Thomas and Friends

Thomas and Friends
Logo used from 2008 until 2021
Also known as	Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends (original title; series 1–6) Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures! (series 22–24)[1]
Genre	Children's television series
Created by	Rev. W. Awdry
Based on	The Railway Series by Rev. W. Awdry Christopher Awdry
Developed by	Britt Allcroft
Directed by	David Mitton (series 1–7) Steve Asquith (series 8–12) Greg Tiernan (series 13–16) David Baas (series 17) Don Spencer (series 18) Dianna Basso (series 19–24)
Voices of	See List of Thomas & Friends voice actors
Narrated by	Ringo Starr[2][3] Michael Angelis[4][3] George Carlin[5][2][3] Alec Baldwin[2][3] Michael Brandon[3] Pierce Brosnan (The Great Discovery)[3] Mark Moraghan[6] John Hasler[7] Joseph May[8]
Opening theme	Thomas' Theme (1984–2003) Thomas' Anthem (secondary) (1991–2003) Engine Roll Call (2004–2021) Big World! Big Adventures! (2018–2021)
Composers	Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell (1984–2003) Robert Hartshorne (2004–2016) Ed Welch (2004–2008) Peter Hartshorne (2011–2016) Chris Renshaw (2016–2021) Oliver Davis (2016–2017)
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	24
No. of episodes	584 + 14 films and 6 double-length specials (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Britt Allcroft (1984–1986, 2002) Angus Wright (1991–1998) Peter Urie (2002–2003) Jocelyn Stevenson (2003–2006) Christopher Skala (2007–2011) Marion Edwards (2009–2015) Lenora Hume (2009–2010) Karen Barnes (2011–2013) Kallan Kagan (2013–2017) Jeff Young (2013–2015) Steven Hecht (2013–2015) Michael Carrington (2013–2014) Christopher Keenan (2014–2021) Edward Catchpole (2015) Marianne Culbert (2016) Kyle MacDougall (2016–2021) Jamie LeClaire (2016–2021) Phil LaFrance (2016–2021)
Producers	David Mitton (1984–1998) Robert D. Cardona (1984–1986) Britt Allcroft (1991–1998) Phil Fehrle (2002–2003) Simon Spencer (2004–2008) Nicole Stinn (2008–2012) Ian McCue (2011–2017) Halim Jabbour (2013) Robert Anderson (2013; 2015–2017) Brian Lynch (2013–2015) Jennifer Hill (2014–2015) Lynda Craigmyle (2016) Jane Sobol (2016) Tracy Blagdon (2016–2021) Micaela Winter (2016–2018)
Production locations	Clapham Junction (1984) Clearwater Studios Battersea (1984) Shepperton Studios (1986–2008)
Running time	4 minutes, 30 seconds (series 1–7) 10 minutes[a] (series 8–12) 11 minutes[b] (Series 13–24)
Production companies	Clearwater Features (1984–1986) Britt Allcroft Ltd./Britt Allcroft (Thomas) Ltd. (1984–1986) The Britt Allcroft Company/Gullane Entertainment (1991–2003) HIT Entertainment (2003–2017) Mattel Television (2017–2021)
Original release
Network	ITV (series 1–3)[c] Cartoon Network (series 4–5) Nick Jr. (series 6–11)[d] Channel 5 (series 12–24)
Release	9 October 1984 (1984-10-09) – 20 January 2021 (2021-01-20)
Related
Tugs Shining Time Station Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends (otherwise referred to as Thomas and Friends, Thomas the Tank Engine or Thomas for short) is a British children's television series. It was first broadcast on CITV in September 1984. It is based on The Railway Series books by the Rev. W. Awdry and his son, Christopher. The main character is Thomas the Tank Engine, a tank engine that is painted blue. The show takes place on the made-up island of Sodor. There are some route systems there. One of them is a standard-gauge heritage railway run by Sir Topham Hatt known as the North Western Railway. Thomas runs on that route system.

1. ↑ "Thomas the Tank Engine launches gender-balanced, multi-cultural Steam Team". The Independent. 1 September 2018. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Paul Willistein (30 August 1999). "Rolling along new adventures for Thomas the Tank Engine". The Morning Call. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5} Starr (19 July 2007). "'Thomas' has new friend in Brosnan". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
4. ↑ Haring, Bruce (31 May 2020). "Michael Angelis Dies: Voice Of 'Thomas The Tank Engine' Was 68". Deadline. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
5. ↑ Allcroft, Britt (26 June 2008). "Los Angeles Times 'The George Carlin I knew'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
6. ↑ "Former Brookside actor to be Thomas the Tank Engine narrator". The Guardian. 17 May 2013. Archived from the original on 17 June 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
7. ↑ "John Hasler CV". johnhasler.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 February 2023.
8. ↑ "Joseph May". sp-agency.co.uk/. Retrieved 17 June 2024.