Early life

Oddie was born in Rochdale on 7 July 1941 to Harry Oddie and Lillian (née Clegg), who had also had a daughter, Margaret Jean Oddie, who died when 5 days old on 21 January 1940. Oddie lived at Oak Tree Crescent, Quinton, Birmingham from about age 6 to 15, brought up by his father, Harry, and his father's mother, Emily. Oddie has no memory of his mother, Lilian, living at home. As a child she worked in a cotton mill under harsh conditions. She suffered from a chronic mental illness, perhaps bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, and abandoned Oddie while he was at an early age. She was a long-term inpatient in Barnsley Hall Hospital, Bromsgrove, for more than 20 years, having been first admitted as a voluntary patient at the age of 36 years. When Harry was 17 years old his father, Wilkinson Oddie, died of heart failure on 23 February 1927, a post-operative death, after an operation for carcinoma of the left tonsil, which used chloroform as an anaesthetic. Oddie developed a hobby first in egg collecting (which was then legal) then birdwatching, and his father encouraged school education.

Family

Oddie is married to Laura Beaumont (Beaumont-Gilles), with whom he has worked on a variety of projects for children, including film scripts, drama and comedy series, puppet shows and books. They have a daughter, Rosie (born 30 October 1985), and live in Hampstead, London.

Oddie also has two daughters from his first marriage (1967 to Jean Hart): Bonnie, and the actress Kate Hardie, plus three grandchildren, Lyle, Ella and Gracie.

Depression

Oddie has suffered from depression for most of his life, being diagnosed with clinical depression in 2001, and this may explain his reputation for truculent behaviour behind the scenes.

On 11 March 2009, it was reported that Bill Oddie had been admitted to Capio Nightingale psychiatric hospital to deal with his depression. His agent David Foster said: "Bill gets these bouts every two or three years where he gets down for about two weeks and recovers. He sometimes goes into hospital or takes a break or has a change of scenery to recharge his batteries." In January 2010, Oddie spoke to the media, revealing that he had in fact had two separate stays in different hospitals, only being released "in time for Christmas." He said that he was dealing with depression and bipolar disorder, describing the period as "probably the worst 12 months of my life." Oddie stated that he was planning to meet with BBC executives to discuss his return to television work.

His illness meant that he did not appear in the 2009 and 2010 seasons of Springwatch, although he made a guest appearance in the penultimate episode of the latter.

Comedy

After attending Lapal Primary School, Halesowen Grammar School (now The Earls High School, Halesowen) then King Edward's School, Birmingham, Oddie studied English Literature at Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge, where he appeared in several Cambridge University Footlights Club productions.

One of these, a revue called A Clump of Plinths, was so successful during its run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe that it was renamed Cambridge Circus and transferred to the West End in London, then New Zealand and Broadway in September 1964. Meanwhile, still at Cambridge, Oddie wrote scripts for TV's That Was The Week That Was.

His first television appearance was in Bernard Braden's On The Braden Beat in 1964. Subsequently, he was a key member of the performers in the cult BBC radio series I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (ISIRTA; 1965), where many of his musical compositions were featured. Some were released on the album Distinctly Oddie (Polydor, 1967). He was possibly one of the first performers to parody a rock song, arranging the traditional Yorkshire folk song "On Ilkla Moor Baht'at" in the style of Joe Cocker's hit rendition of the Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends" (released on John Peel's Dandelion Records in 1970 and featured in Peel's special box of most-treasured singles), and singing "Andy Pandy" in the style of a brassy soul number such as Wilson Pickett or Geno Washington might perform. In many shows he would do short impressions of Hughie Green.

In one song on I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again, Oddie performed "What a Wonderful World" with a voice fully reminiscent of Louis Armstrong. During the course of the song, the rest of the cast attributed the gravelly quality of his voice to a sore throat. In the background, during the rest of the song, it is possible to hear the cast dispense cough medicine, then call for a doctor, the arrival of the doctor and his decision that Oddie should go into hospital, the trip to hospital in an ambulance, and the operation extracting his tonsils. After this, the sound of his voice changed to a sound closer to that of Harry Secombe. He thanked the cast for curing him. On television Oddie was co-writer and performer in the comedy series Twice a Fortnight with Graeme Garden, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Jonathan Lynn. Later, he was co-writer and performer in the comedy series Broaden Your Mind with Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden, for which Oddie became a cast member for the second series.

Oddie, Brooke-Taylor and Garden then co-wrote and appeared in their television comedy series The Goodies. The Goodies also released records, including "Father Christmas Do Not Touch Me"/"The In-Betweenies", "Funky Gibbon", and "Black Pudding Bertha", which were hit singles in 1974-75. They reformed, briefly, in 2005, for a successful 13-date tour of Australia. Oddie, Brooke-Taylor and Garden voiced characters on the 1983 animated children's programme Bananaman.

In the Amnesty International show, A Poke in the Eye , Oddie, Brooke-Taylor and Garden sang their hit song "Funky Gibbon". The trio also appeared on Top of the Pops with the song. Together with Garden (who is a qualified doctor), Oddie co-wrote many episodes of the television comedy series Doctor in the House, including most of the first season and all of the second season. He has occasionally appeared on the BBC Radio 4 panel game I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, on which Garden and Brooke-Taylor are regular panellists. In 1982 Garden and Oddie wrote, but did not perform in, a 6-part science fiction sitcom called Astronauts for Central and ITV. The show was set in an international space station in the near future.

Natural history

Oddie's first published work was an article about the birdlife of Birmingham's Bartley Reservoir in the West Midland Bird Club's 1962 Annual Report. He has since written a number of books about birds and birdwatching, as well as articles for many specialist publications including British Birds, Birdwatching Magazine and Birdwatch.

One of Oddie's first forays in the world of television natural history was on 30 July 1986, as the subject of a Nature Watch Special: Bill Oddie - Bird Watcher, in which he was interviewed by Julian Pettifer.

Oddie has since hosted a number of successful nature programmes for the BBC, many produced by Stephen Moss, including:

• The Great Bird Race (1983; Channel 4)
• The Great Kenyan Bird Safari (BBC)
• Favourite Walks: "A Bird Walk" (1985; BBC)
• Worldwise: "The Bird Business" (1985; Channel 4)
• Oddie in Paradise (1985; BBC)
• Wild Weekends (TV AM)
• Flight to Eilat (Channel 4)
• Bird in the Nest (two series, 1994 and 1995)
• Birding with Bill Oddie (three series, 1997, 1998 and 2000)
• Bill Oddie Goes Wild (three series, 2001, 2002 and 2003)
• Wild In Your Garden (2003)
• Britain Goes Wild (2004)
• "Bill Oddie In Tiger Country" (2004)
• Bill Oddie's How to Watch Wildlife (two series, 2005 and 2006; also on DVD)
• Seven Natural Wonders (London edition) (2005)
• The Truth About Killer Dinosaurs (2005; also on DVD)
• Springwatch (2005—2008)
• Autumnwatch (2006—2008)
• Bill Oddie Back in the USA (2007)
• "Bill Oddie's Top Ten Birds" (2007; BBC Four)
• "100 Years of Wildlife" (2007)
• Bill Oddie's Wild Side (2008)
• "Bill Oddie's Top 10" (2008)

On its first evening of broadcast in 2004, Britain Goes Wild set a record for its timeslot of 8pm on BBC Two of 3.4 million viewers, one million more than the Channel 4 programme showing at that time. Britain Goes Wild, renamed Springwatch the following year, became a wildlife broadcasting phenomenon, attracting up to 5 million viewers.

He became president of the West Midland Bird Club in 1999, having been Vice-President since 1991, and is a former member of the council of the RSPB. Oddie is also a vice-president of the League Against Cruel Sports and a vice-president of the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers.

In 2003 Oddie set up a half-marathon to raise money for various wildlife charities in his birth-town of Rochdale. Celebrities that have participated in the event include Ray Mears, Catherine Jenkins and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

Music

In the 1960s and early 1970s, Oddie released a number of singles and at least one album. One of the former, issued in 1970 on John Peel's Dandelion Records label (Catalogue No: 4786), was On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at, performed in the style of Joe Cocker's With a Little Help from my Friends. The B-side, Harry Krishna, featured the Hare Krishna chant, substituting the names of contemporary famous people called Harry, including Harry Secombe, Harry Worth, Harry Lauder, and Harry Corbett, as well as puns such as "Harry [Hurry] along now", "Harrystotle [Aristotle]" and ending with "Harry-ly [I really] must go now". Both tracks appear on the compilation CD Life Too, Has Surface Noise: The Complete Dandelion Records Singles Collection 1969—1972 (2007).

He played the drums and saxophone and appeared as Cousin Kevin in a production of The Who's rock opera Tommy at the Rainbow Theatre, Finsbury Park, London on 9 December 1972. He has also contributed vocals to a Rick Wakeman album, Criminal Record.

Oddie took part in the English National Opera production of the Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera The Mikado, in which he appeared in the role of the "Lord High Executioner", taking over the role from Eric Idle. During the early 1990s, Oddie was a DJ for London-based jazz radio station 102.2 Jazz FM, but was dismissed after criticising the management on air after they told him he was playing too much jazz on his show.

In 2007 Oddie appeared on the BBC series Play It Again. In the episode he attempts to realise his dream of becoming a rock guitarist. Initially teacher Bridget Mermikides tries to teach him using traditional methods but he rebels: instead he turns to old friends Albert Lee, Dave Davies (of The Kinks) and Mark Knopfler for advice and strikes out on his own. He succeeds in the target of playing lead guitar for his daughter Rosie's band at her 21st birthday party, and even manages to impress his erstwhile teacher.

Other television and audio appearances

Oddie appeared as the hapless window cleaner in the Eric Sykes' comedy story The Plank in 1967. He also presented the live children's Saturday morning entertainment show Saturday Banana (ITV/Southern Television) during the late 1970s. In the late 1980s he was a presenter of the BBC TV show Fax (a show about 'facts').

In the 1990s he became better known as a presenter of birdwatching, and later wildlife-related, programmes such as Springwatch. Although he remains almost unknown to US audiences, in 1992 he was a guest star in the US comedy television series Married with Children for a 3-part episode set in England.

In 1997-98 he appeared on the Channel 4 archaeological programme Time Team, as the team excavated a Roman villa site in Turkdean, Gloucestershire.

He was the compère of a daytime BBC gameshow, History Hunt (in 2003); and has appeared in the Doctor Who audio drama Doctor Who and the Pirates. In 2004, he appeared in the BBC show Who Do You Think You Are?, in which he looked into his ancestry — he was visibly moved by its revelations. In 2005, he took part in Rolf on Art — the big event at Trafalgar Square.

In 2006 Oddie appeared in the BBC show Never Mind The Buzzcocks, and also appeared on the topical quiz show 8 out of 10 Cats. Bill also is the voice behind many B&Q adverts throughout 2006/2007. On 25 May 2007, Oddie made a cameo appearance on Ronni Ancona's new comedy sketch show, Ronni Ancona & Co.

He hosted the genealogy-based series My Famous Family, broadcast on UKTV History in 2007. In 2008, Oddie was a guest on Jamie Oliver's television special Jamie's Fowl Dinners, talking about free-range chickens. He also recorded a voice for Lionhead Studios' Fable II.

Honours

In 2001, Oddie became the third person to decline to appear on This Is Your Life. He changed his mind a few hours later and agreed to appear on the show. On 16 October 2003, Oddie was made an OBE for his service to Wildlife Conservation in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. He played down the event, choosing to wear a camouflage shirt and crumpled jacket to receive his medal. In June 2004, Oddie and Johnny Morris were jointly profiled in the first of a three part BBC Two series, The Way We Went Wild, about television wildlife presenters. In May 2005, he received the British Naturalists' Association's Peter Scott Memorial Award, from BNA president David Bellamy, "in recognition of his great contribution to our understanding of natural history and conservation."

On 30 June 2009, he was proposed for inclusion in the Birmingham Walk of Stars, with the public invited to vote.

(incomplete list)

• Bill Oddie's Colouring Guide to Birds (Piccolo, 1991)
• Bill Oddie's Little Black Bird Book
• Bill Oddie's Little Black Bird Book (paperback with additional material)
• Bill Oddie's Gone Birding
• The Big Bird Race (with David Tomlinson; Collins, 1983)
• Follow That Bird!
• Gripping Yarns
• Bird in the Nest
• Bill Oddie's How to Watch Wildlife
• One Flew into the Cuckoos Egg (Autobiography)

Bill Oddie also co-wrote the Springwatch & Autumnwatch book with Kate Humble and Simon King.

Co-written with the other members of The Goodies:

• The Goodies File
• The Goodies Book of Criminal Records
• The Goodies Disaster Movie

Co-written with Laura Beaumont:

• The Toilet Book (or 11 & 1/2 minutes a day and how not to waste them) (Methuen, 1984, ISBN 9780413569103)

Contributions

• Confessions of a Scilly Birdman, David Hunt; Croom Helm, 1985. ISBN 0-7099-3724-5 (foreword and postscript)
• Bird in the Yorkshire Museum, Michael Denton; North Yorkshire County Council, 1995. ISBN 0 905807 10 3 (foreword)
• Bird Brain of Britain, Charles Gallimore & Tim Appleton; Christopher Helm, 2004. ISBN 0-7136-7036-3 (foreword)
• Blokes and Birds, Stephen Moss; New Holland Publishers. ISBN 1-84330-484-8 (foreword)
• The New Birds of the West Midlands, Graham and Janet Harrison (West Midland Bird Club, 2005) ISBN 0 9507881-2-0 (foreword)

In the fictional world of comedy character Alan Partridge, Oddie is an unseen presence in Alan's life.

He has also been referenced, often humorously, by the hosts of Top Gear. Jeremy Clarkson even used a mask with Bill Oddie's face to escape speed cameras while racing the Nissan GTR against the Bullet train in Japan in the 4th episode of Top Gear's 11th series. James May also raced in Finland against a Bill Oddie lookalike, who won the race.

In the BBC comedy How Not To Live Your Life, main character Don Danbury is frequently referred to as Bill Oddie by a group of teenagers, because he is "old and watches birds all day".