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Series 7

Revision as of 09:05, 29 July 2019 by PercyToby (Message Wall | contribs) (→‎Trivia)
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This article is about the series. You may be looking for the digital download release.


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 business necessities in her second hometown of Santa Monica, Calfornia, USA. Acting as creative consultant would end up being her final involvement with Thomas & Friends.

David Mitton quietly followed suit, deciding not to remain as a full time director for the show anymore. Both of them were joined by Robert Gauld-Galliers, Mike O’Donnell and Junior Campbell, who shared the same interest.

Episodes

Screenshot UK title (top)
US title (bottom) 		Written by Original UK release date Episode number #
Emily'sNewCoaches14 Emily's New Coaches Jan Page 6 October 2003 #01
On her first day, Emily takes Annie and Clarabel, which makes Thomas cross. He eventually forgives her after saving him from hitting a broken down Oliver.
PercyGetsitRight48 Percy Gets it Right Paul Larson 7 October 2003 #02
Percy is worried over a wobbly line and tries to tell the Fat Controller, but he's too late as Thomas sets off to collect a prize bull.
Bill,BenandFergus30 Bill, Ben and Fergus Brian Trueman 8 October 2003 #03
Bill and Ben become fed up with Fergus' orders and decide to rebel, which leads to trouble.
TheOldBridge44 The Old Bridge
The Old Iron Bridge		 Paul Larson 9 October 2003 #04
Skarloey puffs across a damaged bridge and ends up dangling over the river below. He becomes afraid to cross it again until Rheneas runs out of water on the bridge.
Edward'sBrassBand45 Edward's Brass Band Robyn Charteris 10 October 2003 #05
Edward is excited when he is to take the brass band to a concert until a huge boiler from a ship knocks him on his side, leaving Bertie to take the brass band.
What'stheMatterwithHenry?39 What's the Matter with Henry? George Tarry 13 October 2003 #06
Thomas, Percy and Henry are sent to collect coal trucks and take them to the docks. Henry is feeling ill but Thomas and Percy do not believe him and leave him a long line of trucks.
JamesandtheQueenofSodor63 James and the Queen of Sodor Paul Larson 14 October 2003 #07
Gordon is irritated with James' boasting so he tricks him into collecting the Queen of Sodor. James does not realise it is actually an old barge until he arrives.
TheRefreshmentLady'sTeaShop41 The Refreshment Lady's Tea Shop
The Refreshment Lady's Stand		 James Mason 15 October 2003 #08
The Refreshment Lady is very busy, so Peter Sam is chosen to take her around the railway to find a spot for her new tea shop.
TheSpotlessRecord54 The Spotless Record
Spotless Record		 Paul Larson 16 October 2003 #09
A new tank engine named Arthur has a spotless record, meaning he has never been naughty or had an accident. Thomas gets a cheeky idea and plays a trick on Arthur to spoil his spotless record.
Toby'sWindmill55 Toby's Windmill
Toby and the Windmill		 David Mitton (story)
Jan Page		 17 October 2003 #10
Toby's favourite place is the old windmill. One night, the windmill is put in danger when it is struck by lightning.
BadDayAtCastleLoch43 Bad Day at Castle Loch Jenny McDade 20 October 2003 #11
Donald and Douglas are instructed to take a special load for Callan Castle's reopening. Disaster strikes when a fallen tree and landslide leave them stranded all night.
RheneasandtheRollerCoaster35 Rheneas and the Roller Coaster James Mason 21 October 2003 #12
Rheneas is concerned he may not be special enough for some schoolchildren until he is diverted onto an old mountain line and has a wild ride.
Salty'sStormyTale41 Salty's Stormy Tale Polly Churchill 22 October 2003 #13
Salty becomes upset when Thomas and Percy make fun of him. On the way home, Salty and Fergus come across a lighthouse with its generator broken down.
SnowEngine59 Snow Engine
Oliver the Snow Engine		 Jenny McDade 23 October 2003 #14
Oliver hates snow but changes his mind after he slips on some icy rails and he and Toad must spend the night crashed through a giant snowman.
SomethingFishy33 Something Fishy Paul Larson 24 October 2003 #15
The Fat Controller is looking for engines to run the coastal line. Arthur wishes to, as he's already been there and sees it as his favourite place. Thomas is chosen instead, and he complains about the smell of fish.
TheRunawayElephant29 The Runaway Elephant George Tarry 27 October 2003 #16
When Duncan is asked to take an elephant statue to a new park, he carelessly leaves behind the brake van.
PeaceAndQuiet32 Peace and Quiet Paul Larson 28 October 2003 #17
Murdoch arrives to help with the goods work but gets annoyed when Salty and Harvey continuously ask questions.
FergusBreakstheRules34 Fergus Breaks the Rules
Thomas and the Search for Fergus		 Jan Page 29 October 2003 #18
Diesel is sent to help Fergus at the Cement Works, where he tricks Fergus into venturing into the scrapyard.
BulgyRidesAgain60 Bulgy Rides Again Brian Trueman 30 October 2003 #19
More summer holidaymakers are flocking to Sodor but Thomas and Emily are under maintenance, so the Fat Controller puts Bulgy back into service.
HaroldAndTheFlyingHorse44 Harold and the Flying Horse Robin Kingsland 31 October 2003 #20
The Vicar is organising a Village Fete but Harold feels left out and wishes to help in some way. He gets his chance when Pegasus, the carthorse, gets stuck in a ditch.
TheGrandOpening54 The Grand Opening James Mason 3 November 2003 #21
Harold has engine trouble, so the Fat Controller and Lady Hatt choose to ride the hot air balloon to the opening of a new station instead.
BestDressedEngine48 Best Dressed Engine Polly Churchill 4 November 2003 #22
The engines are celebrating May Day and they are all decorated. James comes up with a "Best Dressed Engine" competition but Gordon sees decorations as undignified.
GordonAndSpencer49 Gordon and Spencer Lee Pressman 5 November 2003 #23
Gordon meets a splendid but arrogant streamliner named Spencer who is taking the Duke and Duchess to a party. Gordon advises Spencer to take on water, but he refuses to listen.
NotSoHastyPuddings52 Not So Hasty Puddings
Not So Hasty Cakes
Thomas and the Avalanche		 Robyn Charteris 6 November 2003 #24
Thomas is cross with Elizabeth for telling him he is not reliable enough when the Fat Controller/Sir Topham Hatt assigns her to deliver some Christmas puddings to the harbour.
TrustyRusty45 Trusty Rusty James Mason 7 November 2003 #25
Rusty alerts the other engines about damage to The Old Wooden Bridge but Duncan does not trust him, especially when he needs more coal for the journey home and the nearest coal bunker is on the other side of the bridge.
ThreeCheersforThomas61 Three Cheers for Thomas
Hooray for Thomas		 Jan Page 10 November 2003 #26
Thomas takes some children to their annual sports day and starts to dream of winning a medal. Percy suggests having a race so Thomas races Bertie again, but he has to stop to help the Fat Controller.

Songs

Characters

Characters Introduced

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 before moving to America.
    • 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.

<< Series 6

Series 7

Series 8 >>

#01 Emily's New Coaches #10 Toby's Windmill #19 Bulgy Rides Again
#02 Percy Gets It Right #11 Bad Day at Castle Loch #20 Harold and the Flying Horse
#03 Bill, Ben and Fergus #12 Rheneas and the Roller Coaster #21 The Grand Opening
#04 The Old Bridge #13 Salty's Stormy Tale #22 Best Dressed Engine
#05 Edward's Brass Band #14 Snow Engine #23 Gordon and Spencer
#06 What's the Matter with Henry? #15 Something Fishy #24 Not So Hasty Puddings
#07 James and the Queen of Sodor #16 The Runaway Elephant #25 Trusty Rusty
#08 The Refreshment Lady's Tea Shop #17 Peace and Quiet #26 Three Cheers for Thomas
#09 The Spotless Record #18 Fergus Breaks the Rules
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