Ladies Aboard: "Thomas the Tank Engine" Is Finally Getting a More Diverse Cast

Thomas the Tank Engine will feature more trains from diverse backgrounds.

Thomas the Tank Engine has been on (some of) our screens for 34 years and in our books for even longer, but until recently, Thomas and all his friends were Anglo males.

Mattel, the famous toy company, has since taken the reigns of the show and announced that they will be introducing a new and more diverse range of characters. 

The new main characters include Nia, a lady train from Kenya, and Rebecca, another lady train from the mainland (based on England).

Mattel's vice president of branding, Kate Schlomann, hopes the diversity and gender balance will help keep Thomas and his friends around for another century.

"It's such a huge shift. We want to make sure we're here another 70 years," Schlomann explained.

But, of course, there are some angry old people who think this is just another case of "political correctness gone mad" because making a show (about talking trains, let's add) more diverse is definitely the frontier of the culture war...

The loudest of this opposition? People who are most definitely older than the actual TV show.

It's just hilarious. A good majority of the backlash towards the new version of the Thomas the tank engine show is coming from the Thomas fandom, which are words I never thought I'd be able to say before. The whole thing sounds ridiculous

— Santi (@santi_theperson) September 3, 2018

Absolutely. Sounds like a great idea to me.

Thomas the Tank Engine is not holy scripture. No reason they can’t broaden it so more little kids can identify with the animated trains.

— Colleen O'Neill (@tallybroom) September 3, 2018

"pc obsessed snowflakes" says someone so delicate that they are upset that a children's TV show will feature new characters XD

— Ducksfortea (@ducksfortea) September 2, 2018

It's not the first time the anti-PC brigade has fired up about the show with talking trains. In 2016, Thomas featured in a movie called The Great Race, which had a cast with female and culturally-diverse trains. Articles about the movie were filled with comments from anonymous readers who were not shy about spouting their racist views.

The new Thomas & Friends show will hit the United Kingdom next week and Australia will likely see it in the coming months.

Header Image: YouTube (Trainboy55 Productions)