Photograph: Vicki Couchman/Camera Press
Bill Oddie, who has died aged 85, had two separate, substantial TV presences – as a comedy actor and an ornithologist. Both roles brought him fame but also pain. The peak of the former career was 76 episodes from 1970-82 of The Goodies, which he co-wrote and co-starred in with Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor. They played an eccentric trio of investigators and fixers who rode into action on a three-seater bicycle called a “trandem”.
As a birdwatcher, his onscreen zenith was Springwatch, which he initially co-hosted with Kate Humble, from 2005. It began a BBC Two natural history franchise marking the change of seasons, its success leading to wintry, autumnal and summery spin-offs. Binoculars lowered to show eyes awed or enthused, and Oddie became TV’s signature birdwatcher.
