VALE MICHAEL ANGELIS
(1952-2020)
I'm sure by now we've all heard the sad news that the longest serving narrator of Thomas the Tank Engine, Michael Angelis, had passed away at the age of 68. If you were a child be it in the UK, Australia or New Zealand from the 1990's to 2012, or North America if you had seen his narration work in the later years on YouTube, or if you had a copy of 'New Friends for Thomas & Other Stories' in 2004, chances are you had watched Thomas with Michael Angelis narrating the stories. He was also an actor in other UK shows before, during and after Thomas such as 'The Boys From The Black Stuff', 'The Liver Birds', 'Bread', 'Auf Wiedersehen Pet' and 'The Bill'. I had so many memories of listening to the man narrating the show for so many years. I still have the old VHS tapes that my parents had bought for me back when I was a child and had enjoyed the soothing enthusiastic voice that was him. I remember the two music albums that he'd narrated, 'Thomas and the Best Kept Station Competition' and 'Surprise Adventures' as well as the audio stories of The Railway Series books back in the mid-2000's. There was also the PC games such 'The Great Festival Adventure', 'Trouble on the Tracks' and yes even the 'Thomas & The Magic Railroad Print Studio' game, yeah but I was a young kid back then. His voice work for the little blue tank engine and his friends was always comforting, friendly, soothing and enthusiastic everytime you hear it. In my opinion, the third series will always be his best work of all the seasons he had worked on because all three was there. Of course there are other seasons too but the third season always stood out for me.
I had never met Michael Angelis when he was alive and now I wished I had. But I will always treasure the memories I have of him entertaining me, like everyone else over the years, through his voice. I had recently watched 'Gordon and the Famous Visitor' as a tribute to him and it feels so surreal knowing that he's not here physically anymore. I will miss Michael Angelis like everyone else be it through Thomas or the other shows that he appeared in that many people had watched. He was as the Fat Controller puts it: 'Really Useful!'
My condolences go out to his friends and family.
