The airing history of Thomas & Friends on its original network of CITV in the UK, which ran the show from 1984-1993 and 2003-2006 (New episodes aired here until 2006).
First Broadcast[]
The very first two episodes of Thomas & Friends, Thomas and Gordon, and Edward and Gordon, premiered on Television for the first time on October 9th 1984 at 4:00 PM, with a preview having been previously shown at 12:00 Noon. When the episodes aired, they encompassed an eleven-minute timeslot. The commercials that aired directly before the broadcast, were one for Frosted Flakes, Antartex Clothing Store, Fashions Me Doll, and L&C Home Builders. The series was introduced by Sergeant Major Zero from Terrahawks, another of CITV's 80's shows. After the Broadcast ended, Lieutenant Hiro, another character from Terrahawks announced that "Their will be more stories about Thomas The Tank Engine and his friends next week, and in-fact, every week through the autumn at 4 O'Clock on Tuesdays. They remind me of Zeroids". Note: The Zeroids that Lieutenant Hiro mentions are a type of robot soldiers from Terrahawks, Sergeant Major Zero is one of these. The broadcast was re-aired later in the day at 6:45 PM, supposedly so that adults coming home from work could watch it, according to TV-Times.
Gallery[]
Season 1[]
Just like the first two episodes of the Season, the remaining twenty-four episodes were also grouped together to have two-episodes per broadcast, resulting in a total of thirteen broadcasts between October 9th 1984-January 8th 1985. Every broadcast premiered at 4 PM on every Tuesday. The only Tuesday during this period that no episode aired on was New Year's Day 1985. Original broadcasts for the first six airings (twelve-episodes), as-well as the broadcast for Dirty Objects/Thomas' Christmas Party are known to survive to present-day. They were previously uploaded to YouTube by users SteamTeamExtra and GALAXYVAULT2, but have since been removed by YouTube due to copyright strikes from Mattel.
Gallery[]
Season 2[]
Season 2 was originally broadcast on CITV between September 24th-December 17th 1986. Similar to the first season the episodes were aired under an eleven minute time-slot beginning at 4 PM, this time however, it was every week on Wednesdays, instead of Tuesdays.
Trivia[]
- The September 20th 1986 Edition of the Coventry Evening Telegraph, stated that Wilbert Awdry was shown a preview of the season, about a week prior to its premiere on CITV. An image shows him watching Percy Takes the Plunge, it's unknown whether or not he got to see all the episodes beforehand or not.
- All 13 broadcasts re-aired the day after their premiere, at 12:00 Noon.
- Some episodes later re-aired as single airings in 1991, for instance Percy Takes the Plunge was Rerun by itself on July 2nd 1991 at 3:55 PM.
Gallery[]
Season 3[]
Season 3 was originally broadcast on CITV between February 25th-July 14th 1992. The episodes were aired every Tuesday during this period (Excluding March 10th), and were primarily presented by presenter Tommy Boyd. The episode Bulgy is known to have been presented by Glenn Kinsey. Unlike the previous two Seasons, a total of fourteen episodes premiered as single-airings, whilst the remaining twelve episodes premiered as double-bills of six broadcasts total, equating to the season having a total of twenty-broadcasts, across twenty-six episodes. The first five episodes aired as single airings between February 25th-March 31st, then all the double-bills aired between April 7th-May 12th, before returning to the single-airings, which concluded the Season, between May 19th-July 14th. The episodes premiered at 3:55 PM.
Trivia[]
- A VHS Advert for the Season 3 VHS "Time for Trouble and Other Stories" was broadcast on ITV on December 21st 1991, during a late-night TV-Airing of the movie "The Shining". The tape had first been released the month prior.
- Directly after the end of the broadcast for the Season-Finale on July 14th, an advertisement for the VHS release "Trust Thomas and Other Stories" was shown. The tape had been re-released two months prior, with the cover of the re-release reading "As Seen on ITV".
Gallery[]
Season 6[]
After eleven years of having been absent from the channel, Thomas & Friends returned to CITV in 2003, when Reruns of Season 6 were shown. Season 4-5, which were never aired on CITV, aired on Cartoon Network in the UK instead. Season 6 had previously aired for the first time in the UK on Nick Jr. the year prior. When broadcast on CITV from January 6th-February 10th 2003, the episode airing order remained the same, except for the first three episodes, which instead of Salty's Secret - Harvey to the Rescue - and No Sleep for Cranky, went No Sleep for Cranky - Salty's Secret - and Harvey to the Rescue instead. The episodes aired most every day during this period, with the only days they weren't being being January 11-12th, January 18-19th, January 25-26th, February 1st-2nd, and February 8-9th. The season was then repeated on the channel from February 11th-March 21st. On February 17th 2003 during t after the airing of CITV's first Rerun of "Elizabeth the Vintage Quarry Truck", a drawing created by Thomas Fan SmurfyDan, who was eleven at the time, was shown by the presenter, after having been sent into CITV. The image was based upon the poster advertisement for The Big Live Tour stage-show, showing Thomas, Percy, and James. The footage from the end of that broadcast still exists.
Trivia[]
- Some copies of the Season 6 VHS release "The Chocolate Crunch and other stories" featured a sticker reading "As Seen on CITV". The subsequent VHS/DVD release "Brave Little Engines" also had this, but actually on the cover itself. Both covers also featured the Nick Jr. logo.