In 1984, the series aired as Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends ... and followed train Thomas with his friends Gordon, James, Henry, Edward, Toby and Percy while working with The Fat Controller.

She discovered the character in a series of 1940s children’s books and thought Ringo Starr would make a great Mr. Conductor on television.

Among the participants was the Reverend W Awdry, whose Thomas the Tank Engine books had been ... the first episode when a model of Henry the Green Engine derailed and had to be reinstated by ...