[3] He read philosophy, politics and economics at New College, Oxford, and after graduation moved to Wales where he began working as a journalist for the Western Mail.
He was also a musician and a member of the comedy band "Baby Grand", who had two BBC Two TV series and released an album on the Decca label.
[6] In 1985, Stuart began working on BBC Radio 2 as stand-in presenter, mainly covering for Roger Royle on Good Morning Sunday and for Ray Moore on the station's early breakfast show.
[9] Stuart remained associated with Radio 2; for three years he hosted the Saturday film review show and continued to stand-in for other presenters including Terry Wogan, Jimmy Young, Gloria Hunniford, and John Dunn.
In 1992, Stuart and his wife set up an independent production company called Presentable, whose wide-ranging output included Late Night Poker for Channel 4, as well as Only Connect.