The buyer of Gullane Entertainment turned out to be HiT Entertainment and the eighth series, that aired in 2004, came with drastic changes. The episodes became more formulaic in plot with the focus on morals and education. Since the eighth series this format is still being carried out for all the following series with great success. Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell composed the show's original main title theme, songs and incidental music from 1984 to 2003. In 2004 Robert Hartshorne took their place as composer, while Ed Welch wrote the new theme tune and the songs.

The first fully CG animated production was the 2009 direct-to-DVD special, Hero of the Rails, directed by Greg Tiernan. This was also the first time the engines and people had individual voice actors since Thomas and the Magic Railroad. The voice acting continued for all series and specials hereafter.Wales: Tomos a'i Ffrindiau, narrated by John Ogwen and often broadcast on S4C's "Planed Plant Bach" By now, the series was doing incredibly well and a full-length theatrical film soon loomed ahead. Britt Allcroft decided to drift completely away from Railway Series stories and in 1998, the fifth series, contained all original storylines, allowing Britt to showcase the series as her own before the upcoming film. In 2017, it was revealed that the series would be undergoing a drastic revamp. The name of the series was changed to Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures! beginning with a special of the same name, which was released theatrically in the UK in the summer of 2018. The movie and the first half of the twenty-second series revolve around Thomas travelling the world and learning about different cultures, while the second half takes place on Sodor. The theme song was changed to Big World! Big Adventures!, the visuals became faster-paced, there is a greater emphasis on comedy and action, animals became a more prominent feature of the stories, and fantasy sequences became more prevalent, with at least one fantasy sequence in every episode. The show no longer features a narrator at all, replaced with Thomas speaking to the audience. Additionally, it was revealed that Edward, Henry, and Toby would be removed from the Steam Team, while the former two would be replaced with new female engines named Nia and Rebecca in an effort to bring the gender ratio among the main cast to a 50/50 split. It was announced that the episodes' runtime would be split into 7-minute stories (shortened from the 9-minute time slot used from series 13-21) and 4-minute segments featuring songs, puzzles, and other activities. These changes were made in an attempt to keep Thomas & Friends relevant by making it more similar to other preschool shows. During the celebrations, Thomas and the Royal Engine was shown with a live-action introduction of Prince Harry followed by the twenty-fourth series and Marvellous Machinery, which marked the final productions for the original television series by a grand total of 584 episodes, 13 feature length specials and a theatrical film.

Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Toby, Annie, Clarabel, and Sir Topham Hatt are the only characters who have appeared in every series of the show, all of whom except Annie and Clarabel also had a speaking role in each series. Out of all of them, Thomas, Henry, Gordon, and James are the only characters who have appeared in every special. In addition, Thomas, Henry, and James are the only characters to have at least one line of dialogue in every special. Inspired byBrerdaniel'sMy Little Pony: The Disney Chronicles poster, I've thought I make own Disney Adventure Poster. This time with Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends and it won't be just Disney and Pixar, but also Star Wars, Marvel, the Muppetsand 20th Century Fox too. In August 2016, Arc Productions closed down after filing for bankruptcy. After entering an agreement, Jam Filled Entertainment looked to acquire Arc Productions under a new management. On 22 August 2016, it was confirmed that Jam Filled had successfully acquired the entirety of Arc Productions and some former Arc staff regaining their jobs, resumed working on animation for Thomas & Friends under the new management and organisation name. The series was last produced by Mattel Creations taking over HiT Entertainment, who filmed the series since its acquisition of Gullane Entertainment in 2002.

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If anyone ask about i'm planning to do the stories of them, well I might. But it's only a poster anyway.

In January 2016, three more episodes from the nineteenth series aired in the UK, followed by another five episodes in March 2016. March 2016 also saw the release of six more nineteenth series episodes released on the annual mini-tentpole, episodic release, Start Your Engines!. These episodes later aired in the UK in July 2016. A special 4-D theme-park exclusive production was released titled Thomas & Friends in 4-D: Bubbling Boilers on April 9, 2016 in Boston. Thomas & Friends (previously known as Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends) is the name of the television series based on the Railway Series by the Reverend W. Awdry. It was adapted for television by Britt Allcroft using the original stories from the Railway Series before using original stories written by independent writers. The series has been broadcast in over 185 territories and has spawned twenty-four series, a theatrical film, and fourteen specials. Thomas & Friends celebrated their 70th Anniversary in 2015. To celebrate this milestone, a 44-minute special, The Adventure Begins was released in Spring 2015, the first feature to include original stories by the Rev. W. Awdry since 1995. Furthermore, a special 28-minute documentary, titled 70 Years of Friendship was released exclusively on the Thomas & Friends YouTube channel on 14 July 2015. In Autumn the same year, the next direct-to-DVD special, Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, was released. The first four episodes of the nineteenth series premiered in the UK between 21 September and 24 September 2015. The nineteenth series also first aired on 13 October 2015 in the US. Thomas appears and speaks in every episode of the thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth and nineteenth series. He also appears in every episode of the ninth, sixteenth and twentieth series, despite not speaking in all of them. However, starting from Big World! Big Adventures! and the twenty second series onwards, Thomas himself takes over the role of narration, telling it from his point of view.In 2005, the series ranked 26th in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Kids' TV Shows vote. In 2013, the series ranked 34th in Channel 5's 50 Greatest Kids TV Shows vote. These are the narrators of the show in the United Kingdom and the United States. Some of the narrators also played Mr. Conductor. will mark the 40th anniversary of the Thomas & Friends television series, while 2025 will mark the 80th anniversary of the whole franchise itself.

After the huge successes of the first and second series, Britt Allcroft set another goal: bringing Thomas into the United States. Due to stricter broadcasting schedules, Britt had to create a half hour programme to go with the five and a half minute episodes. The result was Shining Time Station, starring Ringo Starr as Mr. Conductor, which began airing in 1989. This was another hit for Allcroft and was the beginning of the "Thomas craze" in America. Pierce Brosnan ( UK/US guest narrator for The Great Discovery and the original cut of Series 12; 2008) September 2016 saw the release of the next direct-to-DVD special, The Great Race. The twentieth series began broadcasting in the UK on 5 September 2016 with the first five episodes of the series and in the US on the October 21, 2016. HiT Entertainment and SiF released a poll in which fans voted for what they wanted to see rendered in CG for this series. Notably, this was the first series since the fourth series to adapt Railway Series stories, with the book Small Railway Engines being adapted into the final three episodes of the series. Michael Angelis ( UK narrator for Series 3–16; 1991–2012, US narrator for the New Friends for Thomas and Other Adventures VHS/DVD, 2004) Mark Moraghan ( UK/US narrator for Series 17–21, re-dubbed one Series 13 episode, two Series 14 episodes and two Series 15 episodes; 2013–2018)Every UK narrator of the series, excluding John Hasler, has narrated at least a few episodes for the US. In February 2012, it was announced that Arc Productions would take over animation duties starting with the seventeenth series in 2013. In August 2016, Arc Productions closed down after filing for bankruptcy. Jam Filled Entertainment, however, entered into an agreement, looking at acquiring the entirety of Arc. On 22nd August 2016, it was confirmed that Jam Filled Entertainment had successfully acquired Arc Productions and thus taken over the animation for Thomas & Friends.