David Mitton, whose death at the age of 70 was announced on 28 May, 2008, was a masterful animation and puppetry director best known for producing Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends.

He wrote, directed and even built the models for the television adaptation of the Rev Wilbert Awdry’s Railway Series for nearly 20 years. He and his Clearwater Features partner Robert D Cardona also created TUGS, a similarly themed children’s show about tugboats.

Mr Mitton was born on 13 July, 1938 in Edinburgh. In the 1960s he was a floor technician working on the special effects for Gerry Anderson’s Thunderbirds.

He and Mr Cardona formed Clearwater in the early 1980s and produced the first two series of Thomas together. Mr Mitton continued to write and produce the programme until 2003 when the franchise was taken over by HIT Entertainment, distributors of Bob the Builder.

He made more than 180 episodes of the show, plus the 13 editions of TUGS which was broadcast in 1989 and have since become highly sought-after by children’s television enthusiasts.

The challenge of directing Thomas the Tank Engine came from mixing the stop-motion animation of the train’s faces and human characters with the real-time movement of the trains. This difficulty was compounded on TUGS as most of the action took place on water.

In 2006 he formed Pineapple Squared Entertainment with David Lane, director of the two 1960s Thunderbirds movies. From 2007 Pineapple Squared has produced the innovative CGI children’s fantasy adventure show Orsum Island. Mr Mitton was reportedly very proud of Orsum Island and saw it as a culmination of his career’s experience.

He had a heart attack a week before his death was announced. His Pineapple Squared colleagues Michele Fabian-Jones and David Lane issued a joint statement saying: "David Mitton was one of the greats of children’s TV. His loss is a considerable one personally and professionally. We will miss the laughs. The blow is cushioned only by the knowledge that he goes on through the continued success of Pineapple Squared Ent and in particular of Orsum Island, about which he was so passionate."