Thomas & Friends (originally known as Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends and later Thomas the Tank Engine and Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!) is a British children's television series that aired across 24 series between 1984 to 2021. Based on The Railway Series books by Rev. W. Awdry and his son Christopher, the series was developed for television by Britt Allcroft. The series follows the adventures of Thomas, an anthropomorphised steam locomotive on the fictional North Western Railway on the Island of Sodor, and other engines including Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Toby, and several other anthropomorphised locomotives on the North Western Railway, work for the Fat Controller who wants his engines to be "really useful engines".
