Thomas & Friends is a British children's television show, which had its original broadcast on the ITV network on 4 September 1984. It is based on The Railway Collection of books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry Christopher Awdry, and his son. These novels deal with road bikes that survive the Island of Sodor and the experiences of a group of anthropomorphised locomotives. The novels were predicated on reports Wilbert told to amuse his son, Christopher during his comeback from measles. On events from the personal experience of Awdry, many of the stories are based By Series you to four.