Thomas & Friends: The Royal Train, review: Prince Harry narrates with a regal twinkle
As a child, he made his allegiances clear, wearing his dedication on his T-shirt, and carrying it under his arm on his first day at nursery. Now, one month after the end of his official royal duties, and following a move to Los Angeles, the Duke of Sussex has made his first television appearance, to introduce a special edition of his childhood favourite Thomas & Friends (formerly known as Thomas the Tank Engine).
The 22-minute episode, Thomas & Friends: The Royal Engine, celebrates the 75th anniversary of the railway tales and the Duke’s short introduction – recorded in January, before he and Meghan Markle decamped to North America – speaks of the stories’ "75 years of friendship and teamwork".
In a chequered armchair, beside a fireplace and an occasional table stacked with several Thomas tomes, a lightly bearded Prince Harry, in open-necked shirt and blazer, injects his intro with entertainingly regal gravitas as he describes how "it all began when a young boy lay ill in bed, his loving father entertained him with stories of a special railway on the magical island of Sodor." But the Duke, now a father himself to Archie, who turns one next week, cannot conceal a twinkle and a tiny smile, as he talks of "the most iconic tank engine the world has ever known."
Created by Rev Wilbert Awdry in 1945, during his son’s bout of measles, the books were first turned into an animated series in the 1980s before US toy giant Mattel turned them into CGI (and gave Thomas an American accent) in 2009. "Thomas’s adventures have sparked the imagination of generations of children, while teaching important life lessons along the way," says the Duke, seriously. And in this special story, "Thomas embarks on a journey to London for a very important occasion".
In the episode – which aired on Netflix in the US on Friday, before being shown on Milkshake! on Channel 5 on Saturday morning – the Fat Controller, Sir Topham Hatt, is invited to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen, in honour of his services to the railways. The invitation states, much to the chagrin of the other engines, that Thomas is to take him there, "at the request of the young prince." It’s a stressful journey to London, mired in mishaps, diversions and delays (relatable), until Thomas runs into a well-spoken, if slightly scatty engine, Duchess of Loughborough (voiced by Rosamund Pike). Her safety valve has burst, but, unlike Thomas, she does know the way to London, and together, with the friendship and teamwork that the Duke highlights, they make it to the capital, to be greeted by Union Jack-waving crowds.
From Duchess’s elegant carriage descends the Queen herself - accurately outfitted in blue dress, low heels, trademark brooch and handbag – and a young boy in short trousers and a cap with the letter C on it, carrying a model of Thomas. Though the boy’s name is never invoked, his declaration that he’s heard of the engine’s travels around the world, "visiting different countries and helping them learn more about the environment," identifies him as the first in line to the throne. "That’s the sort of work I’d like to do when I’m older," states the young Charles.
That line likely resonates for the Duke too. But in a year so far beset by more criticism than even the railways themselves regularly receive, this royal project is, for once, a piece of innocent, animated, uncontroversial joy.
