Celebrity dads kick off Thomas & Friends’ 75th anniversary celebrations

Harry Judd, Peter Andre and Spencer Matthews have teamed up for a ‘unique digital story showcase’.

Reading with Friends marks the start of the 75th anniversary celebrations of Thomas & Friends.

To celebrate the magic of Thomas & Friends’ storytelling, the celebrity dads read aloud a story from the very first book up to current day stories to celebrate Thomas’ journey so far.

Each of them have been captured on camera and the videos of the celebrities will be hosted on the official Thomas & Friends UK YouTube channel from today.

Harry Judd is one of the celebrity dads taking part in Reading with Friends at the official Thomas & Friends YouTube channel from 27th February 2020

Musician, author and the winner of Strictly Come Dancing in 2011, Harry Judd will be seen re-telling the first story to feature Thomas titled ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’.

“Thomas & Friends is a global phenomenon and I loved reading the very first Thomas story. It’s been so lovely to introduce [my son] Kit to the books as Thomas was such a big part of my childhood. I always just remember loving the different colours of the trains, their names, the full faces and characters themselves that you saw within the books. Kit is now a big fan. Happy Birthday Thomas & Friends!” – Harry Judd

Judd added: “I think it’s important for adults and parents to be reading to their children, partly for me because it’s a good practice on how to read because I don’t read much in my life. And I think it’s a really great way of getting your children focused and using their imagination.”

Peter Andre is one of the celebrity dads taking part in Reading with Friends at the official Thomas & Friends UK YouTube channel from 27th February 2020

TV personality and Performer, Peter Andre gives his take on the action-packed story ‘Thomas and the Dinosaurs’.

“When I was approached about Reading with Friends, it made perfect sense especially as I voiced the character of Ace in the Thomas & Friends movie; Big World! Big Adventures! I think as a kid when I was growing up in Australia., what I loved about Thomas was, how Thomas himself is a very sort of posh English, sort of straight character and then you have all these different personalities that have a sense of humour and, you know, they have tried to inject a sense of humour into Thomas or Thomas is trying to inject his sense of humour into the stories and it was all different types of humour. My son Theo, who’s three, is obsessed with Thomas, and I love all of the characters too.” – Peter Andre

Andre added of his professional connection with Thomas & Friends (voicing Ace): “Ace is a great character and, and I loved being a part of this film. There’s a whole new generation that only know me as Ace. Theo is absolutely obsessed with Thomas & Friends but what has really got me is that he’s become obsessed with Ace the car. He’s got the little car and he carries it with him everywhere. He goes to sleep with Ace, he has Ace at breakfast, he takes Ace into the bath, I mean Ace is everywhere.

And former Made in Chelsea star and entrepreneur, Spencer Matthews will conclude with the celebratory story ‘Happy Birthday!’

“I loved being able to come up with the different character voices for Reading with Friends. I grew up with Thomas & Friends and my son Theo, who’s now 16-months-old, loves the books and the toys.” – Spencer Matthews

‘Reading with Friends’ is designed to highlight the exciting and heart-warming tales featuring important life lessons for children that have remained at the heart of Thomas & Friends, since the books were first created in 1945, when the first ‘Railway Series’ written by Reverend W. Awdry was published.

Thomas & Friend’s 75th birthday celebrations are not just happening in the UK. Fans around the world will be able to join in celebrating Thomas’ storytelling heritage in lots of different ways too. The world’s most famous No.1 Blue Engine will be exciting fans with a wide range of activities including brand new content, special anniversary moments at live events and attractions, new engaging apps, gaming and new music.