A THEATRE puppeteer has been pulling the strings for a hit television commercial.

Mark Whitaker, who hosts workshops at the Horse and Bamboo Theatre in Waterfoot, is the brains behind the quirky alien family spotted in adverts for Argos.

He also worked on the Ridley Scott blockbuster Prometheus and recently performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

The 49-year-old has toured extensively in the UK, mainland Europe, Canada, Brazil and Mexico, since he took up puppeteering full-time in 1989.

He has spent nine years working with the Bacup Road company and is currently on tour in Scotland with its production of Angus, Weaver Of Grass.

He said: “In the Argos adverts I mostly control the dad. He doesn’t have a name but obviously Bill Nighy does the voiceover and they’re very popular characters.

“I’ve been working with Argos for two years now and hopefully I’m doing some more stuff with them for their Christmas campaign.

“With Prometheus it was really interesting. There were only four of us working on the puppets and most of the time we spent covered in goo.”

Mr Whitaker, who is originally from Leeds, Edinburgh run praised the theatre for its ‘strong tradition’.