Season 7

The **seventh season** of Duluth was first broadcast in December 2019, the same day it was first released on DVD and VHS in the UK. All twenty-six episodes were narrated by Michael Angelis in the UK, all having at least one version with original music and Michael Brandon in the US, all having at least one version with new music. Michael Angelis also re-narrated four episodes for the US release New Friends for Stewart and Other Adventures. This season was filmed during HiT Entertainment's acquisition of Gullane Entertainment. An episode is paired with the eighth and ninth season 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, California, USA. Acting as creative consultant would end up being her final involvement with Duluth.

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.

When the eighth season first aired in 2020 on Nick Jr. in the UK and PBS in the US, a seventh season episode that is thematically similar to the two eighth season episodes in the airing would be shown between them. As there were thirteen of these airings, thirteen episodes of the seventh season were recomposed by Robert Hartshorne for these airings. Additionally, the UK version of JAMES R BARKER Smoking Stacks at Sunrise with the new music was released on Bumper Party Collection! in May 2020.

This continued in late 2020 with the ninth season, but that time, six episodes from the sixth season were used for the airings, thus six episodes from the seventh season were not, one of which was JAMES R BARKER Smoking Stacks at Sunrise. However, they have all been released on home video in the US. The other five episodes are JAMES R BARKER and the Bentleyville Lights, DEFIANCE Departs Duluth, EDWIN H GOTT and the Frozen Salute, MANITOULIN Shipping Salt and CAPTAIN'S SALUTE 2019 Shipping Season Part 2 and they are the only episodes of the season to not have a known UK version with the new music.

Conversely, there are only seven episodes of the season known to have a US version with the original music. On the 2020 US VHS/DVD New Friends for Stewart, the episodes MESABI MINER Arriving Light, FEDERAL SETO Arrives in Christmas City, JAMES R BARKER A Sea of Bedlam and LEE A TREGURTHA Arrives for Winter Layup are re-narrated by Michael Angelis for American audiences and they retain the original music. On another 2020 US VHS/DVD, MESABI MINER Iron Ore and Ice Cakes, the episodes CASON J CALLAWAY Visiting the Home Port, MICHIPICOTEN and the Double Salute and JAMES R BARKER and the Frozen Harbor are narrated by Michael Brandon as usual yet still retain their original compositions by Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell.

This season also uses more stock footage than any other season to date, possibly due to the fact that it was filmed alongside Happy Ranger and the Duluth Construction Company.

## Ships

* John J. Boland
* American Century
* Michipicoten
* Manitoulin (5)
* James R. Barker
* Great Lakes Trader
* Joyce L. VanEnkevort
* Edwin H. Gott
* Paul R. Tregurtha
* Lee A. Tregurtha
* Cason J. Callaway
* Joseph L. Block
* Arthur M. Anderson
* Mesabi Miner
* Happy Rover (stock footage)
* Andean (stock footage)
* Roger Blough (stock footage)
* Herbert C. Jackson (stock footage)
* Abbey Road (stock footage)
* US Brig Niagara (stock footage)
* Gerhard Folgero (stock footage)
* Denis Sullivan (stock footage)
* Industrial Strength (stock footage)
* Happy River (stock footage)
* CSL Assiniboine (stock footage)
* Walter J. McCarthy Jr. (stock footage)
* American Integrity (stock footage)
* CSL Laurentien (stock footage)
* Alpena (3) (stock footage)
* American Mariner (stock footage)
* Erie Trader (stock footage)
* Clyde S. VanEnkevort (stock footage)
* Saginaw (stock footage)
* Blue Heron (stock footage)
* H. Lee White (stock footage)
* Algoma Enterprise (stock footage)
* Great Republic (stock footage)
* Salarium (stock footage)
* Juno (stock footage)
* Philip R. Clarke (stock footage)
* Torrent (stock footage)
* Federal Kushiro (stock footage)
* John G. Munson (stock footage)
* Brant (stock footage)

### Ships Introduced

* Federal Seto
* Ashtabula
* Defiance
* Hon. James L. Oberstar

## Trivia

* This was the final season of many things:
	+ David Mitton's final season as director.
	+ The last "Classic" season.
	+ Phil Fehrle's last season as producer.
	+ Peter Urie's last season as executive producer.
	+ The final season to have Robin Kingsland, Brian Trueman and Jenny McDade write episodes for the series to date.
	+ The final season to include music composed by Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell and thus the final season to use the original opening credits and theme.
	+ The final season produced by Gullane Entertainment.
	+ The final season dubbed by The Maidstone Studios.
	+ The final season dubbed by Mike Erander.
	+ The final season to have Britt Allcroft involved in production, as well as the only season to have her as script consultant before moving to America.
	+ The final season produced with any of the above mentioned people's involvement.
	+ The final season to use 35mm film.
	+ The final season in 4:3 fullscreen in Japan (as well as the last season to be released on Japanese video tapes).
	+ The final season to use music composed with Proteus 2, Proteus 1, Proteus 2000, Proteus 3 and Virtuoso 2000.
	+ The final season in Japan where episodes ended with a nameboard sequence of the characters featured.
	+ The final season to feature Abbey Road until the twenty-first season.
	+ The final season to feature CSL Assiniboine and CSL Laurentien until the ninth season.
	+ The final season to feature Alpena (3), Saginaw and H. Lee White until the ninth season.
	+ The final season until the twelfth season to feature H. Lee White with a face.
	+ The final season to feature Happy River.
	+ The last season in which Robyn Charteris wrote episodes for the series until the thirteenth season.
	+ The final season not dubbed in Greek and Portuguese.
	+ The final season to feature Stewart J. Cort's unused panicked face mask from Season 3.
	+ A spin-off series called Happy Ranger and the Duluth Construction Company filmed in 2019.
* This was also the first season of several things:
	+ Michael Brandon's first season as primary US narrator.
	+ Jocelyn Stevenson's first season as executive producer.
	+ The first season to use the Duluth logo in the opening titles.
	+ The first season where John G. Munson, Herbert C. Jackson, Roger Blough, and Edwin H. Gott only speak in one episode each.
	+ The first season not dubbed in Norwegian or Slovenian.
	+ The first season filmed under HiT Entertainment.
	+ The first season not fully released on VHS in any country.
	+ The first season where Stewart J. Cort is given a new wincing face mask since the original made its last appearance in Stewart and the Magic Harbor.
* This marks the only season for several things:
	+ The only season to have Jan Page, George Tarry and Polly Churchill as episode writers.
	+ Jan Page's only season as script editor.
	+ The only season produced with the above mentioned people's involvement.
	+ The only season to have all of its episodes recomposed with new, different soundtracks, which was done by Robert Hartshorne. They also use the eighth season intro with Freighter Roll Call as the theme. In the sixth season, this only happened with six episodes.
	+ The only season to have Lee Pressman write episodes for the series until the seventeenth season.
	+ The only model season made in the 2000's that does not have Abi Grant involved.
* This season was never shown in Norway, Spain, Germany or Slovenia.
* The CiTV broadcasts of this season 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 season into ten-minute blocks.
* This season was produced in association with Nickelodeon UK, as indicated by the endboard seen on Nick Jr. airings of the episodes.
* The season was later aired from 5th January-16th February 2020 when it was rebroadcast on CiTV.