Britt Allcroft (born Hillary Mary Allcroft, on 14 December 1943 in Worthing, Sussex, England, United Kingdom) is an English-American producer, writer, director and actress who is the multi-award-winning creator of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. She founded "The Britt Allcroft Company" with then-husband Angus Wright (they were married from 1973 to 1997), known as Britt Allcroft Limited (later renamed Gullane Entertainment) which was sold and acquired by HiT Entertainment in 2002. Allcroft is well known for her creation of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends and its American counterpart Shining Time Station and its spinoffs. She was also the screenwriter and director of Thomas and the Magic Railroad, supplied the voice of Lady and made a cameo in said movie. She also created the television show "The Magic Adventures of Mumfie" and in the late 1990's remade the classic series "Captain Pugwash".
She currently lives in Santa Monica, California.
Career
Allcroft served as executive producer for the first two seasons. She took Robert D. Cardona's place as producer from the third to fifth seasons after Clearwater Features closed down in 1990. In May 2000, Allcroft was a director and advisor of Gullane and returned for the sixth season as executive producer alongside Peter Urie, but by 2003 (a year after Gullane Entertainment was sold and acquired by HiT), Allcroft had resigned from her remaining positions with the company and did not return for the eighth season. This was attributed to the poor reception of Thomas and the Magic Railroad. She also worked on a live-action kids show called "The Scoobs" and created an animated show for Disney Junior called "Whisker Haven Tales with the Palace Pets".
Allcroft and Rick Siggelkow are currently trying to get Shining Time Station onto DVD or back on television. She is also working on reviving "The Magic Adventures of Mumfie".
Episodes Written
Season 3
Both episodes were co-written with David Mitton.
Season 4
- Rusty to the Rescue (co-written with David Mitton)
Season 5
All episodes were co-written with David Mitton; these nine episodes were co-written with Mitton and David Maidment.
- A Better View for Gordon
- Lady Hatt's Birthday Party
- James and the Trouble with Trees
- Gordon and the Gremlin
- Baa!
- Haunted Henry
- Double Teething Troubles
- Busy Going Backwards
- Duncan Gets Spooked
Movie
Producer
Seasons
- Season 1 (executive producer)
- Season 2 (executive producer)
- Season 3
- Season 4
- Season 5
- Season 6 (executive producer)
Movie
Director
Movie
- Thomas and the Magic Railroad
Voices
- Lady (Thomas and the Magic Railroad)
Filmography
Films
- "Thomas and the Magic Railroad" (2000)
- "Mumfie's Quest" (2000)
Television
- "Magic Adventures of Mumfie" (1995-1999)
- "Storytime with Thomas" (1999)
Awards and nominations
- Honouree - The WIFTS Television Pioneer Award, 2015, for "Thomas & Friends".
- Won - Gemini Awards - Best Children's or Youth Fiction Program or Series, 1993, for "Shining Time Station", shared with Rick Siggelkow and Nancy Chapelle. Two times.
- Nominated - British Academy of Film and Television Arts - Best Animated Film, 1985, for "Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends", shared with David Mitton and Robert D. Cardona
Trivia
- Both she and Colin McFarlane worked on "The Adventures of Captain Pugwash".
- She, Rick Siggelkow, Nancy Chapelle, Julia Weinstein, Frank Vitale, Angus Wright, Ron Slaby, Didi Conn, George Carlin and Ringo Starr all worked together on "Shining Time Station".
- She and Patrick Breen both worked on "The Magic Adventures of Mumfie"