In 2005, the series ranked 26th in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Kids' TV Shows vote. In 2013, the series ranked 34th in Channel 5's 50 Greatest Kids TV Shows vote. Every UK narrator of the series, excluding John Hasler, has narrated at least a few episodes for the US. saw the broadcasting of the ninth series as well as the release of the first direct-to-DVD special, Calling All Engines! The tenth series aired in 2006 and was the only production to contain twenty-eight episodes unlike the usual twenty-six. The first broadcasting of the eleventh series took place in 2007 and this marked the final series to contain twenty-six episodes, until the seventeenth series. The second direct-to-DVD special, The Great Discovery was released in 2008 and this marked the final full live-action production. After the huge successes of the first and second series, Britt Allcroft set another goal: bringing Thomas into the United States. Due to stricter broadcasting schedules, Britt had to create a half hour programme to go with the five and a half minute episodes. The result was Shining Time Station, starring Ringo Starr as Mr. Conductor, which began airing in 1989. This was another hit for Allcroft and was the beginning of the "Thomas craze" in America.

Thomas appears and speaks in every episode of the thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth and nineteenth series. He also appears in every episode of the ninth, sixteenth and twentieth series, despite not speaking in all of them. However, starting from Big World! Big Adventures! and the twenty second series onwards, Thomas himself takes over the role of narration, telling it from his point of view. When the television series returned in 1991 with the third series, there were some big changes. Instead of following closely to the Railway Series, Allcroft and Mitton loosely adapted many of the Reverend's stories as well as loosely adapted magazine stories written by the current head writer Andrew Brenner (who unfortunately did not get credited for these adaptations), they even wrote their own episodes, much to the Reverend's disdain. The fourth series, airing in 1995, only had one original episode however and featured many new characters such as the Skarloey Railway engines. Wales: Tomos a'i Ffrindiau, narrated by John Ogwen and often broadcast on S4C's "Planed Plant Bach" Thomas & Friends celebrated their 70th Anniversary in 2015. To celebrate this milestone, a 44-minute special, The Adventure Begins was released in Spring 2015, the first feature to include original stories by the Rev. W. Awdry since 1995. Furthermore, a special 28-minute documentary, titled 70 Years of Friendship was released exclusively on the Thomas & Friends YouTube channel on 14 July 2015. In Autumn the same year, the next direct-to-DVD special, Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, was released. The first four episodes of the nineteenth series premiered in the UK between 21 September and 24 September 2015. The nineteenth series also first aired on 13 October 2015 in the US.

Required Cookies & Technologies

Inspired byBrerdaniel'sMy Little Pony: The Disney Chronicles poster, I've thought I make own Disney Adventure Poster. This time with Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends and it won't be just Disney and Pixar, but also Star Wars, Marvel, the Muppetsand 20th Century Fox too. Japan: きかんしゃトーマス ( Kikansha Tōmasu), broadcast on Fuji Television (Series 1–8), TV Tokyo (Series 9–11, 13) and NHK (Series 14–24)

Michael Angelis ( UK narrator for Series 3–16; 1991–2012, US narrator for the New Friends for Thomas and Other Adventures VHS/DVD, 2004) Pierce Brosnan ( UK/US guest narrator for The Great Discovery and the original cut of Series 12; 2008)

Deviation Actions

In January 2016, three more episodes from the nineteenth series aired in the UK, followed by another five episodes in March 2016. March 2016 also saw the release of six more nineteenth series episodes released on the annual mini-tentpole, episodic release, Start Your Engines!. These episodes later aired in the UK in July 2016. A special 4-D theme-park exclusive production was released titled Thomas & Friends in 4-D: Bubbling Boilers on April 9, 2016 in Boston. saw Andrew Brenner take over as head writer and Arc Productions take over the CG animations, animating the seventeenth series as well as all following series and specials until the end of the show. The seventeenth series also regained the initial twenty-six episode format and implemented a new writing style that promised to focus on the original charm and appeal of Thomas & Friends. This format was used with great success and a lot of fan approval. Ten episodes of the seventeenth series aired in the UK in June 2013 followed by five episodes in September/October 2013. Another episode aired in November and four more in December. Also released in Autumn 2013 was the seventh direct-to-DVD special, King of the Railway. The seventeenth series began airing on 7 October 2013 in the US. The remaining six episodes of the seventeenth series, featured on the Spills and Thrills DVD aired between July and November 2014 in the UK. In Autumn 2014, the eighteenth series aired and the following feature-length special, Tale of the Brave was released. The remaining six episodes of the eighteenth series featured on the Dinos and Discoveries DVD premiered in the UK in July 2015. During the celebrations, Thomas and the Royal Engine was shown with a live-action introduction of Prince Harry followed by the twenty-fourth series and Marvellous Machinery, which marked the final productions for the original television series by a grand total of 584 episodes, 13 feature length specials and a theatrical film. The series was last produced by Mattel Creations taking over HiT Entertainment, who filmed the series since its acquisition of Gullane Entertainment in 2002.

will mark the 40th anniversary of the Thomas & Friends television series, while 2025 will mark the 80th anniversary of the whole franchise itself. Presumably titled The Adventures of Thomas was the then second theatrical Thomas & Friends film that was planned for release. Little was ever known about this film and the full state of this film is still currently unknown. As of 2018, it has most likely been cancelled, since no new updates on the film have been announced.

The first fully CG animated production was the 2009 direct-to-DVD special, Hero of the Rails, directed by Greg Tiernan. This was also the first time the engines and people had individual voice actors since Thomas and the Magic Railroad. The voice acting continued for all series and specials hereafter. September 2016 saw the release of the next direct-to-DVD special, The Great Race. The twentieth series began broadcasting in the UK on 5 September 2016 with the first five episodes of the series and in the US on the October 21, 2016. HiT Entertainment and SiF released a poll in which fans voted for what they wanted to see rendered in CG for this series. Notably, this was the first series since the fourth series to adapt Railway Series stories, with the book Small Railway Engines being adapted into the final three episodes of the series. In August 2016, Arc Productions closed down after filing for bankruptcy. After entering an agreement, Jam Filled Entertainment looked to acquire Arc Productions under a new management. On 22 August 2016, it was confirmed that Jam Filled had successfully acquired the entirety of Arc Productions and some former Arc staff regaining their jobs, resumed working on animation for Thomas & Friends under the new management and organisation name.