Gordon Takes a Shortcut

"Stop, Stanley! STOOOOOOOOOOP!"

- Gordon

Gordon Takes a Short Cut is a twelfth season episode.

Plot
Some workmen and a group of V.I.P.s are waiting at Great Waterton. Gordon tries to take a shortcut to beat Stanley there, but when he ignores advice from Duck, Oliver and Toad he ends up banging into a log truck, spilling logs onto Stanley's line. Gordon decides to listen to advice this time, and stops Stanley in time. As a sign of friendship, Gordon allows Stanley to take the V.I.P.s.

Featured characters

 * Gordon
 * Stanley
 * Duck
 * Oliver
 * Ben (short speak role)
 * Toad (short speak role)
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Rocky (does not speak)
 * Bill (cameo)
 * 'Arry and Bert (cameo)

Trivia

 * Stock footage from "Gordon and the Engineer" and "Percy and the Left Luggage" is used.
 * Oliver and Toad speak for the first time since Season 7's Snow Engine, although Oliver previously made a non-speaking role in Steady Eddie.
 * If you go by production order, this is Episode 10 in Season 12.

Goofs

 * In real life, the log truck should have been crushed and Ben should have been knocked back when Gordon crashes into the log truck.
 * Duck has a higher voice and a smaller face.
 * Oliver has a Welsh accent; in the US version, he's given a British accent.
 * Toad is given Diesel's voice in the US version of this episode.
 * At the end of the episode, the narrator states that Gordon smiled at his "New Friend". But in The Great Discovery, Stanley appeared to be everyone's friend.
 * Why would Duck and Oliver be up in the hills when they have a branch line to run?