Britt Allcroft, creator of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, was born on December 14, 1943 and passed away on December 25, 2024. She was 81 years old.

Britt was born Hilary Mary Allcroft Coote. Growing up, she shared a home with an aunt who often told stories of her daily commute on the train, which sparked Britt's love of trains at a young age. She changed her name to Britt at age 16, when her British radio and television presence gained momentum. She ended up creating a bunch of popular programmes for BBC and ITV throughout the 1970s and 1980s, like Moon Clue Game and Dance Crazy.

In 1979, Britt was making a documentary about British steam locomotives when she was introduced to Wilbert Awdry, author of The Railway Series, a children's book series. She told him that she wanted to bring his stories to life and secured rights through his publishers at the time, Kaye & Ward.

The next year, she co-founded Britt Allcroft Railway Productions, later known as The Britt Allcroft Company, with her husband, Angus Weight, who was a television producer. Four years later, the first two episodes of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends debuted, with narration by Ringo Starr and music by Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell.

The series was an immediate hit, and Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends became a franchise that is still popular among kids today, decades later.

Britt and her husband Angus were married from 1973 until 1997. They had two children together.