Wheel Nuts

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Wheel Nuts
Wheel Nuts Logo.jpgA known logo for the programme.
Episodes Unknown
First aired 1997
Country of origin Flaguk.png Great Britain
Status No longer airing
Concluded 2000

Wheel Nuts was the name of an automotive journalism programme created by the Scottish STV network for broadcast in Scotland as a regional-exclusive production. The programme aired from at least March 1997[1], through to some point around, prior to, or after July 2000[2], with a "Best of" compilation also airing on New Year's Eve 1999, according to available listings[3] from TVRDb. The theme tune, thanks to a member of the now-closed TV Forum[4], was "When We Go Back" by Adventures in Stereo, a shortlived band formed by former Spirea X member Judith Boyle and former Primal Scream member Jim Beattie.

Wheel Nuts would be directed by Richard Grimes[5], and worked on by a further team comprised of assistant engineer John Agnew[6] and producer Agnes Willkie. Existence of the programme and the knowledge that it even exists is very obscure, with no footage of the programme having survived until a YouTube channel by the name of "All Wheels Good" began uploading clips of the programme in the early 2020s, 25 years since their original broadcast.

The programme's spiritual successor, Drivetime, would air a decade later[7] and also featured Wheel Nuts lead host[8] Stephen Jardine.

Presenters[edit | edit source]

Known presenters for Wheel Nuts included:

  • Stephen Jardine: The programme's lead host.
  • Kaye Adams: Likely the programme's secondary host.
  • Sarah Heaney[9]
  • Heather Simpson
  • Alison Paton: Better known as "Siren" from the long-running gameshow Gladiators, Paton is at least known to have driven a Porsche Boxster for the programme in 1997.
  • Michael Wilson: Better known as "Cobra" from the same programme, Wilson is at least known to have driven a Chevrolet Corvette convertible, likely for the same episode as Paton's Boxster review.

Former James Bond actress Honor Blackman is also alleged to have starred in at least one episode.

Known films[edit | edit source]

Due to the programme's obscurity, it is impossible to gauge any sort of episode or series guide, so instead, all known segments broadcast on the programme are to be listed here.

Car psychology[edit | edit source]

Wheel Nuts had a "car psychologist" who could identify traits of an individual vehicle's owner simply by searching their car. In March 1997, they psychologically evaluated a nun.

References[edit | edit source]