Respect for Gordon

"Gordon's a mess, Gordon's a mess! He's the largest and jammiest! (jellyiest in the US dub)"

- Thomas

Respect for Gordon is the seventh (second in Australia) episode of the ninth season.

Plot
Gordon is suffering from a spot of bother; his firebox has lately been rattling whenever he cools down at night, which has resulted in teasing from Thomas and Percy. Gordon tells them that tank engines have very bad manners, though he feels quite embarrassed about his problem.

The next morning, Gordon finds Percy still teasing him. When he arrives at Knapford, the teasing continues, this time by Emily and Diesel. Gordon has had enough; he decides to make demands in order to stop the teasing. So he pulls ahead of James at the water column, tells Percy not to hang around at platform one as it is his platform, and finally he tells Thomas, James, and Emily to give a polite "toot toot" of their whistles the next time they see him - because he is the fastest and best.

However, when Gordon passes Emily, he does not get the polite "toot toot" that he expects, instead she ignores him intentionally. Gordon is so angry that he misses a red signal and crashes into a train of jam tankers ahead of him. Whilst waiting to be rescued, Gordon gets teased again by Percy, Thomas, and James. Soon Edward arrives with the breakdown train and takes Gordon to the Works to be mended.

Meanwhile, Emily and Henry take turns pulling the express and they quickly realise that Gordon must be quite strong to do it regularly. Even Percy misses Gordon as the rattle helps him go to sleep. A few days later, Gordon is mended with all the jam cleaned out of his boiler and his firebox no longer rattling. That night, Gordon apologises to his friends for his rattling firebox and for his "toot toot" demands because he did not deserve it. However, Thomas and the other engines now know that Gordon does indeed deserve a polite "toot toot" as he works very hard as the express engine.

From then on, all of the Fat Controller's engines greet their friends with a polite toot of their whistles for being really useful.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Emily
 * Diesel
 * Edward (does not speak)
 * Annie and Clarabel (cameo)
 * Sir Topham Hatt (mentioned)

Locations

 * Knapford
 * Three Tier Bridge
 * The Lighthouse
 * Sodor Suspension Bridge
 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * The Works
 * The Washdown
 * Killdane Junction

Trivia

 * The plot point of Gordon wanting the others to whistle at him is similar to the magazine story, Thomas and the Whistle.
 * Going by production order, this is the second episode of the ninth season.
 * Gordon's accident is similar to James' from the first season episode, Dirty Objects.

Goofs

 * When Edward shunts Gordon to the Works, his bogeys appear to be broken.
 * There is no engine pulling the goods train. In addition, the group of tankers Gordon crashes in to are uncoupled from the rest.

Quotes

 * Percy: Rattle box is awake at last!


 * Emily: Oh, look rattler Gordon's here! He's pulling the "click-clong express"!


 * Diesel: I hope your "click clong" gets better. Ha ha ha ha! See you later, rattler!


 * Percy: You're a boastful, bossy, big, blue boiler!

Merchandise

 * Tomica (discontinued)

Home Media Releases
{{Scroll box|

UK

 * Together on the Tracks
 * The Complete Series 9

DVD Boxsets

 * The Ultimate Collection
 * 5 Exciting DVDs
 * Classic Collection

US

 * Come Ride the Rails

DVD Boxsets

 * Discovery on the Rails
 * Let's Explore with Thomas
 * Steam Engine Stories

AUS

 * Together on the Tracks
 * The Complete Series 9
 * ABC For Kids Favourites 1

DVD Boxsets

 * Complete Series 1-10
 * The Essential Collection (5 DVD Boxset)
 * Series Nine and Series Ten Double Pack
 * Series Nine and The Great Discovery Double Pack

NOR/DK/SWE/FIN

 * We're Together

CZ

 * Together on Track

SPN

 * Thomas and Friends - Volume 5 (Spanish DVD)

DVD Box sets

 * First Season (Spanish DVD)

JPN

 * Song and Story: Let's Sing Together
 * Thomas' Surprise Plan
 * Thomas the Tank Engine Series 9 Vol.1

MYS

 * James Gets a New Coat and Other Adventures
 * Thomas and the Rainbow and Other Adventures

NL

 * Thomas and the Rainbow (DVD)

HUN

 * Thomas the Tank Engine 6 - Thomas and the Rainbow

THA
}}
 * Thomas and Friends Volume 24 (Thai DVD)
 * Thomas and Friends - Volume 27 (Thai DVD)