At the age of 13, he joined the Children’s Film Unit, a UK educational charity that gave young people practical experience across the filmmaking process. He worked on 16mm feature films produced during school holidays, gaining early experience that established his interest in cinematography.
Wheeler went on to build a career in British television and film, working across comedy, drama and thriller productions. His early television credits include Peep Show, The Thick of It and The Smoking Room. He became widely associated with the comedy series The Inbetweeners, and later photographed the feature films The Inbetweeners Movie (2011) and The Inbetweeners 2 (2014).
His subsequent television work includes Doctor Foster, The Durrells, Wanderlust, Back to Life, The Sister, Alex Rider, Lockwood & Co. and The Tourist. For The Tourist, he received the British Society of Cinematographers’ award for Cinematography in a Television Drama in 2023, alongside further industry recognition for his television work.
Wheeler’s later credits include the BBC thriller The Jetty (2024), directed by Marialy Rivas, and The Undertow (2025). His work on The Jetty featured a carefully controlled colour palette contrasting warm and cool lighting to distinguish the story’s themes and timelines. He has discussed his cinematographic approach and camera techniques in a detailed production breakdown published by Sony.