This year's competitors are off the starting blocks for the beard-growing tournament. The line-up is Doug Sheckley, Grant Hodgson and Simon Lock. It promises to be a fiercely fought battle which will end on Christmas Eve.
Many feel Locky could be first to drop out, afflicted as he is with ginger stubble. Doug, although unemployed, with no need to shave at the best of times, could find his vanity his Achilles Heel, having been known to shave twice in one day. The smart money's on Grant, a hungry young competitor, eager for glory. Although his job might allow a scruffy beard, it's possible his girlfriend Liz Stephenson, 26, however, would not.
You will be able to keep up to date with every new development in this clash of the titans. Click here for the 2005 Beard Growing Blog