Britt Allcroft, Thomas the Tank Engine series creator, dies aged 81

TV producer was behind the launch of the 1984 series ‘Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends’

Britt Allcroft, the creator of the beloved children’s series Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, has died aged 81.

In the 1970s, the TV producer secured the rights to adapt the Reverend Wilbert Awdry’s Railway Series books featuring Thomas the Tank Engine for screen, a project that became the 1984 series Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends (later retitled Thomas & Friends).

Allcroft, along with her then husband and fellow TV producer Angus Wright, spent four years raising the funds to make the first 26 episodes of the series, which was an instant success with fans. The series followed Thomas, a blue, anthropomorphised tank locomotive, and a fleet of his friends as they worked each day on the railway under the command of the Fat Controller.

Allcroft’s death was announced by filmmaker Brannon Carty, who knew Allcroft from their work together on the 2023 documentary An Unlikely Fandom: The Impact of Thomas the Tank Engine.

A statement from Allcroft’s family, shared by Carty, remembered Allcroft as an “adoring mother and wife and visionary producer”.

“It is with great sadness that I share with you the passing of Britt Allcroft,” the statement read.

“The Allcroft-Wright family has asked me to bring this news to the Thomas fandom. The family is currently in mourning and asks that their privacy be respected at this time.

“She brought so much joy and happiness to people everywhere during her time on Earth.”

The famous blue engine stops at a station in ‘Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends’ (ITV/Shutterstock)

Carty continued: “Over the years of knowing Britt, we developed a close connection. It was truly a privilege to have her as both a mentor and a friend, and I’m so glad that so many fans were able to meet her at the New York screening of An Unlikely Fandom. It was an absolute honour to have her in our documentary, and she has since remained a vocal supporter of our cause.

“I think I can speak for the entirety of the fandom when I say that all of us will deeply miss her. Without her, so many of us would never have met. While I am devastated by her passing, we can all find comfort in the certainty that her legacy will endure forever through Thomas and his fans around the world. Rest in peace.”

Allcroft was born in Worthing, West Sussex, in 1943. She first became aware of Thomas while making a 1979 documentary about the Bluebell Railway, a heritage railway in Sussex that featured in Awdry’s books.

In an interview, she said: “It really didn’t take me long to become intrigued by the characters, the relationships between them and the nostalgia they invoked.”

Allcroft was successful in getting the Thomas series onto screens at a time when numerous TV producers were vying to make deals to secure the rights from Awdry. She worked to convince Awdry that she could transform the stories into a successful TV show given sufficient funding – which she did, after four years of sourcing the funds. She established her production firm, The Britt Allcroft Company, in the process.

Allcroft pictured in 1973 (Getty)

Allcroft’s Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends first aired on ITV on 9 October 1984, directed by David Mitton, with narration by Beatles drummer Ringo Starr and music by Mike O’Donnell and Junior Campbell.

The original series was made using moving models, with locomotives and other vehicles operated by radios, while human characters were static figures. Stop motion was used occasionally when a human or animal character needed to move. By series three, hand-drawn animation was introduced.

The success of the series in the UK led to its expansion in other countries. In 1989, Allcroft and American producer Rick Siggelkow created Shining Time Station, a live-action children’s series starring the magical miniature character Mr Conductor. It was aimed at an American audience and established Thomas’s popularity in the US.

Thomas & Friends, under both of its titles, ran for 24 series and 584 episodes, from 9 October 1984 to 20 January 2021, with Allcroft stepping down as executive producer in the early Noughties.

In 1996, Allcroft created a spin-off from Shining Time Station called Mr Conductor’s Thomas Tales. She went on to write and direct a film based on the Thomas franchise in 2000, titled Thomas and the Magic Railroad, which performed poorly at the box office.

Over the years, Thomas & Friends faced accusations of sexism over the roles played by the male and female characters: the leading characters were all dominant male trains, while the female ones, Mavis and Daisy, were coaches that were pulled around.

Thomas the Tank Engine, Trevor and Edward in ‘Thomas & Friends’ (ITV/Shutterstock)

Series four (1994) saw the introduction of female characters from Awdry’s books, including motorcar Caroline, Nancy, and the Refreshment Lady.

In 2002, just before Allcroft left the show as executive producer, her company was purchased by children’s entertainment company HiT Entertainment. In 2012, the company – and the Thomas franchise – were sold to US toy giant Mattel.

The series went on to introduce CGI effects as this technology became more advanced, and in its most recent years, the series has introduced a more diverse range of characters. By 2018, the “Steam Team” had become gender-balanced, and in 2022, the series introduced its first autistic character.

Allcroft has been credited for the worldwide expansion of the Thomas franchise, with one fan writing in a tribute online: “Rest in peace Britt, without you Wilbert’s books wouldn’t have been amazingly adapted for television [and] people would never experience the magical world of Thomas and friends on TV.”

Another added: “Thank you Britt for making the childhood of many, thank you for all you’ve done for Thomas. I think I speak for everyone when I say we’ll miss you dearly.”