Thomas & Friends - Wikipedia. Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends (simply referred to as Thomas & Friends or Thomas the Tank Engine) is a British children's television series. It had its first broadcast on the ITV network in Great Britain in 1.
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It is based on The Railway Series of books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher Awdry. These books follow the adventures of a group of anthropomorphisedlocomotives 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. Many of the stories from the first four series are based on events from Awdry's personal experience. History. Precursors. Before the airing of the first episode of Thomas & Friends in 1. Awdry's stories for television, but not all attempts were successful.[3] The first was in 1.
Railway Series books, Eric Marriott, was approached by the BBC, who wished to use live- action model trains to re- create two stories from Awdry's first book, The Three Railway Engines.[3]The engines were portrayed by 0. Hornby Dublo models and driven on authentic sets in the style of the original illustrations. Black Swan Full Movie Part 1 on this page.
The first episode, based on "The Sad Story of Henry", was broadcast live on the evening of Sunday 1. June 1. 95. 3 from Lime Grove Studios.[3][4][5] The live broadcast did not fare well.
Reportedly, a failure to switch the points caused the model of Henry to derail and viewers of the live broadcast witnessed a human hand, said to be the one of a crew member, picking him up and placing him back on the rails. Models moved jerkily, and all effects and music had to be superimposed.[3][4][5]By 2. June, news of the broadcast hit the front pages of the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail.
Awdry himself branded the episode as "unprofessional", and the point- switching debacle as an "elementary mistake".[3][4][5] As a result, the second episode scheduled for 2. June 1. 95. 3 was put on hold, and then later cancelled.[3][4][5] 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 greater creative control over the production of the episodes, but the publishers declined the offer, preferring to focus on publishing new books for the series.[3]Nearly twenty years later, the BBC incorporated Awdry's stories once again. Fourteen years before Thomas and Friends was aired, Ted Ray, sitting in a stationmaster's office, read out five Railway Series books between 2. September to 2 October 1. Jackanory.[3]Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends and its success.
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In 1. 97. 9, British television producer Britt Allcroft was producing a documentary on the Bluebell Railway,[3][4] a heritage railway in Sussex which actually featured in the Railway Series book Stepney the Bluebell Engine.[7] 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."[4]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 £5. U. S. dollars at the time).[3][4] Allcroft still had to work to raise the money to finance production and, 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.[3][4][8][9]By 1.
Allcroft had secured the finances to produce the show, she started to assemble the crew, including producer and director David Mitton, also the founder of Clearwater Features Ltd.; crew member Steve Asquith; American- born producer Robert D. Cardona; and the selected team of composers and songwriters Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell.
The series started production in 1. Allcroft's production company, The Britt Allcroft Company; Clearwater Features Ltd. Mitton and Cardona's company); and the ITV company Central Independent Television.[1. The series was originally shot and produced with live action models at the Clearwater in house studio in Battersea, a suburb of London, for Series 1.
It later relocated to Shepperton Studios, Middlesex, southwest of London for subsequent series. The use of moving models was seen at the time of the series' 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 (1. Rev. W. Awdry, Thomas's Christmas Party.
The second series (1. Book 9 (Edward the Blue Engine) to Book 3. 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 series 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 2.
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 viewers. The production team went on to use "Thomas, Percy and the Coal" instead.[1.
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 1. Television South (TVS); [1. Watch The Dukes Online Hoyts'>Watch The Dukes Online Hoyts. Watch Street Thief Tube Free there.
American television series Shining Time Station, which repackaged Thomas & Friends for the American television market from 1. Just before production of series three, Clearwater closed on 3. December 1. 99. 0, with The Britt Allcroft Company becoming the sole producer. Series three was broadcast in 1. Thames Television. It was made at a cost of £1. U. S. dollars at the time).[1.
The series was a combination of episodes derived from The Railway Series, stories in the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends magazine (written by the series' current head writer, Andrew Brenner), and a couple of original stories by Allcroft and Mitton.[1. 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 reason was that the producers wanted more stories about Thomas, the nominal main character. Awdry worried that the new stories would be unrealistic (see Henry the Green Engine for more details).[1.
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 broadcast in 1. Cartoon Network. The producers planned to introduce some new female characters, including motor car Caroline, Nancy, and The Refreshment Lady.[1. Some commentators took this as a response to accusations of sexism levelled against the series two years earlier.[1. In reality, these were not "new" characters, but creations of 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", written by Allcroft and Mitton) was used, but this took certain elements of plot and dialogue from Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine. The fifth series (1.