Christopher Awdry

"Dear Christopher,
 * Here is your friend Thomas the Tank Engine. He wanted to come out of his station yard and see the world. These stories tell you how he did it.


 * I hope you will like them because you helped me to make them."

- Your Loving Daddy

Christopher Vere Awdry (born 2 July 1940) is an English writer who is the son of Wilbert Awdry, his father who originally created The Railway Series. He is best known for co-creating Thomas the Tank Engine with his father, as well as continuing The Railway Series from 1983 to 2011.

Biography
Christopher Vere Awdry was born on 2 July 1940 to Wilbert and Margaret Awdry. When he was two, his bout of measles, which left him bed-ridden, inspired his father to tell him bedtime stories that eventually made up The Three Railway Engines, and a wooden toy, also made for him by his father, eventually became Thomas. When he grew up, he became a tax inspector for the English Government, but he resigned from his job when he decided to continue his father's work writing  The Railway Series, writing books for it from 1983 to 2011. He is currently vice president of the Talyllyn Railway.

Books Written
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Companion Volumes
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Series 2

 * Thomas, Percy and the Coal
 * Thomas and Trevor
 * The Runaway
 * Better Late Than Never
 * Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree

Series 4

 * Fish
 * Special Attraction
 * Mind that Bike

Series 6

 * James and the Red Balloon

The Railway Series

 * Thomas the Tank Engine - Foreword
 * Troublesome Engines - Percy Runs Away

Companion Volumes

 * 1996 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection

Documentaries

 * The Thomas the Tank Engine Man
 * The Making of Thomas the Tank Engine
 * Run! Thomas & Friends "Steam Locomotive is Alive"
 * 70 Years of Friendship
 * Secret Journey of Thomas the Tank Engine

Voice Actors

 * Ryūji Nakagi

Trivia

 * Christopher and his wife, Diana Awdry, founded Sodor Enterprises in 2001 to publish and sell his books.
 * Christopher Awdry wrote a book promoting restoration work on the Corris Railway, based on real events called "Hugh Goes Sliding". It was illustrated by railway transport artist Johnathan Clay.
 * In 2015, a year after The Guardian posted an article regarding accusations that Thomas is a "racist", "sexist", "communist" tank engine, an article from The Telegraph stated that he stood in defence of his father's creation against some left-wing parents and academics by responding that "the engines are punished for displaying 'arrogance' and 'naughtiness', not initiative".
 * Christopher has stated that his favourite character is Toby.
 * Despite Christopher's opposition to the new format versions of the Railway Series in 1998, Egmont Publishing published the books. However, the new format was eventually discontinued and scrapped due to negative feedback.
 * In Sodor: Reading Between the Lines, he stated that Thomas Goes Fishing, Dirty Objects, Peter Sam and the Refreshment Lady and Thomas Comes to Breakfast were some of his favourite stories. He also added that Thomas Goes Fishing and Thomas Comes to Breakfast were also some of his father's favourite stories as well.
 * Within the Railway Series canon, he has met Percy in person when he was a small boy.
 * Sodor Island Fansite (SiF) planned to interview Christopher in August 2011, but he pulled out of the interview, and it was subsequently cancelled.