Thomas' roundhouse is located on the fictional Island of Sodor, which the Rev. Awdry dreamed up in the early 1950s, after visiting the Isle of Man to preach at a Sunday school festival.

Christopher Awdry, who went on to write numerous Thomas books himself after his father retired in 1972, disagrees, arguing that the engines are punished for displaying “arrogance” or ...

Thomas the Tank Engine TV series creator Britt Allcroft dies at 81 The beloved blue locomotive was first imagined in the 1940s — he starred in stories Rev. Wilbert Awdry told his son.

Thomas, Awdry explains in the second book, is “a cheeky little engine” — one prone to push at the rules. Without those rules, there is no rebellion.

I first met Awdry (the initials stand for Wilbert Vere) when producing The Thomas The Tank Engine Man, a BBC 2 documentary shown in 1995. He was born in 1911. His father Vere was also a vicar, and ...

The Thomas the Tank Engine universe was the brainchild of an Anglican minister, the Reverend Wilbert Awdry, who in 1942 began spinning stories about trains to amuse his son Christopher, who had ...

The Thomas the Tank Engine Man: The Life of Reverend W Awdry by Brian Sibley (Lion Books, £18.99) is available for £16.99 plus £1.99 p&p from Telegraph Bookshop (0844-871 1514; books.telegraph ...

Rev Awdry later created Thomas to entertain his young son when he was sick with measles. The character became a global icon, with more than 20 TV series made. Rev Awdry's daughter, ...

Britt Allcroft, the creator of the beloved children's television series Thomas & Friends, has passed away at the age of 81.. The Context. Allcroft, from Worthing, England, produced several shows ...

The "Thomas & Friends" production team, including creator Britt Allcroft, narrator Ringo Starr and author Wilbert Awdry Mattel In the five-minute pilot episode, Thomas makes a rude remark to Gordon.