List of Thomas the Tank Engine-Related Controversies

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The following is an alphabetical list of Thomas the Tank Engine-related controversies.

1953 BBC The Sad Story of Henry Controversy

It has been reported that, during the broadcast of the 1953 BBC adaptation of The Sad Story of Henry, one of the model engines derailed due to a set of points not being set correctly. On-screen, a crew member's hand was seen putting the aforementioned model train back onto the rails. Wilbert Awdry, who watched the broadcast, complained about the "jerky" model railway operation, the on-screen derailment (which he described as an "elementary mistake"), as well as the "freely adapted" script required to fill in the ten-minute time slot.

On the 23rd of June 1953, the story appeared in an article in that day's edition of The Daily Mail entitled "What a Way to Run a (television) Railway" and according to Wilbert Awdry "became a matter of almost National concern." The story soon spread and Awdry sent an ultimatum to the BBC in which he complained how poorly the story had been adapted. Awdry wanted assurances that the second broadcast would not have any mistakes of a similar nature. Cecil McGivern, Head of Programmes at the BBC at the time, agreed with the Reverend's comments and dubbed the entire endeavour "pathetic." These complaints, combined with negative media attention, resulted in the next episode's delay and soon cancellation of the show. The second episode of the show was quickly replaced with a programme called "John Glyn Jones Tells a Story."

Daily Herald news article
"What a Way To Run A Railway"

Daily News article
"Toy Train Trouble"

Nottingham Evening Post

The Daily Telegraph "The Sad Story of Henry"

A letter from Awdry to Mrs. Adams about the programme

Newspaper article released on July 16th, 2022 about the 1953 broadcast

1972 Henry's Sneeze Controversy

In early publications of the book Henry the Green Engine, the story Henry's Sneeze contained the N word which is used to describe the boys after Henry sneezes at them. This caused a controversy so notorious that it was reported in the National Press in 1972. Wilbert Awdry later apologized for his offensive comment and accordingly changed the sentence to be more appropriate for later publications of the book.

1995 Henry's Forest Controversy

In the 1995 The Thomas the Tank Engine Man documentary, Wilbert Awdry criticized the episode Henry's Forest for its lack of realism. The major flaws he found were Henry's driver letting him stop in the forest without alerting a signalman (a violation of Rule 55), paving the way for a severe crash with an unaware locomotive, and the number of trees so close to the line that could catch fire from a spark from an engine's funnel.

"Well, what responsible driver would stop as if he was in a roadside lay-by? You can't do it. They showed a lamentable ignorance of Rule 55!"

― Wilbert Awdry on Henry's Forest

Britt Allcroft (who adapted the episode along with David Mitton) countered the second flaw by claiming to have seen many other railways do the same thing. Despite Allcroft countering what Awdry had said, his criticism may have inspired Henry's statement in the fifth series episode, James and the Trouble with Trees, about the Fat Controller having trees too close to the line removed for fear that they might cause trouble.

2003 Crashes Controversy

In 2003, British psychologist Brian Young criticised the show for its large amount of crashes and accidents on the show. According to him, the crashes may have negative affects on young children and may cause them to become frightened of going on a train in real life in fear of it crashing. One of the networks airing the show, ITV even had to make a statement assuring parents that they believe that the show is as age-appropriate for children as possible.

2005 Thomas' 60th Anniversary Party Controversy

When the 60th anniversary celebrations of The Railway Series began in 2005, HiT Entertainment produced a DVD called "Peep! Peep! Hurray! Three Cheers for Thomas" for the audiences in the UK. One of the bonus features on the DVD was an invitation to a party at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire.

This event featured many attractions including magicians, jugglers, and face painters. There was also storytelling, games, play areas, and meetings with "Thomas the Tank Engine himself". For additional entertainment, a live show with The Fat Controller was conducted.

Unfortunately, the event was a disappointment for all attendees, including parents and children as the Thomas shown was very primitive and the other engines were merely cardboard cut-outs. Thomas was only seen during the stage show and fans were unable to "meet" him as advertised. After the poor reception and news reports from the BBC about the attendees being left disappointed by the event, HiT Entertainment realised the event was a calamity.

The company later set up a special email and a telephone line for comments and complaints from disappointed and angry customers to express their dissatisfaction and as well as going into giving the maddened customers refunds, making sure a travesty like this would not happen again.

2007 Lead Paint Recalls

In June and September 2007, several items from the Wooden Railway range were recalled as it was discovered that highly poisonous lead paint was used in some items. This crisis also lead to the cancellation of several Wooden Railway items that were intended for release in 2007.

2008 Day out with Thomas CRB Controversy

From 2008 onwards, many heritage railways in the UK have withdrawn their "Day Out with Thomas" events due to HiT's revised licensing conditions (which includes the requirement for enhanced criminal records (CRB) checks on all the railway's staff and volunteers). The new rules were criticized by Railway Staff volunteers blaming HiT for poor timing prior to the events, some even branding them as "over the top", all this despite two recorded incidents between 2006 and 2007 which were thought to have led to the decisions for the benefit of safety, this ultimately led to a collapse of events around the UK over the coming years with more being pulled over increased prices.

2009 "sexist, hierarchical: study" controversy

Although similar stories of this were thought to have reached the press in the 1990s, University of Alberta professor Shauna Wilton came to that conclusion "Thomas the Tank Engine pushes a conservative ideology and relegates female characters to the back of the train" - She noted that characters are discouraged from "thinking outside the box" or from trying to express an independent point of view. But what bothered her the most were the roles assigned to females.

Although HiT/Mattel didn't comment at the time, it's thought as a result of this and similar that pushed the series creating more multicultural and gender-balanced characters for Big World! Big Adventures!

2011 Winter Holiday Controversy

The UK and Irish DVD was criticized in 2011 by The Christian Institute over the episodes and learning segments calling Christmas "winter holidays" and referring to "trees with decorations" instead of Christmas trees. HiT Entertainment responded saying it was not a seasonal release, but the issue caused them to push back the latest DVD, Merry Winter Wish, for release in October 2012 so that they could re-dub the audio to mention Christmas.

2016 Henry Spots Trouble Controversy

The nineteenth series episode Henry Spots Trouble was banned from airing on Australian TV (though the episode is still available on the Whale of a Tale and Other Sodor Adventures DVD released by ABC) when complaints were made concerning the Fat Controller's statement that Chicken Pox is “a mild disease that is nothing to worry about” as it appeared to be sending anti-vaccination messages (though the episode had no intentions on doing so).

2020 Thomas and the Royal Engine Controversy

Prince Harry's role in the marketing introduction was criticized by Britt Allcroft, the original creator of Thomas & Friends. However, the next day, Allcroft quickly clarified that her "concern was, in no way, about the actual writing of this story," and passed on good wishes to the writer, Michael White.

A Noisy Surprise Controversy

The 1998 book A Noisy Surprise made national news in the United States after parent Lynn Gilbert found inappropriate material from an adult guide book (possibly "Your Star Guide to Sex" by Judi Jacobs) behind a sound effects board which became unglued. According to the Illinois publisher, the China-based printer accidentally glued the recycled adult manual leftovers inside the book. When the mistake was discovered, the book was recalled immediately and the printer was warned to make sure such mistakes would not happen again.

Thomas Incident

In 1992, a woman at a fete got run over by her husband who was driving a tractor that looked like Thomas which led to her having surgery on her broken legs while suing her husband for $125,000.

The Sad Story of Henry Controversy

The first series episode The Sad Story of Henry (as well as supposedly the original story from the book The Three Railway Engines) has been heavily criticized due to the Fat Controller's supposed cruelty when he appeared to shut Henry in his tunnel permanently for refusing to come out of it.

Many articles incorrectly state that Henry was never let out of the tunnel after being walled in at the end of the episode; however, this is incorrect as he was let out again in the very next episode as well as the very next story in the Railway Series book from which both episodes originated. In North America, the episode was even re-narrated to make the Fat Controller more lenient and had intentions on letting Henry out when he was ready.

Sir Topham Hatt/The Fat Controller controversies

Many people have wrongly likened The Fat Controller to an authoritative dictator and falsely accused him of cruelly mistreating the engines if they don’t work hard for him. Alongside his supposed cruel treatment of Henry in The Sad Story of Henry (see above), critics have also accused him of scrapping engines when they are not Really Useful to him anymore.

The Fat Controller has always been named Sir Topham Hatt in America due to sensitivities regarding overweight people. Naming The Fat Controller as such has also reached other countries, with a Day Out With Thomas event in England banning any mention of Sir Topham Hatt by his nickname. Any magazine stories published there now refer to him by his real name.

A newspaper article about Day Out with Thomas events banning mentions of "The Fat Controller"

References

Thomas the Tank Engine in Culture

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