On the 25th of December 2024, we sadly lost Britt Allcroft.
Sadly, we also lost the one person who was by far the most vocal about maintaining the integrity of the brand. In the years following the sale of her company to HIT Entertainment, Britt spoke up in the media several times to remind Thomas’s owners to focus on the children who loved him and his friends, and valued their connection to the beloved characters she nurtured for decades, and cared deeply about for decades after.
Although the Reverend Awdry created Thomas, Britt and her team introduced him and his friends to a wider world. Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends stood out in the 1980s as something very different in British children’s television – amongst an array of stop-motion or 2D animated characters, we had the world’s best train set, made up of bright and colourful characters having exciting or heart-warming adventures, which went on to outlast its peers and become a much-loved institution.
During her tenure, she held licensees to high standards, and any agreements for products representing Thomas were put in place for a limited number of years, that way her licensing partners knew that they would only be renewed if the quality she expected was maintained. Many of us likely still have these items from the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s – and they have likely lasted and worn well. Such was her integrity - profit was not everything, she wanted those who loved Thomas to have quality products, and to have the characters and stories known and recognised for high standards.
I was lucky to correspond with Britt from the mid-2000s when we discovered the 1999 script for Thomas and the Magic Railroad, and we maintained contact for a number of years. I’m grateful for the kindness she showed us, and the fact that even years after she sold the brand and left to pursue other projects, she never truly left Thomas behind, and still cared deeply about those who loved the stories and characters.
I’m very grateful to Britt for the way she remained vocal in the press in the years following the sale of Thomas to HIT Entertainment and later Mattel. I’m especially grateful that she encouraged the same integrity and enthusiasm she had for the characters and stories to those who have come after her; she recognised that it was more than just another brand on a portfolio of many, and she knew how much love that Thomas and his friends have all around the world. Who will speak for these characters now?
I was particularly looking forward to purchasing and reading Britt’s biography when it was published, and discovering more about her thoughts, feelings, life events and the work she did over the years. It is now uncertain whether this will come to pass, but I sincerely hope we can see something of it in good time.
She was an extraordinary lady, and the world is a better place having had her in it.
Thank you, Britt, for wonderful childhood memories, experiences and friendships we might not have had without Thomas, and characters and stories the world will treasure forever.
May you rest in peace.
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