STEVE ASQUITH, TERRY PERMANE & DAVID EVES

'Twenty Five Years of Dedication to the Cause'

When Britt Allcroft began her production of Thomas in 1984, three men would stay the course and remain steadfast to Thomas throughout every change he went through in the model format over a twenty five year period.  

 

Steve Asquith, Terry Permane and David Eves were all employees of the Clearwater Film Company – and masters of their craft.

Terry Permane worked with David Mitton to develop the specialist camera for shooting Thomas and TUGS, the unique periscope lens system, and was also responsible for taking numerous still pictures for each scene of the production so they could be used in tie-in books and other areas.  Terry’s son Nigel also worked on the TV Series, becoming responsible for lighting the final series.

 

David Eves was responsible for the numerous special effects seen on Thomas and TUGS over the years, and is a committed steam-buff in his own right, owning his own Traction Engine.  David helped his father, Peter, to build the original models back in 1983, and from Series 5 onward, he would take responsibility for finding prototypes to base the new engines on – and was even responsible for suggesting the Sodor Steamworks, whilst Hero of the Rails was being developed initially, which was most likely his last contribution to Thomas’s world.  As well as Thomas, David has worked on numerous feature films including Lost In Space, The World Is Not Enough and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.

 

Finally, we come to Steve Asquith, who was David Mitton’s right hand man for many years before finally succeeding him in 2004.  Steve has played several roles throughout the production of the series, and made his official debut as a Director for Jack and the Pack – a shortlived spin-off from Thomas shot in 2003.  Prior to this, Steve has also been a consultant on Jim Henson production Construction Site (Produced by Simon Spencer!) and Dream Street (Developed by TUGS Director, Chris Tulloch).

 

All three men made great contributions to Thomas and Friends, and were highly valued members of the production team with their wealth of experience and dedication to making a highly polished piece of filmwork.