Henrietta (T&F)/Behind the Scenes

Background Information
Henrietta is a fictional standard gauge coach created by the Rev. W. Awdry.

Henrietta first appeared in the first series episode Toby and the Stout Gentleman, which first aired in 1984. Her last appearance was in the twenty-fourth series episode Gordon and Rebecca, Coming Through!, which was released in 2021.

Because she did not have a visible face in the first seventeen series, she was often featured as more of a background character than a supporting character and she did not have a speaking role between the third to seventeenth series despite being sentient. In the eighteenth series, she was given a visible face, allowing her to have more speaking and supporting roles.

Henrietta was originally one of eleven characters to appear in every series, until she was absent in the twenty-third series.

Gauge 1 model
Henrietta's model was custom built from a Tenmille Gauge 1 3rd Stroudley coach kit. The kit was shortened and the side door handles and grab rails were removed, and the side door gaps filled. The front and back were changed to custom doors with louvres and four windows with two grab rails. The balconies were custom built from brass pipes. The torpedo ventilators also came from Tenmille parts. During the production of Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Henrietta's model received a new resin coach body and brass roof, while still retaining the original underframe, steps, buffer beams and verandas.

Close-up model
Close-up models were required for scenes where the engines and rolling stock had to interact with the close-up scale human figures.

In the sixth series episode, Toby Had a Little Lamb, a close-up of Henrietta's interior was required. As a close-up model of Henrietta did not exist at the time, the Branch Line Coaches' close-up model was reused instead.

CGI model
In 2009, the series introduced Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) as a replacement for the show's long-standing live-action models. Henrietta was recreated from scratch in CGI by Nitrogen Studios. Her model was "hand-sculpted" in Maya, a 3D animation and modelling software.

Photographs of Henrietta's Gauge 1 model were used for referencing. According to Greg Tiernan, every detail of the original television series models for each character is carefully reproduced in the CGI model. The models are subjected to many rounds of review before they are submitted to HiT Entertainment for final input and approval.

Parts of the red coaches were reused for Henrietta's model, namely the side window area as the door hinges are left on despite not going anywhere.

Henrietta's CGI model went through several aesthetic changes in the television series:
 * Hero of the Rails:
 * She increased in size to be the same height as Toby.
 * Her door handles have been repositioned and the doors orientation has changed.
 * Her two grab rails beside the door have disappeared.
 * Her step ladders slightly changed shape.
 * Series 18:
 * She gained a face at her back end. To accommodate this:
 * Her door disappeared, two of her four windows were removed, and the remaining ones changed shape.
 * Her two balcony pillars disappeared.
 * She gained window frames and four pillars.
 * Series 22
 * She gained a slightly different nose.
 * Series 24
 * She gained wrinkles.

Voice Actors

 * Maggie Ollerenshaw
 * Rachael Miller
 * Yumi Nakatani
 * Keiko Nemoto
 * Marta Dylewska
 * Talya Barkay
 * Isabel Romo
 * Adriana Casas
 * Mara Brenner
 * Mercedes Espinosa
 * Layra Campos
 * Laurence Sacquet
 * Margret Homeyer
 * Katja Brügger
 * Sabine Hahn
 * Marion Gretchen Schmitz
 * Vina Papadopoulou
 * Habermann Livia
 * Jenni Sivonen
 * Lee Je-in