Thomas the Tank Engine revamped to include more female and foreign characters on the advice of the UN

THOMAS the Tank Engine is being revamped to include more female and foreign characters on the advice of the UN.

Mattel, the toy maker that owns the Thomas brand, will add two female main characters to the "Thomas & Friends" TV series next year.

Nia and Rebecca will appear in every episode and help fix the gender imbalance at the shed where Thomas and the other main characters live.

Three of the seven engines at Tidmouth Sheds will be female – up from just one.

The gender shakeup is just one of the many changes coming to the 30-year-old show.

Thomas visits real countries for the first time, there's a new theme song, the characters will crack more jokes and the narrator will be gone, replaced by the voice of Thomas.

The changes are all part of an effort to shake up Thomas' stodgy image and fight a drop in toy sales.

It's a big risk for the franchise, which got its start as a book series more than 70 years ago.

Mattel consulted with the UN before making the changes, along with parents and young fans.

In all, the company spent two years working on the makeover.

Kate Schlomann, a vice president of branding at Mattel ,said: "It's such a huge shift. We want to make sure we're here another 70 years."

Nia, an engine from Kenya, will make her debut next summer in the movie Big World! Big Adventures! Before joining the TV series in Autumn.

Experts at the UN advised producers with Nia's name – meaning "purpose" in Swahili – and helped select the African pattern that runs across her body.

Schlomann said: "When you're designing an engine from any country, you want to be spot on."

Henry and Edward will get the boot from Tidmouth Sheds to make room for Nia and Rebecca – who will come from the Mainland near Thomas' fictional island of Sodor.

Producers want the two new female characters to have starring roles when they join Emily, who has been the only girl engine among the main characters for around 13 years.

Ian McCue, one of the producers, said: "We have added new female characters before, but I think, with a show like Thomas, they tend to fall into the background after initial introduction.

"What we wanted to do here was really bring these two female characters to the forefront."

Thomas will meet other female characters, such as a plane in Australia.

And in India, there's a female train controller in charge of the railway, another first for the show, Mattel said.

The company took control of Thomas & Friends five years ago, after it bought production company Hit Entertainment for £512million.

Since then, it has tried to put its stamp on the brand.

Engines from India and China, for example, rode into Sodor last year to add some diversity and appeal to viewers who live in the 110 countries that watch the show.

Mattel has also made changes to its other toy brands in an attempt to be more inclusive and appeal to today's parents.

Barbie and Ken dolls now come in different skin colours, body shapes and hair types.

And the first boy doll was added to the American Girl line-up earlier this year.

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