Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends

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Thomas & Friends, previously known as Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, is the name of the television series based on the Railway Series by the Reverend W. Awdry. It was adapted for television by Britt Allcroft using original stories from the Railway Series before using television-exclusive stories written by independent writers. The series has spawned twenty-four television seasons and eleven feature-length specials. Originally airing in the United Kingdom in 1984, the show was brought to American audiences through Shining Time Station in 1989. However, following the end of Shining Time Station, Thomas the Tank Engine became a completely independent entity in the United States of America just as it had always been in the UK.

Prior to airing on "Shining Time Station", several changes were made. To better suit the US terminology, the term "trucks" was changed to "cars", the Fat Controller was referred to by his real name, Sir Topham Hatt, and the term "goods" was changed to "freight". Because of this, some parts of episodes had to be re-narrated. For example, in Trouble for Thomas (originally Thomas and the Trucks in the UK), it's evident which parts were re-narrated and which were not, such as the line "(US) Now the freight cars are silly and noisy. They talk a lot and don't attend to what they are doing." There were even lines that were redone due to Ringo Starr's gruff voice. Some episodes were also renamed to fit the terminology.

The series is currently being filmed by HiT Entertainment, who have filmed the series since its acquisition of Gullane Entertainment in 2003.

In April 2008, news was discovered that filming of the series would move to Canada. What's more, faces for the engines, people and animals in the twelfth season would be CGI-animated, although characters in background shots would still have the traditional plastic faces. From the thirteenth season to the twenty-fourth season, all features of the show are animated in CGI.