Documentaries don’t get more delightful than this, as warming as a bowl of porridge

The Golden Spurtle is the stirring tale of the World Porridge Making Championships in the quirky Scottish town of Carrbridge. You’ll be forever thankful you watched it.

At the time I found it extremely amusing, although not to the point where I actually bought the advertised product, or indeed can even remember exactly what it was. But I never gave much thought to the central question that the commercial raised: just how DO ye make porridge?

And so we come to The Golden Spurtle, a documentary that will not just enlighten you on some of the finer points of making porridge, but also open up a whole new porridgey world you may not have known existed, but will after viewing be forever thankful for.

First, the title: The Golden Spurtle. Raises many intriguing possibilities. Is it a rare species of Pokemon? A particularly ludicrous Macguffin in the Harry Potter series?

No, actually a spurtle is a traditional Scottish wooden stick used for stirring porridge, and the Golden Spurtle is the trophy awarded each year to the winner of the World Porridge Making Championships, held in the tiny, picturesque village of Carrbridge in the Scottish Highlands.

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The first notable thing about The Golden Spurtle, revealed in the opening titles, is that it is a Screen Australia production, which does seem odd for a film about a Scottish porridge contest. The reason for the Australian taxpayer’s contribution is Toby Wilson, a young Sydney taco chef who, some years ago, caught the porridge bug (a metaphorical insect, not an oatmeal parasite) and who writer-director Constantine Costi follows in his preparation for and participation in the 30th Golden Spurtle championship.

Toby is an appealingly typical Aussie bloke, wry and self-aware and almost a little nonplussed by finding himself in a movie about porridge, as much as he does love the stuff.

But while Toby may be the reason this film was made, by a filmmaker on the opposite side of the world, he’s not really the star. That honour goes to Charlie Miller, the “chieftain” of the Golden Spurtle, who is, at the 30th event, organising proceedings for the final time.

Charlie is a small, round, undemonstrative Highlander, never making a fuss and relating the details, the logistics and the history of the competition without fanfare or hype. And yet his absolute, undeniable love comes through – love for his village, love for its people, and love for this world championship, which brings them together, along with porridge enthusiasts from around the world, each