Thomas & Friends
Making Tracks to Great Destinations
Thomas & Friends (1984-2021)
Seasons: 24,
episodes: 584
Episode runtime: 5 min
ITV1, 5, CITV, Cartoon Network, Cartoonito, Nick Jr.
Average rating:
6/10
28 543
Production
Status
Cancelled
Creators
Scenario
David Mitton
Author
Composer
Mike O'Donnell
Producer
Ian McCue
Actors
Michael Angelis
Narrator (voice)
Ringo Starr
Narrator (voice)
Mark Moraghan
Narrator (voice)
Ben Small
Thomas / Toby (voice)
Keith Wickham
Edward / Henry / Gordon / James / Percy (voice)
Matt Wilkinson
Spencer / Charlie / Victor / Rocky / Cranky / Kevin (voice)
Teresa Gallagher
Emily (voice)
John Hasler
Thomas (voice)
Short description
Thomas & Friends is a British children's television series, which had its first broadcast on the ITV network on 4 September 1984. 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 Series one to four, many of the stories are based on events from Awdry's personal experience.
Seasons
| Season | Episodes | Release date | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | 1984-10-09 | 8.7 | |
| 26 | 1986-09-24 | 8.4 | |
| 26 | 1992-02-25 | 10 | |
| 26 | 1996-03-04 | — | |
| 26 | 1998-09-14 | — | |
| 26 | 2002-09-16 | — | |
| 26 | 2003-11-03 | 10 | |
| 26 | 2004-10-04 | 10 | |
| 26 | 2005-10-31 | — | |
| 28 | 2006-10-02 | — | |
| 26 | 2007-09-03 | — | |
| 20 | 2008-09-01 | — | |
| 20 | 2010-01-25 | 7.6 | |
| 20 | 2010-10-11 | — | |
| 20 | 2011-03-01 | — | |
| 20 | 2012-02-20 | — | |
| 26 | 2013-06-03 | 4.5 | |
| 26 | 2014-08-25 | 8.7 | |
| 26 | 2015-09-21 | — | |
| 28 | 2016-09-05 | 2 | |
| 18 | 2017-09-18 | — | |
| 26 | 2018-09-03 | — | |
| 23 | 2019-09-02 | — | |
| 23 | 2020-05-01 | — |
What's left behind the scenes
- Toby and Oliver are the only engines from the main cast of the series who do not communicate with each other. Although they occasionally appear on screen together, such as in the Season 4 episode titled 'Thomas and the Special Letter'.
- The pilot episode of the project (1984-2021) was prepared back in 1983, but it was never released because the producers disliked certain details. The project was shelved and completely forgotten for many years until a box of 35mm film was accidentally discovered in 2023. The film was restored, and the defects that led to the project being shelved were corrected using digital technology. In 2025, the pilot episode was released on YouTube to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the publication of the first book about Thomas and his friends.
- The series' screenwriter and creator, Britt Allcroft, chose Ringo Starr, the former drummer of The Beatles, to provide the voice-over narration, believing that the audience would enjoy it; Starr indeed voiced the first two seasons.
- A couple of episodes were not filmed at all. One was due to a complex plot which, in the opinion of screenwriter and creator Britt Allcroft, was too difficult for children to perceive. The second was due to the high cost.
- George Carlin read the author's text for the version of the animated series intended for broadcast in the US. Carlin was very nervous without an audience in front of him, which led to mistakes. The producers solved the problem by giving him a teddy bear in the soundproof booth to act as his audience.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
