Synopsis

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.

The broadcast went live that June, and multiple issues such as derailments occurred.

Subsequently, the BBC received complaints from viewers, and the Daily Mail featured the failed broadcast on their front page.

Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote a Railway Series television adaptation in 1977, which was cancelled following concerns that it would be altered upon being released worldwide.

Webber's cancelled adaptation would later serve as inspiration for Starlight Express, a 1984 broadway musical about trains.

In 1978, film producer Britt Allcroft discovered The Railway Series during her research for a documentary film about the Bluebell Railway.

The BBC attempted to adapt the books to television in 1953, utilising model trains by Hornby Railways.