The Fat Controller

The Fat Controller is a fictional character from the British children's books, The Railway Series, written by the Reverend W. Awdry and his son, Christopher Awdry. He is the controller of the North Western Railway on the Island of Sodor, which includes Thomas the Tank Engine among its engines.

In the first two books in the series (The Three Railway Engines and Thomas the Tank Engine) he is known as The Fat Director, and as of the third book (James the Red Engine), The Fat Controller. In the introduction to the 1951 book Henry the Green Engine, his real name is revealed to be Sir Topham Hatt.

The Fat Controller also appears in the television series Thomas & Friends, adapted from the books. In Series 4-7, he controls the narrow gauge Skarloey Railway as well as the standard gauge North Western Railway. From Series 9 onwards, he only controls the North Western Railway while The Thin Controller, Mr. Peregrine Percival, controls the Skarloey Railway. The Fat Controller was usually portrayed in the form of several different static figures made with either wood or lead during series one, and resin from series two onwards, but has been portrayed using CGI from the twelfth series until the twenty-fourth.

The term "fat controller" has since been adopted in various contexts in the English language, beyond the sphere of the original stories, usually in reference to someone who runs a railway.