Gordon and the Famous Visitor

"Never trust domeless engines, they're not respectable!"

- Duck and Gordon

Gordon and the Famous Visitor is the fourth episode of the third series. It is based on the story, Domeless Engines from the Railway Series book, Duck and the Diesel Engine.

Plot
It is an important day in the yard, as a special visitor named City of Truro has arrived and is now the centre of attention, with many people taking photographs and making notes. Duck explains to Thomas and Percy that City of Truro is a very famous celebrity and they will have the chance to talk to him later. Thomas, however, believes that City of Truro is too famous to want to talk to them. Thomas, Duck, Percy and the other engines are very pleased about the Visitor, but Gordon thinks it is a lot of fuss about nothing. The other engines are happy to find that City of Truro is quite friendly and he enjoys talking to them well into the night.

Early the next morning, City of Truro heads back to his own railway, and Thomas tells Gordon that the engine is famous since he was the first to go over 100 mph. Gordon tells Thomas that City of Truro had no dome and that domeless engines have are not trustworthy because they have no respect as far as he is concerned. He also claims that 100 mph would be easy for him.

Later that day, Duck is taking some trucks to Wellsworth and tells Edward what Gordon has said about the visitor. Edward tells Duck that Gordon is simply jealous, since he thinks that no engine should be famous but him. Moments later, Gordon thunders past the two engines on the main line as his wheels pound the rails, determined to go as fast as the visitor. Duck watches and jokingly tells Edward that Gordon will knock himself to bits.

Further along the line, Gordon begins to feel something loose on top of his boiler. He decides to slow down, but it's too late. On the Viaduct, he meets a teasing wind which blows in very hard puffs. The wind creeps under Gordon's loose dome, lifts it off and sends it flying away into the valley below. Gordon is most uncomfortable without his dome with the wind whistling through the hole where it should be and feels embarrassed too, and to make matters worse for him, he is laughed at by the trucks at Knapford. He tries to shoo them away by blowing steam at them, but nothing he does works.

On the journey home, Gordon wants his driver to find his dome. However, he says that it is too late find it now and Gordon will have to go to the Works for a new one. Gordon is most upset and hopes that the sheds are going to be empty tonight when he gets home, but all the engines are there waiting. As Gordon turns around on the turntable, he hears a voice saying, "Never trust domeless engines! They aren't respectable!"

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Gordon
 * Percy
 * Duck
 * Troublesome Trucks
 * The Railway Society
 * City of Truro
 * Henry
 * James
 * Toby
 * Donald and Douglas
 * Bill and Ben
 * Diesel
 * Bertie
 * Trevor
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Stephen Hatt
 * Bridget Hatt
 * Jeremiah Jobling
 * Mrs. Kyndley
 * Jem Cole
 * The Little Boys
 * The Boy

Locations

 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Tidmouth Goods Station
 * The Works
 * Wellsworth
 * Wellsworth Yards
 * Henry's Forest
 * The Viaduct
 * Hawin Ab
 * Lower Suddery
 * Knapford
 * Knapford Yards
 * The Country Line
 * Dryaw Canal Runby
 * The Valley Bridge

Trivia

 * In several promotional pictures:
 * Thomas, Percy and Duck were at the other end of Tidmouth Sheds.
 * City of Truro's tender can be seen at the left of Gordon (viewer's right).
 * Gordon is pulling red express coaches instead of the green ones.
 * Edward and Duck are at the station instead of the yard and Gordon races through the station on the left track rather than the middle.
 * Gordon is seen crossing the viaduct in the opposite direction without his dome. Another photo features him on the viaduct with his dome wearing his first series ashamed face.
 * Sped-up stock footage from the previous episode is used.
 * In the UK and international dubs, excluding Ukrainian, when the narrator said, "Gordon was most uncomfortable," the music is omitted.
 * In the restored version:
 * The scene of Gordon leaving Tidmouth Goods Station is shortened and is replaced with an extended shot of the other engines talking to City of Truro at night.
 * The scene of Gordon thundering by Wellsworth is slightly slowed down.
 * This is the first time a real-life engine appears in the television series.
 * There is a bulldozer from TUGS next to Gordon when he arrives at Tidmouth Sheds.
 * Although City of Truro's name is never mentioned, it is seen on the banner at Tidmouth Sheds and a close-up of his nameplate.
 * When first repeated on CITV on 29th January 1993 in the United Kingdom, Duck's conversation with Edward at Wellsworth was cut out to fit the time slot.
 * Henry is the only steam engine not present at the sheds during the City of Truro's visit, save for Gordon, who passed by the sheds a few seconds later at the beginning of the episode.
 * This episode was paired alongside Paint Pots and Queens in an airing of Storytime with Thomas in the United States.
 * This episode marks the last appearance of Gordon's annoyed face from the first two seasons.
 * This episode marks the only with a few things:
 * City of Truro's only appearance, not counting picture or scrapped model cameos.
 * The only episode until the twentieth series episode, Toby's New Friend, where Donald and Douglas make cameos together.
 * This episode was never released on home video in South Korea.

Goofs

 * In the close-up on Thomas and Duck at the sheds, Duck is derailed.
 * In one shot of Gordon talking to Thomas and Duck, he does not have any eyebrows.
 * In the opening scene, Toby's front window is broken.
 * When Gordon seems to pass through Wellsworth, he also passes through Henry's Forest four times.
 * When Gordon says, "It feels as if something is loose," he brushes against a tree.
 * After Gordon loses his dome, his coaches disappear.
 * When Gordon goes through the Country Line, half of the embankment moves down and up slightly.
 * When Gordon goes through Knapford, he is tilted to the right. In the same scene, the red express coach to the far left is seen with exposed wires around its buffers.
 * When Thomas asks Duck, "Who's that?" Duck's right wheel is derailed.
 * When Duck talks to Edward, the latter's whistle is a bit crooked.
 * When Henry passes Edward and Duck at Wellsworth, his eyes are misaligned.
 * In the last shot of the episode, Gordon's eyes are misaligned, and his buffers are slightly crooked.
 * Black blue tack can clearly be seen underneath the feet of some people at the start.
 * In the Swedish dub of this episode, Thomas says City of Truro went 100 "mil" per hour, which is the general distance measurement in Sweden. However, 100 mil per hour convert to 621.371192 miles, or 1,000 kilometres per hour, a speed that is impossible to reach for a steam engine.
 * Gordon's eyes are misaligned when he says, "He did it, I'll do! He did it, I'll do it!"
 * Gordon's buffers are crooked in many scenes.

Quotes

 * Gordon: Good riddance! Chattering all night. Who is he, anyway?
 * Thomas: Duck told you, he's famous.
 * Gordon: As famous as me? Nonsense!
 * Thomas: He's famouser than you. He went 100 miles an hour before you were even thought of.
 * Gordon: (Ha!) So he says! But I didn't like his looks. He's got no dome! Never trust domeless engines. They're not respectable. I never boast, but I'd say 100 miles an hour would be easy for me. (Goodbye!)




 * Gordon: [rockets past] He did it, I'll do it! He did it, I'll do it!
 * Duck: He'll knock himself to bits.

Merchandise

 * Buzz Books - Gordon and the Famous Visitor

Home Media Releases
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UK

 * Time for Trouble and other stories
 * Ghost Train and other stories/Time for Trouble and other stories
 * Chases, Races and Runaways
 * My Little Thomas and the Royal Visitor
 * The Complete Series 3

DVD Boxsets

 * Classic Collection

WAL

 * Thomas the Tank Engine: Bumper Special 1

US

 * Thomas Gets Bumped and Other Stories
 * Thomas Gets Tricked and Other Stories
 * Best of Gordon
 * Thomas & Friends Classic Volume 3

CAN

 * Thomas Gets Bumped and Other Stories
 * Thomas Gets Tricked and Other Stories
 * Best of Gordon

DVD Boxsets

 * Totally Thomas Volume 8
 * Best Tales on the Tracks
 * Ultimate Thomas Collection
 * Best of Collection

AUS

 * Time for Trouble and other stories
 * The Complete Series 3
 * My First Thomas with Henry and Gordon

DVD Boxsets

 * Complete Series 1-10
 * Classic Collection
 * Series Three and Series Four Double Pack

NZ

 * Time for Trouble and other stories
 * Bumper Video Collection Volume 4

JPN

 * Thomas the Tank Engine Volume 12
 * Best of Gordon
 * The Complete Works of Thomas the Tank Engine 1 Vol.7
 * Gordon and Henry the Large Engines
 * The Complete DVD Box 1
 * 75th Anniversary Edition: Thank You as Always! Thomas & Friends Masterpieces

PHL

 * Time for Trouble

NL

 * The Ghost Train
 * The Greatest Stories: The Adventures of Edward, Toby and the Diesels

SER

 * Thomas the Tank Engine 5

GRC

 * A Lively Companionship

UKR

 * A Train Thomas and Friends

IND

 * Ghost Train and Other Stories

ITA

 * On Christmas Eve

GER

 * A World-Famous Locomotive and 4 Other Adventures
 * Thomas and His Friends Vol. 6
 * A World-Famous Locomotive
 * It's Great to be a Locomotive!

DVD Boxsets

 * Thomas and His Friends Box Set 1

NOR/FIN

 * Thomas, Percy and the Post Train

DK

 * Now There Will Be Trouble and Other Stories

MYS

 * Diesel Does it Again and Other Thomas Adventures
 * The Deputation and Other Adventures

CHN

 * Thomas and Friends Season 1-4

THA

 * Thomas and Friends - Volume 8

HK
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 * Thomas and Friends Volume 6
 * Thomas and Friends Volume 5

Eine weltberühmte Lok Gordon y el Famoso Visitante גורדון והאורח המפורסם ゴードンとゆうめいなきかんしゃ Gabryś i Gwiazdor Гордон и известный посетитель