Britt Allcroft, the producer who adapted Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends for television, has died. She was 81.
According to Allcroft’s daughter Holly Wright, she died on Wednesday, Dec. 25 in Los Angeles, The New York Times reported.
Allcroft was responsible for bringing Reverend Wilbert Awdry’s books The Railway Series to British TV in 1984 as a children’s show narrated by Ringo Starr. The series ran for 24 seasons through 2021, before the animated series Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go debuted on Netflix. The show also spawned multiple specials and movies, as well as popular toys and merchandise.
In 1979, Allcroft met Awdry while making a documentary about British steam engines. Falling in love with the characters, she brought the book to television then-husband, producer Angus Wright.
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Allcroft wrote and directed the 2000 feature adaptation Thomas and the Magic Railroad, which premiered in theaters with a star-studded cast that included Mara Wilson, Alec Baldwin and Peter Fonda.
The franchise’s long-running success was the subject of last year’s Brannon Carty-helmed documentary An Unlikely Fandom. Carty announced her death in a statement on X, remembering her as an “adoring mother and wife,” as well as “a visionary producer.”
“Over the years of knowing Britt, we developed a close connection. It was truly a privilege to have her as both a mentor and a friend, and I’m so glad that so many fans were able to meet her at the New York screening of An Unlikely Fandom,” he wrote. “It was an absolute honor to have her in our documentary, and she has since remained a vocal supporter of our cause.
“I think I can speak for the entirety of the fandom when I say that all of us will deeply miss her. Without her, so many of us would never have met,” added Carty.
Allcroft also adapted the 1994 series Magic Adventures of Mumfie from Katharine Tozer’s books.