Thomas & Friends

Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends (aka Thomas & Friends) is an animated children's television series which debuted in 1984.

The series was based on The Railway Series, a series of books created by the Reverend W.V. Awdry. The books, which told of the adventures of a group of living, talking trains, who lived on the fictional Island of Sodor and were based on stories which Awdry told his son Christopher to entertain him during Christopher's recovery from measles. During the 1970s, the television rights were sold to Britt Allcroft and she began producing the series.

Characters from the series

Number	Name	Wheel arrangement	Prototype
1	Thomas the Tank Engine	0-6-0T	LBSCR E2 Steam Tank Engine.
2	Edward the Blue Engine	4-4-0	NBR D30 Steam Tender Engine
3	Henry the Green Engine	4-6-0	LMS' A3 Steam Tender Engine, later LMS 5MT "Black Five" Steam Tender Engine
4	Gordon the Big Engine	4-6-2 (pacific)	LNER A3 Steam Tender Engine
5	James the Red Engine	2-6-0 (mogul)	LMS Pre-group Steam Tender Engine
6	Percy the Small Engine	0-4-0ST	NBR Y9 Avonside Steam Saddle Tank Engine modified beyond recognition
7	Toby the Tram Engine	0-4-0T	Class J70 Wisbech STeam Tram Engine
8	Duck the Great Western Engine	0-6-0PT	GWR 57xx Steam Pannier Tank Engine
9	Donald	0-6-0	CR Class 812 Steam Tender Engine
10	Douglas	0-6-0	CR Class 812 Steam Tender Engine
11	Oliver the Western Engine	0-4-2T	GWR 14xx Steam Tank Engine
27	Harvey the Crane Engine	0-4-0T	Dubs Steam Tank Engine with attached crane
N/A	Emily the Beautiful Engine	4-2-2	GNR Stirling Single Steam Tender Engine
N/A	Fergus the Traction Engine	2-2-0WT	Aveling & Porter Steam Well Tank Engine "The Blue Circle"
N/A	Arthur the Big Red Tank Engine	2-6-2T	LMS Ivatt Steam Tank Engine
N/A	Murdoch the Heavy Goods Engine	2-10-0	BR Standard 9F Steam Tender Engine
.	.	.	.
D1	Daisy the Diesel Rail-Car	Bo-Bo	BR Class 101 Metro-Cammel DMU
D2	Boco the Diesel Engine	Co-Bo	BR Class 28 Diesel Engine
D3	Bear the Blue Diesel	Bo-Bo	BR Class 35 "Hymek" Diesel Engine
N/A	Mavis the Quarry Diesel	0-6-0	BR Class 04 Diesel Shunter
N/A	Arry the Iron Works Diesel	0-6-0	BR Class 08 Diesel Shunter
N/A	Bert the Iron Works Diesel	0-6-0	BR Class 08 Diesel Shunter
D2991	Salty the Diesel Engine	0-6-0	BR Class 07 Dock Shunter Diesel
.	.	.	.
1	Bill the Tank Engine Twin	0-4-0	Bagnall Steam Saddle Tank Engine
2	Ben the Tank Engine Twin	0-4-0	Bagnall Steam Saddle Tank Engine

Other characters

• Coaches
• Annie
• Clarabel
• Henrietta
• Isabel
• Dulcie
• Toad
• Alice
• Mirabel
• Old Slow Coach
• Emily's New Coaches (2)

• Rolling Stock
• S.C. Ruffey
• Troublesome Trucks

• Skarloey Railway
• 1 Skarloey
• 2 Rheneas
• 3 Sir Handel (Falcon)
• 4 Peter Sam (Stuart)
• 5 Rusty
• 6 Duncan
• 7 Ivo Hugh

• Culdee Fell Mountain Railway
• 1 Godred
• 2 Ernest
• 3 Wilfred
• 4 Culdee
• 5 Shane Dooiney
• 6 Lord Harry (Patrick)
• 7 Alaric
• 8 Eric

• Arlesdale Small Railway
• Rex
• Mike
• Bert
• Jock
• Frank

• Mid-Sodor Railway
• 1 Duke
• 2 Smudger
• 3 Falcon (Sir Handel)
• 4 Stuart (Peter Sam)
• - Bertram

• British "Other" Railway
• City of Truro (Special guest appearance)
• Diesel
• Spencer

• Bluebell Railway
• Stepney (Known as the "Bluebell Engine")

• Sodor Construction Company (The Pack)
• 11 Jack
• 12 Alfie
• 14 Byron
• 15 Max
• 16 Oliver (Excavator)
• 19 Ned
• 22 Isabella
• -- Kelly

• People
• Cyril (The Fogman)
• Jem Cole (Trevor's Driver)
• Lady Amanda Hatt (Wife of Topham Hatt II)
• Bridget Amanda Hatt
• Lady Jane Hatt (Wife of Topham Hatt I)
• Sir Topham Hatt I (The Fat Controller I)
• Sir Topham Hatt II (The Fat Controller II)
• Stephen Topham Hatt (The Fat Controller III)
• Mr. Kyndley
• Mrs. Kyndley

• Road Vehicles
• Bertie (a bus)
• Bulgy (a bus)
• Elizabeth (Stephen Hatt's first lorry)
• George (a steamroller)
• Terence (a tractor)
• Trevor (a traction engine)

• Air Vehicles
• Harold (a helicopter)
• Tiger Moth (a biplane)

• Sea Vehicles
• Bulstrode (a barge)
• Canal Boat

• Miscellaneous Characters
• Cranky (a crane)

Many of the charcters are based on actual British locomotives (steam engines and diesels) and vehicles from the late 19th century onwards.

Thomas on TV & Film

The series debuted in 1984 on ITV in the United Kingdom. In 1989, Thomas & Friends was shown in North America, with the television series called Shining Time Station which aired on PBS. In 2004, Thomas returned to PBS as a full half hour show to promote the eighth season in the U.S.A. Today, Thomas & Friends is broadcast in more than 20 languages around the globe.

In 2000, Thomas moved to the big screen, with the release of Thomas and the Magic Railroad.

Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends was produced by Gullane Entertainment. Hit Entertainment now owns the Thomas licences for broadcast and merchandising.

The Thomas & Friends stories were 5 minutes long. The first two series showed two epsiodes at a time, with a show of the characters in the middle. It changed to one at a time in series three.

In 2004, the series began using computer animated "special effects" and the story length changed to 7 minutes instead of the earlier 5 minutes.

Narrators

US narrators

• Ringo Starr – (1989–1991). Starr was the first narrator of the series; in the American series, Starr narrated half of the second season because it was out of production due to "Shining Time Station"; he left the series to return to his music career.
• George Carlin – (1991–1998). Carlin was the first American to narrate the series; he replaced Starr in 1991 for the American series; in the American series, Carlin re-narrated the first two seasons due to "Shining Time Station" and in 1998, he left the series to further pursue his career in comedy.
• Alec Baldwin – (1998–2003). Baldwin replaced Carlin in 1998 for the US series; he left the series to pursue motion picture roles.
• Michael Angelis – (2003—2004). Angelis replaced Baldwin for the beginning of the 7th season of the US version.
• Michael Brandon – (2004—). Brandon renarrated the seventh season and continues to narrate the American series today.

British Narrators

• Ringo Starr – (1984–1991). Starr was the first narrator of the series; in the American series, Starr narrated half of the second season because it was out of production due to "Shining Time Station"; he left the series to return to his music career.
• Michael Angelis – (1991—). Angelis replaced Starr for the British series as narrator in 1991; he wasn't mentioned in the credits in the 5th season of the British series.

Thomas on DVD and Video

See Thomas the Tank Engine home video.

Thomas video games

• Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, for Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis.

There was also a game written for the Commodore 64 and the PC.

Thomas Models

Hornby Railways produce a range of OO scale Thomas Models. Full details can be found at their website (). 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.

Day Out with Thomas

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. See .