Family favourite, Thomas the Tank Engine, has received a radical makeover after being around for 73 years. He was created by Reverend Wilbert Awdry as a book series but has since become a global brand. One of the biggest changes to Thomas and Friends is its name change to Thomas and Friends: Big World! Big Adventures! – this has been promoted through the collaboration between the show and the United Nations.
By travelling the world, Thomas will be joined by more female characters – Nia and Rebecca. He will also encounter other “strong girl characters” such as an Australian flying doctor plane, a royal express engine from India, and a female railway controller from India. It has been identified that 40% of Thomas’s pre-school watchers are girls.
Thomas and Friends: Big World! Big Adventures! will air daily from 3rd September at 7am on Channel 5.
To see how the show has changed since your own experience of Thomas the Tank Engine, and to see one of the new characters, click on the link below:
