Thomas and Friends

Thomas & Friends (titled Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends prior to 1984) is a British children's television series, which had its first broadcast on the ITV network in 1984 and airs on PBS Kids in the US. It is based on The Railway Series of books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher Awdry. These books deal with the adventures of a group of anthropomorphised locomotives and road vehicles who live on the fictional Island of Sodor. The books were based on stories Wilbert told to entertain his son, Christopher, during his recovery from measles. From the first four series, many of the stories are based on events from Awdry's personal experience.

Precursors
Before the airing of the first episode of Thomas & Friends on 9 October 1984, previous attempts had been made to adapt Awdry's stories for television. The first occurred in 1953, when the editor of the Railway Series books Eric Marriott was approached by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), who wished to use live-action model trains to re-create two stories from Awdry's first book, The Three Railway Engines. The engines were portrayed by 00 gauge Hornby Dublo models, and authentic sets produced in the styles of the original illustrations were produced; the first episode, based on 'The Sad Story of Henry', was broadcast live on the evening of Sunday 14 June 1953 from Lime Grove Studios. Unfortunately, the live broadcast did not fare well: a failure to switch the points causing the model of Henry to de-rail and viewers of the live broadcast witnessed a large hand picking him up and replacing him onto the rails, models moved jerkily and all effects and music had to be superimposed. By 23 February, news of the broadcast hit the front pages, being covered by both the Daily Telegraph and with a front-page piece on the episode in the Daily Mail; Awdry himself branded the episode as 'unprofessional', and the point-switching debacle as an 'elementary mistake'. As a result, the second episode scheduled for 28 June 1953 was put on hold, and then later cancelled. After the Sad Story of Henry fiasco, the BBC did attempt to rescue the project by offering to give Awdry and the Railway Series publishers a larger degree of influence and control over the production of the episodes, but the publishers declined the offer, deciding to focus on publishing more books.

Awdry's stories did permeate the BBC once more: fourteen years before Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends was aired, Ted Ray, sitting in a stationmaster's office, read out five Railway Series books between 20 September to 2 October 1970 on the popular children's television story-telling show Jackanory.

Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends
In 1979, British television producer Britt Allcroft was producing a documentary on the Bluebell Railway, a heritage railway in Sussex which actually featured in the Railway Series book Stepney the Bluebell Engine. As part of her research before filming, Allcroft read some books in The Railway Series and was highly entertained and impressed with the stories which Awdry had written, later remarking that "There was something in the stories that I felt I could develop that would connect with children"; "I saw a strong emotional content that would carry with little children's experiences with life." Allcroft worked to convince Awdry that she could, with funding, convert the stories into a successful television show - her efforts were successful, and she purchased the television rights from the publishers of The Railway Series at a cost of what was then £50,000. But Allcroft still had to work to raise the money to finance production as so far all potential backers, despite showing a keen interest, wanted a level of creative control which she did not want to forego; in the end, after several years of searching and having to place a second mortgage on her home, Allcroft raised sufficient funding from her local bank manager.

The series started production in 1983 by Britt Allcroft Productions, Clearwater Features Ltd (David Mitton and Robert D. Cardona's company) and the ITV company Central Independent Television. The series was originally shot and produced with live action models at the Clearwater in house studio in Battersea London, ( Series 1 ), then relocating to Shepperton Studios, Middlesex, southwest of London for subsequent Series'. The use of moving models was seen at the time of the show's conception as an effective method of animating the stories. Locomotives and other vehicles were operated by radio, while humans and animals were static figures. Stop-motion was occasionally employed for instances in which a human or animal character would move. Hand-drawn animation was used in Series 3 to create bees.

The first series (1984) used stories from the first eight books, along with one specially written by the Rev. W. Awdry, Thomas's Christmas Party. The second series (1986) used stories from Book 9 ( Edward the Blue Engine ) to Book 30 ( More About Thomas the Tank Engine ). This book was unusual, as it was written specifically by Christopher Awdry to be adapted by the show. At that time it was a contractual obligation that the show could only adapt stories that appeared in print. The series also used a story from a Thomas Annual, "Thomas and Trevor", and a specially written stand-alone story,  Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree . The second series was actually a 27-episode series, as a single (unaired) episode ("The Missing Coach") was in the process of being filmed, but despite being filmed it was never shown because Allcroft decided it was too confusing for young children/younger viewers. The production team went on to use "Thomas, Percy and the Coal" instead.

In between production of the second and third series, the production team were focused in producing two other television series: Tugs which ran for one series from 1989 to 1990 for TVS. The American television Shining Time Station, repackaged Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends for the American television market.

Just before production of series three, Clearwater closed in 1990, with The Britt Allcroft Company becoming the sole producer. Series three was broadcast 1991 to 1992 in two parts, (one part having 16 episodes and the other having 10). It was made at a cost of £1.3 million. The series was a combination of episodes derived from The Railway Series, stories in the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends magazine, and original stories by Britt Allcroft and David Mitton. One of the primary reasons for diverging from the original books was that many of the stories not yet used featured large numbers of new characters, which would be expensive to produce. Another was that the producers wanted more stories about Thomas, the nominal main character. The Rev. W. Awdry complained that the new stories were unrealistic (see Henry the Green Engine for more details). Robert D. Cardona left as producer, while Britt Allcroft joined David Mitton as co-producer. Angus Wright took over as executive producer.

Series four was also broadcast in two parts, (one part having 10 episodes and the other having 16) from 1994 to 1995. The producers planned to introduce some new female characters, including motor car Caroline, Nancy, and The Refreshment Lady. Some commentators took this as a response to accusations of sexism levelled against the series two years earlier. In reality, these were not "new" characters, but creations of the Rev. Awdry from the original Railway Series books. Series four was almost entirely based on The Railway Series. The narrow gauge engines were introduced, and were the focus of a number of episodes. Only one original story ("Rusty to the Rescue") was used, but this took certain elements of plot and dialogue from  Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine .

The fifth series (1998) was a radical shift, as all episodes were written by Britt Allcroft and David Mitton with no further stories being adapted from the Railway Series. This series saw the introduction of new characters, such as Cranky, The Horrid Lorries and Old Slow Coach. After series 5, Angus Wright stepped down as executive producer.

Thomas and the Magic Railroad was released in July 2000 in the UK. It featured new characters created by Britt Allcroft, along with characters from the show that introduced Thomas to the US, Shining Time Station. Despite high production values and the popularity of the show, the film was criticised by UK reviewers who were unfamiliar with Shining Time Station. The movie was well received by young children on both sides of the Atlantic, but made only $16 million at the US box office at matinee prices, against a cost of $19 million to produce. The film was broadcast on BBC1 in 1 January 2004 and again on 29 December 2008.

Hit Entertainment
The Britt Allcroft Company (which changed to Gullane Entertainment in 2000) was bought over by HiT Entertainment in September 2002, a company specialising in children's entertainment.

The sixth and seventh series continued to introduce action-packed storylines and new characters, and saw the introduction of a writing staff. The sixth series in 2002 was notable for its attempt to create a spin-off based on the successful "Bob the Builder" series. Two episodes introduced a group of construction machine characters known as "The Pack". The spin-off didn't materialise for some time. Eventually, in 2006, thirteen episodes were released straight to DVD. The fact that older sets were used and the episodes were shot on 35mm camera (as opposed to the digital camera used at the time of the episodes' release) suggest it was filmed some time before Series 8. In Series 7 (2003) the programme title was officially shortened to Thomas & Friends, this name having been used on merchandise and video covers for three years previously. Phil Fehrle replaced Allcroft and Mitton as producer, though Mitton remained as the director. Executive producer Angus Wright was replaced by Peter Urie and Britt Allcroft as executive producers for Series 6.

In 2003, Britt Allcroft stepped down as executive producer, making Peter Urie the sole executive producer for Gullane Entertainment, and Jocelyn Stevenson was the executive producer for HiT Entertainment.

The eighth series (2004) introduced a number of significant changes to the show. Many of the original founding team involved in the original show since 1983 left the production, notably Britt Allcroft, director and writer David Mitton, and original composers Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell all departed, and the composers became embroiled in a protracted legal dispute with HIT. Steve Asquith took over as director, while Simon Spencer replaced Phil Fehrle as producer. A new theme song and incidental music was composed by Ed Welch and Robert Hartshorne, respectively. Episode runtime was increased to seven minutes. The series was produced using digital video camera, creating a somewhat different look for the show. Other changes include the additions of CGI educational sequences and transitions between stories. Executive producer Peter Urie also left, while Jocelyn Stevenson remained in her role as executive producer. Sam Barlow became the story executive, while Abi Grant and Paul Larson served as script editors. This series saw the adoption of a centralised cast, including Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Toby and Emily.

Hit Entertainment was itself then acquired by Apax Partners, a private equity company, in March 2005.

A straight-to-video film, ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calling_All_Engines! Calling All Engines! ]'' was released shortly before Series 9 in 2005. While featuring characters from Thomas and the Magic Railroad, it wasn't a direct sequel. It proved successful, which resulted in more direct-to-video specials being produced.

Series 9 (2005) and 10 (2006) saw the expansion of the supporting cast with new and old characters. From Series 9 the Narrator would call out the episodes' names and from Series 11 the Theme Song was sung starting with the sound of a train whistle. Series 10 aired with twenty-eight episodes rather than the twenty-six of previous years. The eleventh series (2007) was filmed in a high definition format. Twenty episodes aired in the original broadcast, while six were released direct to DVD. Jocelyn Stevenson had stepped as executive producer after Series 10, with Christopher Skala taking her place as executive producer for Series 11. Sharon Miller became the script editor from Series 9 to 11.

Series 12 (2008) saw the introduction of CGI effects, with the intent of producing the show entirely in CGI the following year. The traditional models and sets were used, but with computer animated faces superimposed on the models to allow for changing facial expressions. Humans and animals were fully computer animated to allow for walking movement. Only twenty episodes were broadcast (the US broadcast featured six additional episodes from Engines and Escapades). Sharon Miller became the head writer, starting with Series 12.

HIT announced multiple changes to the show beginning in 2009. One new aspect was the introduction of live-action host segments to Thomas' home video releases. The host took the form of a character who worked on The Fat Controller's railway, who would instruct viewers in craft projects. For the final 2 DVDs released for Season 12 in 2009, the host was named Mr. Arkwright (played by Robert Slate). In 2010 for the CGI Series, the host was named Mr. Perkins (played by Ben Forster) and has remained host ever since.

The other major changes were a move to production in CGI, rather than using physical models, and the addition of a voice cast to support the established narrator. The DVD feature, Hero of the Rails, was the first Thomas & Friends production to show these changes; Series 13 was the first television series in the new format. The CGI animation for the series was provided by Nitrogen Studios of Vancouver.

In September 2010, Apax was preparing to sell off HiT Entertainment and its franchises, including Thomas – regarded as the single most valuable asset – in order to help clear HIT's debts and in February 2012, sold the company, along with the Thomas properties, to US toy giant Mattel.

During production of Series 16 (2012), Sharon Miller stepped down as head writer, with Andrew Brenner assuming the role after serving as script editor for Blue Mountain Mystery. Additionally, Sam Barlow stepped down as story executive after the sixteenth series, and the production of the CGI animation was moved from Nitrogen Studios to Arc Productions of Toronto. King of the Railway and Series 17, both released during 2013, serve as the first special and series developed by the new animation and production team respectively.