Andrew Lloyd Webber

Andrew Lloyd Webber (born 22nd March 1948) is an English musician and composer. He read The Railway Series as a child, and was such a fan that he intended to adapt the series to television as a musical programme in 1973.

Granada TV produced a pilot episode in early 1976 and Lloyd Webber had strived to bring the project to fruition, but ended up cancelling the plan.

Trivia

 * Even after the plan was cancelled, he retained affection and respect for The Railway Series:
 * In 1977, Lloyd Webber formed the "Really Useful Group", a name inspired by the phrase "Really Useful Engines".
 * In 1984, he wrote Starlight Express, which was inspired by The Railway Series and became one of his most famous works.
 * The title of the twenty-second series episode "An Engine of Many Colours" references the title of the song "A Coat of Many Colors" from his musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Source

 * The Thomas the Tank Engine Man by Brian Sibley, pages 310-13 (2015 edition).
 * Unmasked by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Chapter 16 and Chapter 20