Lee Pressman- Thomas And Friends Writer Interview
Hello again everyone. Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Lee Pressman. Mr Pressman Wrote 25 episodes of Thomas, most of them during the Andrew Brenner era of the show. He also wrote episodes for Shaun The Sheep, Fireman Sam, The Secret Show, Danger Mouse and more. Today, He goes into his time on Thomas and other shows he worked on.-Aaron
1- What was or is, your favorite show that you have worked on?
That’s a tough question. I’ve been writing a long long time and I’ve worked on so many excellent series. As a big fan of Wallace and Gromit it was obviously a thrill to work on SHAUN THE SHEEP. Another of my favorites was THE SECRET SHOW, which was seriously silly and surreal. FRANKENSTEIN’s CAT was great fun. Then there was RASTAMOUSE, and Q POOTLE 5. And let’s not forget THOMAS AND FRIENDS. I’m afraid I can’t choose any one show as my absolute favorite — all of these were enjoyable to work on.
2-What movie or TV show inspired you the most?
Old Disney movies. Warner Brothers cartoons. Laurel & Hardy. Charlie Chaplin. Buster Keaton. Sergeant Bilko.
3- What was your favorite moment/memory working with the writing team on Thomas?
Many years ago, when I briefly worked on Thomas, I visited the studio where they filmed the original stop motion series. It was pretty amazing to see all the model engines laid out on what looked like the best railway set in the world — that was a real thrill. Years before that I’d actually met the Reverend Awdry at a book fair, so that’s obviously a great memory. As to the writing team, we were very lucky to have Andrew Brenner as our inspirational head writer.
4- Out of all the episodes you wrote for Thomas, which one are you the most pleased with?
I really like Who’s Geoffrey? (apart from the baffling ending which I didn’t write). Two Wheels Good is a favorite. Kevin’s Cranky Friend. Henry in the Dark. Terence Breaks the Ice. And PA Problems.
5- During your time on Thomas, a lot of characters that had not appeared in quite some time returned to the show. (Duck, Donald, Douglas, Oliver And Toad for example) Did you and the writing team have the free reign to write in any character you wanted into the show?
If a writer had a good idea and a good reason for re-introducing an old character then it would be considered by the producers. For instance, I was keen to do a story about detonators, so bringing back Cyril the Fogman seemed a timely idea. And when I was writing New Crane on the Dock, somebody suggested bringing in Big Mickey at the end. With Terence Breaks The Ice, the team were keen to re-introduce Terence. I wouldn’t say the writers had free reign — it was a mixture of having a fresh idea for an old character or the producers wanting to revisit an old friend.
6- In 2016 Arc Productions, the people who animated Thomas starting season 17, went under. At the time, how much did that affect you and the writing team?
It didn’t affect me at all. Writers are there to come up with the stories and write the scripts. How they film the episodes is out of our hands.
7- Many of the shows you have worked on (including Thomas) Have active internet fandoms. How often, If at all do their reception and critiques affect your work?
I do read a lot of the fans’ comments about my episodes. Obviously it’s great if I’ve done something right and they like the story. And not so great if they hate it. What’s upsetting is when fans blame the writers for decisions that are out of their control. For instance, fans often ask why Thomas has to be in every episode — well that’s not the writers’ fault — we are told to include him in every show (whether he needs to be there or not).
8- Thomas has gone through a lot of changes these past couple of years. (Big World Big Adventures, the upcoming reboot) What are your thoughts on the changes, as someone who wrote episodes for BWBA?
Well as you probably noticed, I never actually left the island during the BWBA episodes. I wasn’t that keen on traveling the world — my view of Thomas is strictly Sodor based.
9- How big of a difference is it writing for a cgi show compared to a show that uses stop motion, or even a 2d animated show?
It’s never affected me too much. I just write what I hope is a good story then leave it to the animators to bring it to life. Sometimes on stop motion shows it is expensive to physically build a prop or a character. Once on Shaun the Sheep I wanted to do an episode about a hot air balloon but I was told it was too expensive to build one. But several years later, when a hot air balloon was built for a Wallace and Gromit film, we were able to borrow it for my Shaun episode. Similarly creating new CGI characters or locations is costly and not encouraged. So the trick is trying to use assets that already exist as much as possible.
10- Did you ever need to go to preservation railways for story ideas or inspiration for thomas?
I certainly did. I visited many historic railways and travelled on plenty of vintage trains around the country in Devon, Dorset, Sussex and Yorkshire. I also visited The National Railway Museum in York at least half a dozen times seeking inspiration.
11-For Thomas, How did an idea go from idea to final script?
First I would pitch plenty of short ideas — maybe just a few lines for each. The producers would pick any that they thought might make good episodes (and reject a whole lot more!). This is the original pitch for P.A. Problems (originally called Tannoy Trouble):
‘The Fat Controller has instructed his workmen to fit a brand new Tannoy system at Knapford Station. The new speakers are rubbish and cause nothing but confusion and delay as engines are sent off to the wrong destinations and passengers rush about trying (and failing) to catch departing trains.’
That was all there was. Once I was given the go ahead I fleshed out the story until it had grown to a couple of pages. This would be discussed and tweaked, things added, things removed, suggestions made. When this was approved, I would produce a scene outline (3–4 pages long) indicating the locations for each scene. And finally, when everybody was happy with that, I would write the script. Then the script would be scrutinised, more (hopefully small) changes made, and a second or third draft written — this final draft would be around ten pages long.
Writing the script is the easy bit — developing a cracking good story is where all the hard work is done.
11- Do you have anything to say to Thomas fans, or others that watched your work?
Well I just hope they enjoy the shows. I love writing stories and it’s always nice to know that they are appreciated. With regard to Thomas I hope I’ve kept to the spirit of Reverend Awdry’s wonderful creation.
I would like to thank Mr Pressman for doing this interview. Hearing what he had to say was very interesting and insightful. For further reading, click here to see a interview he did a few years back on the Thomas wiki.
