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Background Information
Billy is a fictional character created by Sharon Miller.
In 2007, Billy was introduced in the eleventh series of Thomas & Friends. His only appearance was in the episode, Don't be Silly, Billy. He was going to appear in the thirteenth series episode, Splish Splash Splosh but was cut and replaced by Charlie.[1]
Behind the Scenes
Gauge 1 model
Production orthographics were drawn up for Billy's gauge 1 model on 13 July 2006 by Conrad Ayling. Billy's model was based on a Manning Wardle 0-6-0ST, was built by model maker, Philip Reeves and designed to run on the gauge 1 track. The model was built to a 1:32 scale.[2]
The model's body was made from brass. While only one body was made, two complete chassis' were constructed from scratch (CNC). The chasses had two motors, both powered by electricity from the track via the pickups on the metal wheels. The main motor powered the wheels, while the second motor (located at the back) powered an inside piston for the smoke mechanism.
The eye mechanism had two servos, one for up and down movement and one for left and right movement. The up/down servo was attached to the body. The left/right servo had a rod attached to the arm, which connected to a bracket. The eye balls were coupled to the bracket and locked in by the face-plate, so whenever the servos were powered, the eye balls would move however the crew member desired.
Fonts
The following fonts were used on Billy's Gauge 1 model:
- Arial Bold (nameplates)
Reference Sheets
Series 11
Faces
Six different facial expressions were sculpted for Billy, although only five were used on-screen and one of which a shocked face was left unused.[3] The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made using a silicone mould.
Reference Sheets
Usage and Evolution
Present Day
Billy's duplicate screen used grinning, angry and unused shocked faces are owned by X user TomsProps. Billy's shocked face alongside his content face were previously owned by a private collector. A production made cast of Billy's shocked face was also formerly owned by X user IsaacM6991 after being sold on the Prop Store. In 2025, Billy's faces were put up for auction as part of Propstore's Thomas & Friends Online Charity Auction 2025.
CGI Face
The twelfth series marked the beginning of the show's transition into CGI and the characters' faces were animated through CGI with the aid of motion-capture animation. The physical models' moulded faces were replaced by white targets with triangles to fix a computer-animated face in post-production. While Billy was never seen with a CGI face, a motion tracker was created for him, indicating he was originally to appear with one in some capacity.
Present Day
After production of the model series wrapped in 2008, most of the models and sets would be put into storage, with some being put on display at Drayton Manor Theme Park. All other models would be logged and referenced from 2010 till early 2011 by HiT Entertainment, from this HiT would decide on which models were to enter storage once again, which would be given to crew members and which to be disposed off, during this time Billy's spare chassis would be placed in a lot with a few unfinished models, with the whole lot being listed as "TF00643". Due to only having one gauge 1 scale model made, Billy's model would stay under HiT and later Mattel's ownership until 2025. Although his spare unused chassis would be disposed of due to it being no longer needed.
Billy's spare chassis is now owned by Twitter user TomsProps.
In 2025, as part of the 80th Anniversary celebrations, Mattel would put Billy's model, as well as three of his faces, up for auction as part of the Propstore's Thomas & Friends Online Charity Auction 2025 in order to raise money for the National Autistic Society.[4] The model was sold for £15,120 and is now owned and preserved by Neil Leighton (known on Twitter/X as 10LEIGH10).[5]
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Present Day Ruler Reference Photos
Close-up model
A close-up shot of Billy's cab and firebox was required for scenes in Don't be Silly, Billy, where he had to interact with close-up scale figures. For this, Thomas' cab interior was recycled.
CGI model
The eleventh series episode, Don't be Silly, Billy, was recreated for CGI testing in 2008 by Nitrogen Studios alongside Thomas and the Stinky Cheese (although the tests have yet to be seen in full publicly). Therefore, a CGI model of Billy would have to have been created for this purpose. In addition, Billy was planned to appear in the thirteenth series, specifically in the episode Splish Splash Splosh, however, he was dropped in favour of a new character, Charlie.[1] It should also be noted that Charlie and Billy share the same basis. With all of this information, it is therefore likely that Billy had a CGI model created at some point by Nitrogen Studios, which has yet to be seen, and may have been retextured to create the CGI model of Charlie.
Voice Actors
- Yukito Soma (Japan)