The Reverend Awdry Railway Stories

The first of the Railway Stories was published in 1945 and it wasn't long before Thomas the Tank Engine and James the Red Engine, the Fat Controller and all the other characters were firmly established in the hearts of millions of small boys and not a few small girls. Many of those first enthusiasts are now parents and their equally enthusiastic parents are grandparents. No doubt they, along with a lot of new fans will be enjoying the animated films which are currently being shown nationally on ITV every Tuesday at 12.00 noon, with a repeat at 4.00 pm. The series, Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, which began on October 9th continues for 13 weeks.

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In the past the stories have been read on radio by John Gielgud, and been used for Jackanory; but this is the first time the engines have appeared on film. (The reader this time is Ringo Starr.) All this, plus a wave of engine-covered pencil cases, duvet covers, jigsaws, pyjamas and other examples of the merchandiser's art which will soon be in the shops, comes just a year after the stories were literally given a new lease of life when Christopher Awdry, son of the Reverend, continued the series when his father had given up after 26 books, with the publication of Really Useful Engines. His second book James and the Diesel Engine came out in September.

The stories for the TV films are devised by Britt Allcroft and David Mitton but Mr. Awdry has taken the plot of one film and written a story, Thomas's Christmas Party, which Kaye and Ward have produced in a special large format with delightful pictures by Clive Spong. (He also did the illustrations for Christopher Awdry's stories and the eight pop-ups based on abridged versions of some of the original stories. It looks like being a best seller this Christmas.

Thomas's Christmas Party, 0 7182 1650 4, £3.95

Two books each with two stories `based on the TV series' which is `based on the Railway stories by the Rev. W. Awdry' are available in Ladybird.