<P> The Fat Controller also appears in many episodes of the television series Thomas & Friends, adapted from the books . In this he was usually portrayed in the form of a static figure, but from Series 12 onwards was portrayed using CGI . </P> <P> The name or term "fat controller" has since been adopted in various contexts in the English language, beyond the sphere of the original stories . </P> <P> The character is first seen in "The Sad Story of Henry" in the first book in the Railway Series, The Three Railway Engines . When Henry refused to leave a tunnel, the story says "a Fat Director who was on the train told the guard to get a rope". The character is referred to as the Fat Director / Controller for the remainder of the Railway Series, both in the narrative and by the other characters . The name Sir Topham Hatt is first mentioned in the Foreword to Henry the Green Engine and also appears on his luggage trunk in the same book in the story "Percy and the Trousers". The first use of the name Sir Topham Hatt in the narrative comes in the episode' Come Out Henry!' when Ringo Starr introduces him to the audience . </P> <P> There have been three Fat Controllers . This is not revealed directly in the stories, as they all look very similar and are all known as Sir Topham Hatt . However, the books The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways (written by Rev. W. Awdry and George Awdry) and Sodor: Reading Between the Lines (by Christopher Awdry) make this clear . </P>

When did the fat controller became sir topham hatt