Article snapshot taken from[REDACTED] with creative commons attribution-sharealike license.
Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat.
We can research this topic together.
Last Chance Learners was an Australian television program which was created by the Seven Network. The show gave ten learner drivers the chance to be trained by an experienced driving instructor and the opportunity to take their driver's licence test and win a brand new Hyundai Getz.
Last Chance Learners premiered on Wednesday 18 April 2007 at 7:30pm on Channel Seven and was hosted by former Test cricketer and Who Dares Wins host Mike Whitney. After the conclusion of the series final on 4 July 2007, the Seven Network planned a live reunion special, also hosted by Whitney, where all ten learners would talk about their experiences on the show and answer questions from a live studio audience. The special also planned to give away the remaining Hyundai Getzs to lucky home viewers. However, the reunion special was cancelled. Repeats have been shown on 7Two.
The series was also broadcast in the UK on Living2 as Desperate Learners Driving School.
The learner drivers
The ten learner drivers were split up into two teams of five learner drivers each. Each team had its own dedicated driving instructor. The red team instructor was Jann Shipley while the blue team instructor was Chris Breen.
Red Team
Learner driver
Partner
Driver's Age
Years on learners
Licence test attempts
Test result
Sharni Freeman
Chris Martin
27
12
0
Passed – Episode 11
Virgilia Nielsen
Darren Appleton
19
3
3
Passed – Episode 7
Shannan Wilson
Lee Bollom
28
11
3
Passed – Episode 12
Isabel Sng
John Wong
32
14
0
Quit – Episode 7
David Bester
Darren Balsley
24
3
2
Passed – Episode 12
Blue Team
Learner driver
Partner
Driver's Age
Years on learners
Licence test attempts
Test result
Simone Woods
Josh Woods
32
16
0
Didn't pass at all
Shaun Favell
Eddie Bray
36
17
4
Didn't pass at all
Robert Giess
Colleen Berry
34
17
0
Passed – Episode 5
Naida Churchill
Lisa Moyle
33
6
0
Passed – Episode 12
Belinda Lemair
Andrew Lemair
32
13
2
Passed – Episode 4
Episodes
#
Air Date
Challenge
Winner
Test-taker
Did they pass?
1
18 April 2007
Pace Car Challenge
Red
N/A
N/A
2
25 April 2007
Emergency Braking
Red
Shannan
No
3
2 May 2007
Reverse Parking on a busy street
Blue
Virgilia
No
4
9 May 2007
Braking on a wet surface
Blue
Belinda
Yes
5
16 May 2007
Reversing through a grid of cars
Blue
Robert
Yes
6
23 May 2007
Night Driving
Red
Naida
N/A – didn't sit test
7
30 May 2007
3-point turn on a hill
Blue
Virgilia
Yes
8
6 June 2007
Finding a parking spot at Paddy's Markets
Red
Naida
No
9
13 June 2007
Country Driving
Red
Shannan
N/A – didn't sit test
10
20 June 2007
Map Navigation
Red
David
No
11
27 June 2007
4WD Challenge
Red
Sharni
Yes
12
4 July 2007
N/A
N/A
David Naida Shannan Shaun Simone
David, Naida and Shannan finally passed, but Shaun and Simone failed dismally.
