The rights to the series are currently owned by HIT Entertainment (a subsidiary of Mattel), which acquired Gullane Entertainment in July 2002.Ī new 2D-animated series, Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go, premiered on 13 September 2021 on Cartoon Network.
In the United States, it was first broadcast along with the spin-off series Shining Time Station on PBS' PTV Park block in 1989. The series follows the adventures of Thomas, an anthropomorphised blue steam locomotive on the fictional North Western Railway on the Island of Sodor, and several other anthropomorphised locomotives on the North Western Railway, including Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, and Toby.
Awdry and his son Christopher, the series was developed for television by Britt Allcroft. Based on The Railway Series books by Rev.
Thomas & Friends (originally known as Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends and later Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!) is a British children's television series that aired across 24 series from 1984 to 2021.
