Wooden toy train
"Thomas the Tank Engine" is a character created by the Rev. W. Awdry in "The Railway Series" of children's books, first published in the U.K. in 1945. In 1984 a television series called "Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends" was made, adding to the popularity of the characters. It was first broadcast in the United States in 1989. John W. Lee founded the company "Learning Curve Toys" in November 1992 with a wooden railway system called "Thomas & Friends" based on the Thomas the Tank Engine characters. This made the wooden toy trains even more popular than before. Learning Curve introduced some new designs for the track surface, such as the "Clickety Clack" rails patented 1995 and the newer tracks in 2002 with a relief to supply better traction grip for battery powered four wheel drive trains patented in 1998.
Mark Thomas
Prior to his most renowned vehicle, "The Mark Thomas Comedy Product", Thomas was a frequent guest comic on the BBC Radio 1 show "The Mary Whitehouse Experience", where he would do a routine about a specific topic of the week and involve studio audience members in the discussions. He would also occasionally play parts in sketches written by the show's main performers. He then became the resident stand-up comic on "Saturday Zoo", a Channel 4 comedy series first screened in 1993 and appeared on an episode of "Have I Got News for You". He co-presented the highly successful Radio 1 comedy talk show "Loose Talk" with Kevin Day, and is a founder member of the London Comedy Store's hard hitting "Cutting Edge" show.