Thomas & Friends



"Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends", currently known as "Thomas 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 twelve television seasons, a movie and two feature-length episodes, with two more seasons planned for 2009, season 13 and 2010, season 14 and a special episode to coincide with season 13.

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

In April 2008, news was discovered that filming of the series would transfer to Canada. What's more, faces for the engines, vehicles and rolling stock in the twelfth season will be CGI-animated, although characters in background shots will still have the traditional plastic faces.

The thirteenth season will start with a special episode and continue with the rest of the season. It's been discovered that the series will be fully CGI-animated.

Seasons

 * Classic Series (1984-2003)
 * Season 1 (1984)
 * Season 2 (1986)
 * Season 3 (1991-1992)
 * Season 4 (1994-1995)
 * Season 5 (1998)
 * Season 6 (2002)
 * Season 7 (2003)


 * New Series (2004-2007)
 * Season 8 (2004)
 * Season 9 (2005)
 * Season 10 (2006)
 * Season 11 (2007)


 * CGI Series (2008-)
 * Season 12 (2008)
 * Season 13 (2009)
 * Season 14 (2010)

Narrators

 * Ringo Starr (UK & US narrator Series 1-2)
 * Michael Angelis (UK narrator Series 3-12, US VHS & DVD)
 * George Carlin (US narrator Series 1-4)
 * Alec Baldwin (US narrator Series 5-6)
 * Michael Brandon (US narrator Series 7-11)
 * Pierce Brosnan (US narrator Series 12-present)

Movies

 * Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000)

Specials

 * Calling All Engines (2005)
 * On Site with Thomas (2006)
 * Engines and Escapades (2007)
 * The Great Discovery (2008)

Behind the Scenes

 * 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 35 mm camera, in order to get quality shots from such small objects. Sodor Island Fansite's Behind the Scenes page


 * Season 7 was the last season to use 35 mm film and the original Thomas the Tank Engine theme tune.


 * Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell composed the show's original main title theme, songs and incidental music from the years 1984 to 2003 (Season 1 to Season 7 - 182 episodes). 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 on the show - Stepney has made a number of appearances, and City of Truro and Flying Scotsman (cameo) played minor roles in two Season 3 episodes.


 * Beginning with Season 12, production will be moved from Britain to Canada, and in a revolutionary step, CGI animation will be used to actually allow the faces on the characters to move with their speech. However, in the background of the show, the characters will still have faces that don't move.

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
 * Greece: Τόμας το Τρενάκι
 * Finland: Tuomas Veturi
 * France: Thomas et ses Amis
 * Italy: Il trenino Thomas e i suoi amici
 * Poland: Tomek i Przyjaciele
 * Portugal: Thomas o Trem Azul
 * Romania: Locomotiva Thomas si Prietenii Sai, Season 8 and Calling All Engines "Cu Toata Viteza Inainte" and Season 9 were narrated by Daniel Vulcu, now, other seasons can be seen only on JimJam tv Romania.
 * 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.