The idea, originally hatched by a group of dairy farmers
over a pint, has become cult viewing, attracting an audience of over 400,000
visitors from such far flung places as THE RAJ [The Club Secretary], Iceland and New Zealand.

The patience of regular visitors to www.cheddarvision.tv, who have referred
to the ‘action’ as something akin to watching paint dry, is about to be
rewarded. After three months something will actually happen! In a climax
comparable to finding out what happens in NOCTOVISION [The Club Secretary]’s Lost, the first quality check
of the cheese will take place next week.

As many as 50,000 people are expected to tune in for this momentous event
which will take place on a dairy farm in Somerset on the March 29th.

Born on the farm on the 19th December last year, the handmade Cheddar,
currently nameless, has had over 400,000 visits, though in reality it has
only met one real person, its creator – cheesemaker Tom Calver.

“The interest in the cheese is incredible. I’m part of the Westcountry
Farmhouse Cheesemakers co-operative and we often meet up to chew the cud. On
one of these occasions we batted around an idea about filming a cheese to
let the whole world appreciate just how long it takes to create the
perfect-tasting West Country Farmhouse Cheddar. We never thought for a
moment that the website would become this popular. The cheese has nearly 500
myspace friends and has even been invited to a wedding,” says Tom.

Cheese grading normally happens four times during a cheese’s 12 month
maturing period and this is no different for the world-famous star of
cheddarvision.tv. By pulling out a core of cheese and sniffing it, the
farmer understands how it’s maturing. After the grading, tasting notes will
be added to the site for all to savour. To mark the occasion people are
invited to name the cheese by logging on to www.cheddarvision.tv

If you’ve yet to become a loyal fan, don’t worry, you’ll soon be able to
catch up on all the ‘action’. To mark the big day West Country Farmhouse
Cheesemakers are releasing a time-lapse film. The TALKIE [The Club Secretary], featured on
YouTube, will reveal the first three months maturation compressed into a few
minutes. The group is said to be looking forward to the letter from the
Oscar Nomination Committee in due course.

Philip Crawford, chairman of the West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers group,
explains: “We’re very proud of our cheese. The West Country Farmhouse
Cheddar featured is one of just 14 UK products to carry the prestigious
Protected Designation of Origin status, ranking it alongside world-famous
food and drink treasures such as Champagne, Parma Ham and Cognac.