Britt Allcroft (born Hilary Mary Allcroft, 14 December 1943) is a British writer, producer, director and voice actress. She is the creator of the children's television series ''

Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' (originally known as ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' and later ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!'') is a British children's television series that aired across 24 series from 1984 to 2021. Based on ''The ...

'' (later re-titled ''

Thomas & Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' (originally known as ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' and later ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!'') is a British children's television series that aired across 24 series from 1984 to 2021. Based on ''The ...

''), '' Shining Time Station'' (with Rick Siggelkow), ''Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales'' and '' Magic Adventures of Mumfie''. She also wrote, co-produced and directed the film '' Thomas and the Magic Railroad'' (2000).

Early life

She was born Hilary Mary Allcroft on 14 December 1943 in Worthing, West Sussex,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. At the age of 16, she changed her first name to Britt as her career in British radio and television gained momentum. She went on to create a succession of programmes for the BBC and ITV during the 1970s and 1980s, including ''Moon Clue Game'', ''Dance Crazy'' and ''Keepsakes''. ''Mothers By Daughters'', produced for

Channel Four Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service in ...

, was broadcast by PBS in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. She also worked in theatre, staging shows at the London Palladium and

Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster. Notable landmarks T ...

Theatres.

Career

While making a documentary about British steam trains in August 1979, Allcroft met the Reverend Wilbert Awdry, author of the children's book series ''

The Railway Series ''The Railway Series'' is a series of British books about a railway known as the North Western Railway, located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first published in May 1945 by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry. T ...

''. She said, "It really didn't take me long to become intrigued by the characters, the relationships between them and the nostalgia they invoked." She told him that she wanted to bring these stories to life and made an arrangement to secure certain rights through his then-publishers

Kaye & Ward William Heinemann Ltd., with the imprint Heinemann, was a London publisher founded in 1890 by William Heinemann. Their first published book, 1890's ''The Bondman'', was a huge success in the United Kingdom and launched the company. He was joined ...

. In 1980, she co-founded Britt Allcroft Railway Productions (internationally known as The Britt Allcroft Company) with her husband, television producer Angus Wright. It took Allcroft four years to raise the funding for, and create, a first series of 26 episodes in collaboration with director David Mitton. The first two episodes of ''

'', shot on 35 mm film, with narration by

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

in the UK/US and music by Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell, were aired together for the first time on British television on 9 October 1984. The success of the series in the UK, and the merchandising campaign that Allcroft had been organising since 1983, soon led to further success in other parts of the world. In 1989, she and American producer Rick Siggelkow created '' Shining Time Station'', a live-action children's sitcom fronted by the magical character of the miniature Mr. Conductor, who introduced two ''Thomas'' stories in each half-hour programme. ''Shining Time Station'' won a number of awards and significantly increased the popularity of the ''Thomas'' media franchise in the US. ''Shining Time Station'' lasted until 1995 and, in 1996, she created the short spin-off series ''Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales''. In 1994, Allcroft followed ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' and ''Shining Time Station'' with the cartoon-animated '' Magic Adventures of Mumfie'', in collaboration with director John Collins. Inspired by the books by Katharine Tozer, that production received critical acclaim and was seen worldwide. In 2008, several years after she left her original company, Allcroft revived the ''Mumfie'' library. Allcroft wrote and directed '' Thomas and the Magic Railroad'', a film based on the ''Thomas'' franchise, that was released in 2000. She also provided the voice of the character

Lady The word ''lady'' is a term for a girl or woman, with various connotations. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the equivalent of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. Inf ...

. The film was a critical and commercial failure. The poor box-office performance of the film caused Allcroft to resign as deputy chairman of her company in September 2000. She has not been active in the industry since then.

Personal life

Allcroft was previously married to television producer Angus Wright, but later divorced. She has two children.

Filmography

References

External links