The last two paragraphs of a Grauniad article:
At first blush, Thomas and his friends seem rather placid and mild. And there are certainly a lot worse shows in terms of in-your-face violence, sexism, racism and classism. But looks can be deceiving: the constant bent of messages about friendship, work, class, gender and race sends my kid the absolute wrong message.
And really, that theme song makes me scream. Thomas can just go bust my buffers.
And the first paragraph:
There are many terrible children’s programs through which parents must suffer during their child’s young life. For every Sesame Street, there is an annoying Caillou or an acid-trippy Yo Gabba Gabba. But Thomas and Friends is – or was – the one show with enough subversive messages to make me turn it off for good.
Relevant.
nydwracu niþgrim, nihtbealwa mæst 
Pingback: The establishment | Reaction Times
Typical prog-mom. Says stupid things like “Yeah, because I want to teach my kid to admire a controlling autocrat.” Sir Topham Hatt is not supposed to be a particularly admirable character. (After all, he’s a government bureaucrat. He was originally “The Fat Director” until the railways were nationalized in 1948, then he became “The Fat Controller”.) You’re supposed to admire Thomas, or Percy, or the other engines.
Oh – and Sodor is supposed to be part of Britain, not a colony. It does seem somewhat retro, but not 19th century.