Thomas &amp; Friends
Thomas & Friends (originally known as Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends or simply Thomas the Tank Engine; also known as Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures! in the twenty-second series) is a British children's television series. In the United Kingdom, it had its first broadcast on the ITV network in Great Britain in 1984. In the United States, it had its first broadcast on "Shining Time Station" in 1989. It is based on "The Railway Series" of books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher Awdry.
David Mitton
The show became an instant success on British television, and in 1989, Allcroft helped created "Shining Time Station" (1989–1995) in the United States on the Public Broadcasting Service. Because of the sequences that introduced the stories from "Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends" to American audiences, "Shining Time Station" became a successful television show. Merchandise for "Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends" had been available before the television programme, but the programme created a new multimillion-pound industry and became an unstoppable phenomenon which could be seen in 145 countries worldwide.