A boy of 13 landed a dream role as the new voice of Thomas the Tank Engine – but had to keep it a secret from his friends.

Harry Sparkes, from Harpenden, Hertfordshire, will voice the little blue engine in a reboot of the children's classic. 

But for the past nine months, he kept his recording sessions a secret, telling classmates that he was leaving lessons each week to have physiotherapy on an injured foot. 

Mattel's Thomas & Friends Railway Stories will be available on YouTube today and Netflix later this month. 

Crazy Rich Asians actor Henry Golding will take on the narrator role spoken by Ringo Starr in the popular 1980s ITV series. The stories are based on books by Reverend Wilbert Awdry and son Christopher.