#CHUGGINGTON TALES FROM THE RAILS SERIES#

The series itself was created by former Bob the Builder head writer Sarah Ball, and after a two-minute pilot was produced, the show was picked up by BBC for its Cbeebies channel, and greenlit for an initial run of 52 episodes, with the first episode ' Can't Catch Koko' airing on BBC2 on the 29th of September, 2008. 'It took us about two years to come up with the basic bible for the stories,' which was developed by both veterans of preschool television and child development experts from Yale. 'We decided we would try to develop this different version of a train property,' he said. The values that are there are very old-fashioned and very little of what's thought of as modern teamwork.' Teaming up with Rob Lawes, former CEO and COO of HIT Entertainment, the two founded Ludorum PLC and began to put the plan for the concept into motion.

Following the sale of LCI in 2003 to RC2, Dick sought to create a 'better, more updated version of Thomas the Tank Engine', as he felt the characters were 'too mean, and terribly gender-biased. The genesis of Chuggington was the brainchild of Dick Rothkopf, former CEO of Learning Curve.

All of Chuggington is welcoming and colourful in its own way and filled with characters that you can see a little in everyone. The rails of Chuggington are overseen by Vee, who keeps the chuggers on task and can sometimes help the trainees to solve problems, along with various human characters. The series features a variety of fun locations and characters of various ages, such as the bustling Depot (where the Trainees and their friends begin their day), an ice cream factory run by the Great Frostini (a master ice cream chugger), a safari park with lots of animals (overseen by the globe-trotted Mtambo), a hard at work yet peaceful docks (overseen by the on-the clock Skipper Stu), and many others. In each episode, one of the characters overcomes an obstacle or challenge with the help of their friends, ranging from work on the rails or issues between friends. Chuggington follows a fictional city and the trains who work there - specifically trainees Wilson, Brewster and Koko.

Chuggington tales from the rails