friends has been approved by **Nicolas Rubio**, the Spongy fanatic.

## About

Thomas & Friends was a television series mainly based around railway engines that live on the Island of Sodor. The show is mainly about the title character, Thomas, a cheeky little blue tank engine with six small wheels, a short stumpy funnel, a short stumpy boiler and a short stumpy dome. Thomas & Friends takes place on the standard gauge North Western Railway, the narrow gauge Skarloey Railway and the 15-inch gauge Arlesdale Railway. The head of the North Western Railway is Sir Topham Hatt, affectionately nicknamed "The Fat Controller" by the engines and staff, the Skarloey Railway is operated by Mr. Percival, "The Thin Controller" and the Arlesdale Railway is operated by Fergus Duncan, "The Small Controller."

## History

### Pre-production

The first known attempt to make a television adaptation of the Railway Series books was by the BBC in 1953. It was decided that Hornby Dublo models would be used and everything went ahead but the project did not succeed. During the live airing of the first episode, Henry derailed and a hand was seen coming down to put him back on the tracks. Nothing else is known to remain of this project.

There have been several other attempts, however. The first somewhat successful run was on the children's show "Jackanory" in 1970. The Railway Series books were read out loud by host Ted Ray. Five books were read in all until 2nd October 1970.

The current television series got its start in 1979 when the Reverend Awdry was interviewed on the Bluebell Railway for a feature on steam engines. The producer, Britt Allcroft, had read some of the books before the interview. She had become fascinated with the characters and after getting funding from her local bank, acquired the series so she could adapt it for television.

### The Britt Allcroft Company Era (1984-2000)

Allcroft rounded up a production crew, which included model director David Mitton, narrator Ringo Starr and composers Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell. The first series premiered in October 1984 and with its success, came a second series in 1986.

After the huge successes of the first and second series, Britt Allcroft set another goal: bringing Thomas into the United States. Due to stricter broadcasting schedules, Britt had to create a half hour programme to go with the five and a half minute episodes. The result was Shining Time Station, starring Ringo Starr as Mr. Conductor, which began airing in 1989. This was another hit for Allcroft and was the beginning of the "Thomas craze" in America.

When the television series returned in 1991 with the third series, there were some big changes. Instead of following closely to the Railway Series, Allcroft and Mitton loosely adapted many of the Reverend's stories as well as loosely adapted magazine stories written by the current head writer Andrew Brenner (who unfortunately did not get credited for these adaptations), they even wrote their own episodes, much to the Reverend's disdain. The fourth series, airing in 1995, only had one original episode however and featured many new characters such as the Skarloey Railway engines.

By now, the series was doing incredibly well and a full-length theatrical film soon loomed ahead. Britt Allcroft decided to drift completely away from Railway Series stories and in 1998, the fifth series, contained all original storylines, allowing Britt to showcase the series as her own before the upcoming film.

The full-length theatrical film gained the title, Thomas and the Magic Railroad, and after many changes from the original script, it premiered in July 2000. The film recieved mixed to negative reviews from critics, and becoming a huge box-office failure - forcing Allcroft to step down from her position as a Deputy Chairperson. Her company was sold to Gullane Entertainment and they, in turn, were later sold.

### The Gullane Entertainment Era (2001-2003)

In 2001, the idea for a spin-off focusing on the non-rail vehicles was being tossed around at Gullane. It is possible that this idea later became Jack and the Sodor Construction Company. During the process, the sixth series was produced and aired in 2002, as was the seventh in 2003.

### The HiT Entertainment Era (2004-2012)

The buyer of Gullane Entertainment turned out to be HiT Entertainment and the eighth series, that aired in 2004, came with drastic changes. The episodes became more formulaic in plot with the focus on morals and education. Since the eighth series this format is still being carried out for all the following series with great success.

2005 saw the broadcasting of the ninth series as well as the release of the first direct-to-DVD special, Calling All Engines! The tenth series aired in 2006 and was the only production to contain twenty-eight episodes unlike the usual twenty-six. The first broadcasting of the eleventh series took place in 2007 and this marked the final series to contain twenty-six episodes, until the seventeenth series. The second direct-to-DVD special, The Great Discovery was released in 2008 and this marked the final full live-action production.

One of the most revolutionary steps in the show's history also took place in 2008, when it was announced that Thomas & Friends would be produced using computer generated imagery (CGI). The show would be produced in Canada at Nitrogen Studios and the twelfth series used CGI for the faces of the engines, the people and the animals alongside the traditional live-action format. This was also the first series to contain twenty episodes and this format continued until the seventeenth series.

The first fully CG animated production was the 2009 direct-to-DVD special, Hero of the Rails, directed by Greg Tiernan. This was also the first time the engines and people had individual voice actors since Thomas and the Magic Railroad. The voice acting continued for all series and specials hereafter.

2010 saw the first year to have two series, the thirteenth and fourteenth. Another feature length special, Misty Island Rescue, was released that Autumn. The fifteenth series premiered in early 2011 and the next direct-to-DVD special, Day of the Diesels, was released in Autumn 2011. During that October, Mattel won HiT Entertainment in an auction by Apax Partners, HiT's owners and in February 2012 the money was transferred. February 2012 also saw the premiere of the sixteenth series in the UK. It was the last series animated by Nitrogen Studios, the last to have Sharon Miller as the head writer and the final series to contain twenty episodes. Blue Mountain Mystery was released in September 2012. It was the last special to involve Nitrogen Studios and Miller.

A second theatrical film, supposedly titled The Adventures of Thomas, was set to be released in 2011, but years later and still with no news on any further developments, it is unknown whether the project will actually move on. Although there has been no official confirmation of the project's cancellation, it is presumable that the film has been scrapped.

### The Mattel Creations Era (2013-2016)

2013 saw Andrew Brenner take over as head writer and Arc Productions take over the CG animations, animating the seventeenth series as well as all following series and specials until the end of the show. The seventeenth series also regained the initial twenty-six episode format and implemented a new writing style that promised to focus on the original charm and appeal of Thomas & Friends.