Thomas & Friends

October 9, 1984 – January 20, 2021

Thomas & Friends (originally known as Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends or simply Thomas the Tank Engine until series 7; later called Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!) is a long-running British children's television series created by Britt Allcroft. Based on The Railway Series by the Reverend W. Awdry and later his son Christopher, it follows the adventures of Thomas, an anthropomorphised blue tank engine, on the fictional Island of Sodor with fellow engines Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, and several other anthropomorphised vehicles. Thomas usually gets into trouble by doing jobs best left to bigger and more sensible engines, but never gives up on being a "Really Useful Engine".

In the United Kingdom, it had its first broadcast on the ITV network in 1984. In the United States, it had its first broadcasting with the spin-off series Shining Time Station on PBS in 1989. The series aired from 9 October 1984 to 20 January 2021.

The rights to the series are currently owned by Mattel Television (a subsidiary of Mattel), having acquired Gullane Entertainment in July 2002.

Mattel has announced a 2D-animated reboot, Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go, which premiered on September 13, 2021. Originally announced as a continuation of the original series, it was later designated a new series altogether by Mattel.