Thomas the Tank Engine and 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.

Table of contents
1 Characters from the series
2 Thomas on TV & Film
3 Narrators
4 Thomas on DVD and Video
5 Thomas video games
6 Thomas Models
7 Day Out with Thomas
8 External links
9 Video Clips from the series

Characters from the series
























 Number
 Name
 Wheel arrangement
 Prototype


 1
 Thomas the Tank Engine
 0-6-0T
 Based on the Class E2 0-6-0T Edwardian Shunter.


 2
 Edward the Blue Engine
 4-4-0
 not based on any specific prototype, but a typical Victorian/Edwardian passenger locomotive.


 3
 Henry the Green Engine
 4-6-0
 black five


 4
 Gordon the Big Engine
 4-6-2 (pacific)
 LNER A3


 5
 James the Red Engine
 2-6-0 (mogul)
 Southern Railway N2(?)


 6
 Percy the Small Engine
 0-4-0ST
 Said by the author to be a Avonside tank engine modified beyond recognition. 


 7
 Toby the Tram Engine
 0-4-0T (?)
 LNER tram class


 8
 Duck the Great Western Engine
 0-6-0PT (?)
 GWR Pannier tank, class 54xx 


 9
 Donald
 0-6-0
 Caledonian Railway Class 812, Scottish freight locomotive


 10
 Douglas
 0-6-0
 Same as Donald (above)


link title
Others:

  • Alfie

  • Annie (Thomas' coach)

  • Arry

  • Arthur

  • Bert

  • Bertie (a bus)

  • Bill & Ben

  • Boco (D-5702)

  • Bridget (Fat controller's grand-daughter)

  • Bulgy (a bus)

  • Bulstrode (a barge)

  • Byron

  • City of Truro (Special guest appearance)

  • Clarabel (Thomas' coach)

  • Cranky (a crane)

  • Cyril

  • Diesel 

  • Daisy

  • Duke

  • Duncan

  • Elizabeth

  • Emily

  • Fergus

  • 'George (a steam roller)

  • Harold (a helicopter)

  • 'Harvey

  • Henrietta (Toby's coach)

  • Isabella

  • Jack (Front loader)

  • Jem Cole (Trevor's driver)

  • Kelly

  • Mavis

  • Max

  • Murdoch 

  • Mrs Kyndley

  • Oliver (Number 11)

  • Oliver the excavator

  • Rheneas

  • Rusty (Diesel on the mountain railway)

  • Salty

  • S.C.Ruffy (Lord of the trucks)

  • Sir Handel (Falcon)

  • Skarloey

  • Smudger

  • Spencer

  • Stephen (Fat Controller's Grandson)

  • Stepney (The Bluebell Engine)

  • Toad (Oliver's breakvan)

  • Terence (a tractor)

  • Trevor (a traction engine)

  • Troublesome Trucks

  • The Fat Controller a.k.a. Sir Topham Hatt (The Fat Director in early books)

  • Peter Sam (Stuart)
    

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. 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


Former narrators


  • Ringo Starr – (1984–91). 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 – (1991–98). 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.  
    

Current narrators


  • 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; and he 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.
    

Thomas on DVD and Video

See Thomas the Tank Engine home video.


Thomas video games

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 ([1]).  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 HIT Entertainment calendar for Day Out.


External links


Video Clips from the series

NOTE: All of these clips are from the American Version



      		
      










      		
    

  




  
    

      












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