We Are The Champions is on Netflix from today (November 17 2020). Before any Queen fans get excited at the prospect of a new documentary about Freddie Mercury and bandmates, this documentary is about something else. Welcome to the world of the quirky, the unusual, the downright eccentric.

We Are The Champions explores the world of unusual competitions, most known only to their fans. Produced by Rainn Wilson, this six episodes series tells you everything you never knew you wanted to know about the people driven by passion to excel in their chosen field.

First up is Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling; possibly the only one familiar to a British audience. Netflix describes it thus:

Each May, in a quiet English village, thousands of people gather to watch runners chase a wheel of cheese down a hill. A very steep hill. We Are the Champions follows competitors as they sprint, tumble and crash down the hill at top speed—risking fractured limbs and broken collar bones—to cross the finish line first and be crowned the Cheese Rolling Champion.

Future weeks promise us the joys of Chili Eating, Fantasy Hair Styling, Yo-Yo, Dog Dancing and Frog Jumping. From the official trailer (link at end), the world of Yo-Yo is by far the least unusual, and we are completely bemused by the idea of Frog Jumping. Where do people start? Do they begin with some tadpole hopping and work their way up?

Joking aside, the intent of We Are The Champions is to document, not to poke fun (we apologise for any offence caused by our tadpole comments) and this looks set to be one of those programs we’d talk about around the water cooler, if only we weren’t all working at home these days. Perhaps something to mention while you wait for everyone to arrive for the next team Zoom meeting?

We Are the Champions is a Dirty Robber production. Executive producers and directors are Brian Golden Davis, Nick Frew and Martin Desmond Roe; Chris Uetwiller is executive producer; and Rainn Wilson is executive producer and narrator. The official trailer is here.