[5] He attended The Leys School, studied English at Churchill College, Cambridge and took a post-graduate course in journalism at City University, London.
After graduating, Wilmshurst started working in news and current affairs, then worked for a number of years as a researcher and director in formatted factual programmes, before persuading Channel 4 to send him to Las Vegas to make an authored documentary about a mafia lawyer.
He went on to make feature documentaries collaborating with novelist Luke Rhinehart[9] and comedian Frank Skinner,[10] before directing two separate year-long, three-part series for Channel 4: White Tribe (with Darcus Howe)[11] and The Gambler (with Jonathan Rendall).
[12][13] He then wrote and directed a handful of dramadocs: about cocaine dealing;[14] pseudocide; the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge;[15] alcoholism in the workplace;[16][17] and being kidnapped by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, telling the story of Chris Moon.
[18] Wilmshurst also wrote, produced and directed the 90-minute BBC dramatised documentary Hiroshima[19] – shown in over 30 countries on the 60th anniversary of the bombing – which won an International Emmy for Best Documentary[4] and a BAFTA for Best Visual Effects,[20] shared between Gareth Edwards, Mike Tucker and Red Vision.