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'''<big>Check out the Lost Media Wiki’s article on ''The Three Railway Engines‘ 1953 live BBC adaptation!!!!''</big>'''{{Lost||image1=The Three Railway Engines (1953)|current_status=<nowiki></nowiki><span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''|title1=The Sad Story of Henry (lost live BBC broadcast adaptation of "The Railway Series" books series; 1953)|caption1=Fan recreation of what the 1953 broadcast would have looked like. Probably the most accurate.}}
'''Thomas & Friends''' is a children’s show adapted from the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son Christopher Awdry’s “The Railway Series” stories, while this is certainly the most famous adaption of the Awdry’s stories it was not the first. The first attempt was a live broadcast on June 19, 1953 by the BBC, however, the broadcast didn’t fare well and caused a full series never to be produced.
 
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'''The Railway Series''' is a set of British books about a railway system located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first being published in 1945. Twenty-six were written by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry, up to 1972. A further 16 were written by his son, Christopher Awdry; 14 between 1983 and 1996, and two more in 2007 and 2011. It has been best known for been adapted for television in 1984 as '''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends''' (later renamed as '''Thomas & Friends''', in Series 7). While this is undoubtedly the most famous adaption of Awdry's stories, it was not the first. The first attempt was a live broadcast on 14 June 1953 by the BBC. However, the broadcast fared very poorly and caused plans for further adaptions to remain scrapped for three decades.
   
 
==Background==
 
In 1953, the BBC approached ''The Railway Series'' editor Eric Marriott and inquired about the possibility of adapting two stories from ''The Railway Series'' for television on 14 June of that same year. The broadcast was to be done using 0O Gauge Hornby Dublo Models, while P.R. Wickham made the sets. This was to ensure that authenticity to the Author and Publishers requests. The episode was broadcast live from Lime Grove Studios on Sunday, 14 June 1953.
   
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Six 0O gauge engine models shown in a ''Model Maker'' Magazine have rumored to have been the ones used, likely due to the photographs having been taken early in the same year. The written article however provides a description which contradict the claims.
   
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== Live Broadcast ==
==Background==
 
 
The stories that the BBC chose to adapt was Wilbert Awdry's last two stories from his first book ("The Sad Story of Henry" and "Edward, Gordon and Henry"), in a new Children's Television program named '''''The Three Small Engines'''''. However, Douglas Mair (the director of Children's Television) had to deal with the 0O Gauge Models, superimposed rain, effects, music and narration by Julia Lang. The script was "freely adapted" to ensure the broadcasts met the ten-minute broadcast limit. The models were reported to jerk around as they moved. Other than that, the show went fine until one model engine derailed. This was caused by an operator not switching the points before the engine arrived at them. To the surprise of many viewers, a human hand picked up the engine and put it back on the rails!
   
 
== Aftermath==
In 1953 the BBC approached the Railway Series editor Eric Marriott and inquired about the possibility of adapting at least two stories from the Railway Series to television in June of that same year. The proposition was agreed to by the author. The broadcast was to be done using 00 Gauge Hornby Models, while the sets were reminiscent of the book illustrations. This was to ensure that authenticity to the Author and Publishers requests. The episode was broadcast live from Lime Grove Studios on Sunday June 14, 1953.
 
 
The incident made the front page of several newspapers a week later, taking precedent over the murder trial of serial killer John Christie. This caused the 21 June broadcast to be delayed to 28 June and then cancelled. Although numerous attempts were made to revive the series, all were unsuccessful until the early 80s.
   
==Live Broadcast==
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== Preservation==
 
As the show was broadcast live and knowing the BBC's track record for preserving old content, it is no surprise that the broadcast is lost. It is highly unlikely that anyone recorded the single broadcast, although other shows from that day have been kept and are available on the internet, such as:
The story that the BBC chose to adapt was Wilbert Awdry's third story "The Sad Story of Henry". However, the director had to deal with the 00 Gauge Models, Superimposed rain, effects, music, and a narration by Julia Lang. The script was 'freely adapted' to ensure the broadcasts meet the ten-minute broadcast limit. The models were reported to jerk around as they moved. Other than that the broadcast went fine until the engine derailed. This was caused by the mistake of not switching the points before the engine arrived at them. To the surprise of the viewers, a hand picked up the engine and put it back on the rails!
 
   
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*The live broadcast of the talk show ''What's My Line?'';
==Aftermath==
 
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*The transmission of ''The Fleet awaits the Queen''.
The incident made the front of several newspapers a week later. This caused the June 28 broadcast to be put on hold and later canceled and although numerous attempts were made to revive the series, all were unsuccessful.
 
==Preservation==
 
As the show was broadcast live and knowing the BBC's track record for preserving old content, it is no surprise that the broadcast is lost. It is highly unlikely that anyone recorded the single broadcast. Nothing is known to be left of this project, will probably never surface, and there is very, very little evidence that this broadcast ever occurred in the first place.
 
   
==Galerie==
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==Gallery==
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<gallery position="center" spacing="small" orientation="landscape" navigation="true">
[[File:The Sad Story of Henry 1953 photos revealed|thumb|330x330px]]
 
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0 IMG-20200519-WA0028.jpg|Original television airing schedule from ''Radio Times''
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" bordercolor="#000000">
 
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20200606 171130.png|Newspaper article
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20190519 152947 (1).jpg|Possible end title card
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
   
 
==Videos==
<gallery>
 
 
<gallery position="center" widths="335">
B3140209-68EC-47BD-AE38-F6AC9879898B.png
 
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The Sad Story of Henry (1953)|Fan recreation of what the 1953 broadcast would have looked like. Probably the most accurate.
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The Sad Story Of Henry UK-0|The 1984 version
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File:The BBC's Sad Story of Henry (1953) - Thomas and Friends Lost Media|ClickClackTrack's video on the subject.
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File:Lost Thomas the Tank Engine Pilots -LostMedia|Scribbles to Screen's video mentioning The Three Railway Engines' 1953 adaptation (0:42-3:43).
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
 
==Videos==
 
[[File:The Sad Story of Henry 1953 photos revealed-0|thumb|center|400 px]][[File:The Sad Story Of Henry UK-0|thumb|center|400 px]][[File:The Sad Story of Henry - 1953 BBC Style|thumb|center|400px|A fanmade reconstruction of the moment a train derailed and was put back on.]][[File:(ultra rare!!!!) real Thomas 1953 pilot sad story of Henry fail pic shot✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️-0|thumb|center|400px]]
 
   
 
==References==
 
==References==
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*[http://trlottte.com/mm_prw.htm Model Maker Magazine: THE LOCOMOTIVE FAMILY by PR Wickham (trlottte.com)]
. http://www.sodor-island.net/thetvserieshistory.html
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*[http://www.sodor-island.net/thetvserieshistory.html. Sodor-Island.net]
. [https://thomas-the-tank-engine-and-friends-youtube-series.fandom.com/wiki/Thomas_and_Friends http://thomas-the-tank-engine-and-friends-youtube-series.wikia.com/wiki/Thomas_and_Friends]
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*[https://thomas-the-tank-engine-and-friends-youtube-series.fandom.com/wiki/Thomas_and_Friends Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends YouTube Series Wiki]
[[Category:Lost TV|Sad]]
 
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[[Category:Lost Recordings of Real Incidents|Sad]]
 
 
[[Category:Lost TV]]
 
[[Category:Lost Recordings of Real Incidents]]
 
[[Category:Lost BBC]]
 
[[Category:Lost BBC]]
 
[[Category:Lost Pilots]]
 
[[Category:Lost Pilots]]
 
[[Category:Lost UK]]
 
[[Category:Lost UK]]
[[Category:Lost Thomas the Tank Engine]]
 
[[Category:Lost Britt Allcroft]]
 

Latest revision as of 13:31, 26 March 2024

Check out the Lost Media Wiki’s article on The Three Railway Engines‘ 1953 live BBC adaptation!!!!

The Railway Series is a set of British books about a railway system located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first being published in 1945. Twenty-six were written by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry, up to 1972. A further 16 were written by his son, Christopher Awdry; 14 between 1983 and 1996, and two more in 2007 and 2011. It has been best known for been adapted for television in 1984 as Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends (later renamed as Thomas & Friends, in Series 7). While this is undoubtedly the most famous adaption of Awdry's stories, it was not the first. The first attempt was a live broadcast on 14 June 1953 by the BBC. However, the broadcast fared very poorly and caused plans for further adaptions to remain scrapped for three decades.

Background

In 1953, the BBC approached The Railway Series editor Eric Marriott and inquired about the possibility of adapting two stories from The Railway Series for television on 14 June of that same year. The broadcast was to be done using 0O Gauge Hornby Dublo Models, while P.R. Wickham made the sets. This was to ensure that authenticity to the Author and Publishers requests. The episode was broadcast live from Lime Grove Studios on Sunday, 14 June 1953.

Six 0O gauge engine models shown in a Model Maker Magazine have rumored to have been the ones used, likely due to the photographs having been taken early in the same year. The written article however provides a description which contradict the claims.

Live Broadcast

The stories that the BBC chose to adapt was Wilbert Awdry's last two stories from his first book ("The Sad Story of Henry" and "Edward, Gordon and Henry"), in a new Children's Television program named The Three Small Engines. However, Douglas Mair (the director of Children's Television) had to deal with the 0O Gauge Models, superimposed rain, effects, music and narration by Julia Lang. The script was "freely adapted" to ensure the broadcasts met the ten-minute broadcast limit. The models were reported to jerk around as they moved. Other than that, the show went fine until one model engine derailed. This was caused by an operator not switching the points before the engine arrived at them. To the surprise of many viewers, a human hand picked up the engine and put it back on the rails!

Aftermath

The incident made the front page of several newspapers a week later, taking precedent over the murder trial of serial killer John Christie. This caused the 21 June broadcast to be delayed to 28 June and then cancelled. Although numerous attempts were made to revive the series, all were unsuccessful until the early 80s.

Preservation

As the show was broadcast live and knowing the BBC's track record for preserving old content, it is no surprise that the broadcast is lost. It is highly unlikely that anyone recorded the single broadcast, although other shows from that day have been kept and are available on the internet, such as:

  • The live broadcast of the talk show What's My Line?;
  • The transmission of The Fleet awaits the Queen.

Gallery

Videos

References