Unseen Thomas & Friends footage to be released

AN unseen version of the original pilot episode of the animated children’s steam train cartoon Thomas & Friends, with narration from the Beatles’ Sir Ringo Starr, is to be released for the first time.

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The footage from Down The Mine will be shown to co-incide with the 80th anniversary of the British franchise, which follows the adventures of Thomas the tank engine and his friends.

The original books were written by Rev Wilbert Aubrey, a curate at St Nicolas Church in Kings Norton.

He created The Railway Series with his son Christopher, which was published in 1945.

It was later adapted into a TV show in 1984, becoming a global success for multiple generations of young children.