Thomas & Friends

Thomas and Friends, previously known as Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, is the name of the television series based on the Railway Series by the Reverend W. Awdry. It was adapted for television by Britt Allcroft using original stories from the Railway Series before using television-exclusive stories written by indepenent writers. The series has spawned sixteen television seasons, a movie, and five feature-length specials, with another season planned for next year, along with another special, and a second movie in 2014.

The series is currently being produced by HiT Entertainment, who have filmed the series since its acquisition of Gullane Entertainment in 2003.

In April 2008, it was announced that filming of the series would transfer to Nitrogen Studios in Canada. What's more, faces for the engines, people and animals in the twelfth season would be CGI-animated, although characters in background shots would still have the traditional plastic faces.

Hero of the Rails was released in Fall 2009. Since then, the series has been fully CGI-animated.

About
Thomas and Friends revolves around the 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 and Friends takes place on the standard gauge North Western Railway and the narrow gauge Skarloey 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". Since the second season, there has been a rivalry between the steam and Diesel engines.

History
The first known attempt to make a television adaption of the Railway Series was by BBC in 1953. It was decided that Hornby Dublo models would be used and everything went ahead. But it was sadly not to be. During the live airing of the first episode, Henry derailed and a hand was seen coming down to put him back on track! There are no known photos of this project. There have been several other attempts, however. The first somewhat sucessful run was on the childrens show "Jackanory" in 1970. The Railway Series books were read out loud by host Ted Ray. Five books were read in all until October 2nd, 1970. The current television series got its start in 1979 when the Reverend Awdry was interviewed for a feature on steam trains. The producer, Britt Allcroft, had read some of the books before the interview. She had became fascinated with the characters and after getting funding from her local bank, acquired the series so she could adapt it for television.

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 season premiered in September 1984 and with its sucess, came another in 1986. After two sucessful seasons, Britt Allcroft set another goal: bringing Thomas into the United States. Due to stricter broadcasting schedules, Britt had to create a half hour program to go with the five and a half minute episodes. The result was Shining Time Station, starring Ringo Starr as Mr. Conductor. This was another hit for Allcroft and was the begining of the "Thomas craze" in America.

When the television series returned in 1991, there were some big changes. Instead of following closely to the Railway Series, Allcroft and Mitton loosely adapted stories and even wrote their own episodes, much to the Reverend's disdain. The fourth season only had one original episode however and featured many new characters such as the Skarloey Railway engines. The series was doing incredibly well after that and a full-length theatrical film soon loomed ahead. Britt Allcroft decided to drift completely away from Railway Series stories and the fifth season contained all original storylines. This was so Britt could showcase the series as her own before the upcoming film.

The film gained the title "Thomas and the Magic Railroad" and after many changes from the original script, premiered in July of 2000. The film was a huge failure and Allcroft was forced off the series. Her company was sold to Gullane Entertainment and they, in turn, were later sold. 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, as was the seventh. The buyer turned out to be HiT Entertainment and the eighth season came with drastic changes. The episodes became more formulaic in plot with the focus on morals and education. This format was carried out for the next seven seasons with great sucess.

One of the most revoluntionary steps in the show's history was in 2008 when it was annouced that Thomas and Friends would be produced using computer generated imagery (CGI). The show would be produced in Canada at Nitrogen Studios. Season twelve used CGI for the faces of the engines, the people, and the animals alongside the traditional model format. The first fully CGI production was the 2009 special, Hero of The Rails, directed by Greg Tiernan. This was also the first time the engines had individual voice actors since Thomas and The Magic Railroad. However, the voice actors would also act in the regular seasons.

2010 saw the first year to have two seasons, the thirteenth and fourteenth. Another feature length special, Misty Island Rescue, was released that fall. Season 15 premiered in early 2011 and another special, Day of the Diesels, was released in Fall 2011. During that October, Mattel won HiT Entertainment in an auction by Apax Partners, HiT's owners. In February 2012 the money was transferred.

February 2012 also saw the premiere of the sixteenth season in the UK. It was the last season animated by Nitrogen Studios and the last to have Sharon Miller as the head writer. A new special, Blue Mountain Mystery, is due for a release in Fall 2012. It will be the last special in involve Nitrogen Studios and Miller. After years of complaints from fans, HiT announced that Andrew Brenner will take over as head writer. Arc Productions have also been confirmed to animate the seventeenth season, which will be released in 2013. A theartrical film is also in the works for a 2014 release.

Seasons

 * Season 1 (1984)
 * Season 2 (1986)
 * Season 3 (1991-1992)
 * Season 4 (1994-1995)
 * Season 5 (1998)
 * Season 6 (2002)
 * Season 7 (2003)
 * Season 8 (2004)
 * Season 9 (2005)
 * Season 10 (2006)
 * Season 11 (2007)
 * Season 12 (2008)
 * Season 13 (Spring 2010)
 * Season 14 (Fall 2010)
 * Season 15 (2011)
 * Season 16 (Spring 2012)
 * Season 17 (Fall 2013)

Specials and Movies
These are theatrical films, specials, and special episodes:
 * Thomas and the U.K. Trip (between Seasons 3 and 4)
 * Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000)
 * Calling All Engines! (2005)
 * Jack and the Sodor Construction Company (filmed 2002; released 2006)
 * Engines and Escapades (2007)
 * The Great Discovery (2008)
 * Hero of the Rails (2009)
 * Misty Island Rescue (2010)
 * Day of the Diesels (2011)
 * Blue Mountain Mystery (2012)

A theatrical Thomas film set in WWII London is set for release in 2014.

Narrators
These are the narrators of the show in the United Kingdom and the United States:
 * Ringo Starr (UK/US narrator seasons 1-2)
 * Michael Angelis (UK narrator since season 3, US narrator New Friends for Thomas DVD)
 * George Carlin (US narrator seasons 1-4)
 * Alec Baldwin (US narrator seasons 5-6)
 * Michael Brandon (US narrator since season 7)
 * Pierce Brosnan (UK/US guest narrator The Great Discovery)

Around the World

 * Main article: Other Languages

English is by no means the only language in which the series is broadcast in:
 * Wales: Tomos a'i Ffrindiau, narrated by John Ogwen and often broadcast on S4C's "Planed Plant Bach"
 * Japan: きかんしゃトーマス, or, literally, Kikansha Tōmasu
 * Norway: Lokomotivet Thomas/Thomas og Vennene Hans
 * Germany: Thomas die kleine Lokomotive/Thomas Und Seine Freunde
 * Greece: Τόμας το Τρενάκι
 * Finland: Tuomas Veturi
 * France: Thomas et ses Amis
 * Italy: Il trenino Thomas e i suoi amici
 * Poland: Parowóz Tomeki i jego Przyjaciele/Tomek i Przyjaciele
 * Portugal: Thomas o Trem Azul
 * Romania: Locomotiva Thomas si Prietenii Sai
 * Sweden: Thomas och Vännerna
 * China: 火車頭日記
 * Taiwan: 湯瑪士小火車
 * South Korea: 꼬마기관차 토마스와 친구들
 * The Netherlands: Thomas de Stoomlocomotief
 * Mexico/Latin America: Thomas y sus amigos
 * Brazil: Thomas e seus amigos
 * Hungary: Thomas a gözmozdony

Trivia

 * From 1984-2008, 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 35 mm camera, in order to get quality shots from such small objects. Sodor Island Fansite's Behind the Scenes page
 * The seventh season was the last to use 35 mm film and the original theme tune.
 * Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell composed the show's original main title theme, songs and incidental music from 1984 to 2003. In 2004 Robert Hartshorne took their place as composer, while Ed Welch wrote the new theme tune and the songs.
 * Three real engines have been featured in the show - Stepney has made a number of appearances, and City of Truro and Flying Scotsman played minor roles in two third season episodes.
 * Beginning with the twelfth season, production moved from Britain to Canada, and in a revolutionary step, CGI animation (provided by Nitrogen Studios) is now being used to allow the faces on the characters to move with their speech, and have their eyes blink as well. The human characters and animals are also able to move on their own.
 * 2009 was the first year since 2001 not to feature a new season of episodes.
 * In the third season episode, Escape, the Fat Controller clearly states that steam engines are rare, but from the sixth season and onwards more and more steam engines have appeared in the television series. To date, just under twenty new steam engines have been introduced.
 * Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Toby, Annie, Clarabel, Henrietta, Bertie, and The Fat Controller are the only characters who have appeared in every season of the series.
 * There are nearly 400 episodes of Thomas and Friends. If the spin-off Jack and the Sodor Construction Company episodes are included, there are over 400.