All change! Thomas and friends get a makeover

● New female characters among alterations to children’s favourite

There’s unlikely to be any rail replacement services or overcrowded carriages, but one of children’s TV’S most enduring favourites is to be changed to better reflect the modern world.

Two new female characters will be added to Thomas & Friends from next year, helping address a gender imbalance in the 30-year-old show.

Mattel, the toy maker which owns the brand, said Nia and Rebecca would appear in each new episode, increasing from one to three the number of female engines at Tidmouth Sheds.

The gender shake-up is just one of the many changes coming to the show, with Thomas set to visit real countries for the first time and the animation to move at a faster pace.

There will also be a new theme tune and the narrator will be gone, replaced by

0 The new faces of Thomas the Tank Engine, including Nia and Rebecca the voice of Thomas himself. The changes are being seen as an attempt to shake Thomas’ stodgy image and help fight a drop in toy sales by appealing to a new generation of viewers.

It’s a big risk for the fran- chise, which got its start as a book series more than 70 years ago.

To avoid any missteps, Mattel consulted with parents, young fans and even the United Nations.

In all, the company spent two years working on the makeover. “It’s such a huge shift,” said Kate Schlomann, a vice president of branding at Mattel. “We want to make sure we’re here another 70 years.”

Nia, an engine from Kenya, will make her debut next summer in the movie “Big World! Big Adventures!” and then join the TV series later in the year.

Experts at the UN advised producers with Nia’s name (it means “purpose” in Swahili) and helped select the African pattern that runs across Nia’s body.

“When you’re designing an engine from any country, you want to be spot on,” said Schlomann.

Rebecca’s origins are less exotic. She’ll come from the mainland near Thomas’ fictional island of Sodor.

Henry and Edward will get thebootfromtidmouthsheds to make room for the two new girls, but the boy engines will still appear on the show from time to time.

Producers wanted Nia and Rebecca to have starring roles, and they’ll join Emily, who has been the only girl engine among the crew of main characters for about 13 years.

Ian Mccue, a Thomas & Friends producer, said: “We have added new female characters before, but I think, with a show like Thomas, they tend to fall into the background after initial introduction.

“What we wanted to do here was really bring these two female characters to the forefront.”