Just before production of series three, Clearwater closed on 31 December 1990, with The Britt Allcroft Company becoming the sole producer. Series three was broadcast in 1992 on CITV. It was made at a cost of £1.3 million (approximately $9.3.million in U.S. dollars at the time). The series was a combination of episodes derived from "The Railway Series", stories in the "Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends" magazine (written by Andrew Brenner, who would later become the show's head writer starting in Series 16), and a couple of original stories by Allcroft and Mitton.