The man behind the television successes of Keith Floyd and Rick Stein has died aged 73.
David Pritchard was widely respected in his industry and passed away on January 13.
His work with chef Keith Floyd “broke the mould” of the cooking show genre through his use of unconventional camera techniques and his encouragement of presenters to act as naturally as possible in front of the lens.
Born in Southampton on November 19, 1945, Mr Pritchard left school at 16 with a single O-level to his name.
His mother suggested a job with Southern, a local television company, as a film vault porter and his journey in the media industry began.
He taught himself the film-making craft by imitating his senior colleagues, discovering a talent that allowed him to progress.
Mr Pritchard moved to BBC Plymouth as features editor and it was there he sparked a great working partnership with Keith Floyd.
Floyd on Fish hit British television screens in 1985 and was an immediate success, taking the pair on expeditions home and abroad, from Somerset to Bangkok and Malaysia.
The partnership continued until 1993 when he joined the independent company Denham Productions, headed by the ex-BBC Plymouth presenter Chris Denham.
It was there he was responsible for discovering rookie chef Rick Stein and bringing the charismatic host to the attention of the masses.
Stein has led tributes to the director, saying: “We will all feel a great emptiness now he has gone.”
Fellow chef James Martin described Pritchard as a “legend and a true master of his art, who made food shows proper”.
Phil Vickery, meanwhile, said he had “changed food films forever” and Matt Tebbutt described him as having a “huge personality and lust for all the good things in life”.
Pritchard is survived by his third wife, Fiona, and daughter, Lucy, from his second marriage, to Judith.