Series 7

The seventh series of Thomas & Friends first aired in October 2003 in the UK. It first premiered on DVD and VHS in the UK the same day it aired on TV in the same month. All twenty-six episodes were narrated by Michael Angelis with original music in the UK and Michael Brandon with new music in the US. Michael Angelis also narrated four episodes for the US release, New Friends for Thomas and Other Adventures. This series was filmed during HiT Entertainment's acquisition of Gullane Entertainment. An episode is paired with the eighth and ninth series airings on PBS and Nick Jr airings on weekends.

Production
Whilst the acquisition of HiT Entertainment had neared completion, Britt Allcroft not only became a Non-Executive Director but also started to focus on outside buisness necessities in her second hometown of Santa Monica, Calfornia. Acting as Creative Consultant would however end up being her final involvement with Thomas & Friends. David Mitton quietly followed suit, deciding not to remain as full time director. Both of them were joined by Robert Gauld-Galliers, Mike O’Donnell and Junior Campbell, who shared the same interest.

Songs

 * Five New Engines in the Shed
 * The Red Balloon
 * There Once Was an Engine Who Ran Away
 * Troublesome Trucks
 * Salty
 * The Whistle Song

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Toby
 * Duck
 * Donald and Douglas
 * Oliver
 * Bill and Ben
 * Harvey
 * Diesel
 * Mavis
 * 'Arry and Bert
 * Salty
 * Skarloey
 * Rheneas
 * Peter Sam
 * Duncan
 * Rusty
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Toad
 * Bertie
 * Bulgy
 * Elizabeth
 * Harold
 * Cranky
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Lady Hatt
 * Refreshment Lady
 * The Tailor
 * Tiger Moth's Pilot
 * Harold's Pilots
 * The Lighthouse Keeper
 * The Fisherman
 * The Dockyard Manager
 * The Captain
 * Stephen Hatt
 * The Storyteller
 * One Member of the Railway Board
 * Terence
 * Trevor
 * Jem Cole
 * The Vicar of Wellsworth
 * The Coaling Plant Manager
 * Farmer Trotter
 * Big Mickey
 * Henrietta
 * George
 * Butch
 * Tiger Moth
 * Bridget Hatt
 * Mrs. Kyndley
 * Farmer McColl
 * Farmer Finney
 * Nancy
 * Cyril the Fogman
 * Miss Jenny
 * Tom Tipper
 * The Special Visitor
 * One of the stone-dropping boys
 * The Butler
 * The Fire Brigade
 * Headmaster Hastings
 * Three other members of the Railway Board
 * Stepney
 * Duke
 * The Crovan's Gate Policeman
 * The Dryaw Policeman
 * Daisy
 * BoCo
 * Class 40
 * S.C. Ruffey
 * Bulstrode
 * The Elsbridge Cricket Club

Characters Introduced

 * Emily
 * Fergus
 * Arthur
 * Murdoch
 * Spencer
 * Sodor Brass Band
 * Lord Callan
 * The Teacher
 * Dusty Miller
 * The Duke and Duchess of Boxford
 * The Mayor of Sodor

Trivia

 * This was the final series of many things:
 * David Mitton's final series as director.
 * Phil Fehrle's last series as producer.
 * Peter Urie's last series as executive producer.
 * The final series to have Robin Kingsland, Brian Trueman, and Jenny McDade to write episodes for the series to date.
 * The last series in which Robyn Charteris wrote episodes for the series until the thirteenth series.
 * The final series to include music composed by Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell.
 * The final series to use music composed with Proteus 2, Proteus 1, Proteus 2000, Proteus 3 and Virtuoso 2000.
 * The final series to use 35mm film.
 * The final series in 4:3 fullscreen in Japan (as well as the last series to be released on Japanese video tapes).
 * The final series in Japan where episodes ended with a nameboard sequence of the characters featured.
 * The final series to use the original opening credits and theme.
 * The final series produced by Gullane Entertainment.
 * The final series dubbed by The Maidstone Studios.
 * The final series dubbed by Mike Erander.
 * The final series to have Britt Allcroft involved in production, as well as the only series to have her as script consultant.
 * The final series to feature Terence until the twenty-first series.
 * This was also the first series of several things:
 * Michael Brandon's first series as narrator.
 * Jocelyn Stevenson's first series as executive producer.
 * Jan Page's first and only series as script editor.
 * The first series to use the Thomas & Friends logo in the opening titles.
 * The first series where Toby only speaks in one episode.
 * The first series not dubbed in Norwegian or Slovenian.
 * The first series filmed under HiT Entertainment.
 * The first series not fully released on VHS in any country.
 * This marks the only for several things:
 * The only series to have different soundtracks in different regions. In the US, the episodes were recomposed with music by Robert Hartshorne and using the eighth series intro with Engine Roll Call as the theme (the original compositions by were still heard in the US on the Japanese tape).
 * The only series to have Jan Page, George Tarry, and Polly Churchill as episode writers for series.
 * The only series to have Lee Pressman write episodes for the series until the seventeenth series.
 * Jan Page's only series as script editor.
 * The only model series made in the 2000's that does not have Abi Grant involved.
 * The US versions of Gordon and Spencer, Emily's New Coaches, The Spotless Record, Peace and Quiet, Harold and the Flying Horse, Bulgy Rides Again, and Salty's Stormy Tale with compositions by Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell were released on the New Friends for Thomas and Thomas and the Jet Engine VHS/DVDs respectively in 2004.
 * UK versions of the series, excluding Snow Engine, Bad Day at Castle Loch, The Refreshment Lady's Tea Shop, The Grand Opening and The Runaway Elephant, with music recomposed by Robert Hartshorne were broadcast on Nick Jr. between episodes from the eighth or ninth series and included on the Bumper Party Collection! DVD.
 * This series uses more stock footage than any other series to date.
 * This series has the most episodes broadcast out of production order.
 * This series was never shown in Norway, Spain, Germany or Slovenia.
 * The CiTV broadcasts of this series saw the return of two episodes being compiled into one ten-minute block. The only difference is that the opening titles were shown again at the end of the first episode. At the same time, CiTV also compiled the previous episodes from the sixth series into ten-minute blocks.
 * This series was produced in association with Nickelodeon UK, as indicated by the endboard seen on Nick Jr. airings of the episodes.
 * The series was later aired on November to December 2004 when it was rebroadcast on CITV.

Staffel 7 Temporada 7 העונה השביעית 第7シーズン Seria 7 Сезон 7 第7季