David Mitton (David Nelson Godfrey Mitton) (born in Edinburgh, Scotland, 13th July 1938 - died London, England, 28th May 2008) is the creator of the TUGS series. He first began his career as a special effects technician for Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation shows such asThunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and Joe 90. Then he became friends with Robert D. Cardona, and they established their own company called Clearwater Features. In 1984, Mitton began his work as director, writer and producer on Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends alongside Britt Allcroft. Later in 1988, Mitton and Cardona decided to create a show about two tug fleets called the Star Tugs and the Z-Stacks, giving the series its name, TUGS. David wrote six episodes of the series and directed nine of them. When TUGS was cancelled and Clearwater Features closed down, he continued to direct Thomas until his retirement in 2003. In 2007, he and producer David Lane launched a company of their own called Pineapple Squared Entertainment Ltd, and were working on a CGI show called Adventures on Orsum Island. Sadly, David Mitton died of a heart attack on 28th May 2008, at the age of 69. Many Thomas and TUGS fans were greatly saddened by this news. Adventures on Orsum Island was cancelled, and only a handful of clips exist.