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.

Characters

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

Trivia

 * This is the 300th episode of Thomas and Friends.
 * 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.
 * This episode aired before The Great Discovery premiered in the UK, meaning that children wouldn't have known who Stanley was.

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.
 * 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.
 * Stanley's whistle sound has changed since The Great Discovery.
 * It was mentioned in Buffer Bother that wherever you find Ben, you will find Bill. Yet Bill is nowhere to be seen.