|
Background Information[]
The Refreshment Lady is a fictional human character created by the Rev. W. Awdry.
The Refreshment Lady was introduced the fourth series of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends.
Television Series[]
Gauge 1 figures[]
The Refreshment Lady's Gauge 1 figure was custom built from resin for the fourth series. It was painted using enamel based paint. The model was constructed for distance shots only.
The Refreshment Lady's seated figure was later repuporsed for Mrs. Kyndley. Her original small scale head was repainted for Lady Hatt in the fifth series, and later paired with the small scale body of the Queen in the seventh series.
A new small-scale model was made for the Refreshment Lady during the seventh series.
Present Day[]
The Refreshment Lady's original small scale figure is now owned by Twitter user ThomasTankMerch, while the figure's head is owned by Hectorfan2008.
In 202?, the new small scale model was displayed at the second Clearwater Event. The model was later displayed alongside her close-up figure at the second Awdry Extravaganza in 2022.
Gauge 3 figure[]
A Gauge 3 figure of the Refreshment Lady was made in the seventh series for scenes where she had to interact with the large-scale models of the narrow gauge engines, which had been used since the fifth series for ease of filming and reliability. Just like the Gauge 1 figure, the model had many variations built to match the needs of the episode's plot, and like many post-second series figures, it was made of resin.
For some scenes in The Refreshment Lady's Tea Shop, a teacher's seated figure was used to represent the Refreshment Lady riding in Peter Sam's coach as a Gauge 3 seated Refreshment Lady did not exist.
Close-up figures[]
Close-up figure of Refreshment Lady was constructed for scenes where she had to interact with the close-up models for engines and set dressings. Just like the Gauge 1 figure, the models had many variations to match the needs of the plots. The models were originally made from wood (like many of the close up models made during the first series), which was then replaced with resin copies for the third series to the fifth series. They were constructed at 100mm, 6 feet or 1:18 scale.
Her large scale figure has gone through several other parts swaps:
- In You Can't Win she had a different body.
- In Passengers and Polish, she had Mrs. Kyndley's first series body.
From fifth series onwards, the Refreshment Lady's original head was given orange hair and paired with a black dress body intended for Lady Hatt.
During the production of the eighth series, the Refreshment Lady's original head and new body were repainted, this time to alter the skin and hair colours.
From the seventh series onwards her head was a repaint of the Queen.
43.png "DirtyWork(Season11)43.png (1.48 MB)")
Reference Sheets[]
Present Day[]
In 2025, as part of the 80th Anniversary celebrations, Mattel would put Refreshment Lady's original head, as well as several other figures, up for auction as part of Propstore's Thomas & Friends Online Charity Auction 2025 in order to raise money for the National Autistic Society.
Voice Actors[]
- Chizu Yonemoto (Japan; fourth series only)
- Hiromi Nishida (Japan; seventh series only)