Puppetechnics founder David Thornton
The Puppetechnics Studio was created by David Thornton, a trained actor with a 40 year career in promoting and delivering magical experiences at theme parks, heritage sites, festivals and events across the UK.
Growing up in Sheffield, David became fascinated by puppetry after a back-stage visit to the Harlequin Puppet Theatre (Rhos on Sea) in 1970, aged 7. He built his own puppet theatres and gave performances to his school friends and local church goers. He trained as an actor at the School of Performing Arts where he gained a BA (hons) degree in drama. During his final year he studied puppetry and took his secondment at the Little Angel Marionette Theatre in Islington where he studied the work of John Wright MBE.
The Alton Towers Connection…
He also spent time with puppet master John Blundall at Cannon Hill Puppet Theatre in Birmingham, before setting up Roadworks Puppet Company based in the West Midlands. Roadworks was company in residence at Tamworth Arts Centre in the late eighties. Over the next four years he toured nine productions, made giant figures for the Stoke Garden Festival, and received regional Arts Council Funding for a number of projects including a show for adults and puppet making and performance workshops in the Midlands for students with special needs.
He created and performed with “Radio Pippin” for Alton Towers, a puppet character who drove a yellow radio station van around the grounds for three seasons, and went on to head up the Theme park’s creature shop which made puppets for the Ice skating winter productions at the Towers.
Remember you’rE a womble…
David moved into theme park marketing and product development in the early 1990’s, but still found time to create puppet characters and shows for a number of clients, including a costume character show for Drayton Manor Theme park, and building a 50 seater puppet theatre and summer season show in Cornwall. He made puppet films for Heritage Great Britain, Lightwater Valley, Land’s End Visitor Centre, Sheffield Children’s Hospital, Sheffield International Venues and South Yorkshire Police between 2005 and 2009. “The Puppetcatcher” was a film made with a cast of 11 puppets and real police officers on set, created to inform children about internet saftey in 2008.
He returned to destination marketing in 2010 and concluded a successful tourism career at the Heights of Abraham in 2025 when he devised and launched a new exhibition and live performance feature in partnership with “The Wombles”. On his 63rd birthday, in January 2026, having “retired” two months earlier, he decided to re-launch Puppetechnics and take it to a whole new level.
David is a member of the British Puppetry Guild and BrUNIMA (the international Puppetry Organisation). He holds an up to date enhanced DBS certificate and maintains his own public liability insurance.
PUPPETECHNICS 