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5 unusual facts about Bill Oddie


Bartley Green

It covers 46 hectares of countryside and it is well known as the place where Bill Oddie did a lot of his early birdwatching, and features in his books (notably Bill Oddie's Gone Birding) and television programmes.

Boom Bang-a-Bang

The song was the second consecutive entry with a nonsense title to win the contest (after Massiel's triumph in 1968 with "La La La"), and became infamous in the comedy world - most notably inspiring Monty Python's Flying Circus to parody it with "Bing Tiddle-Tiddle Bong" (Python precursor I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again had previously had Bill Oddie do something similar with a song for which the title was rendered entirely in sound effects).

Four Yorkshiremen sketch

A near derivative of the sketch appears in the BBC Radio show I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again Series 7, Episode 5 on 9 February 1969, in which the cast, John Cleese, Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie, David Hatch, in the guise of old buffers at a gentlemen's club, employ the same trope of out-doing each other for hardship, this time in the context of how far and how slowly they had to walk to get to various places in former days.

Funky Gibbon

"Funky Gibbon" is a song by Bill Oddie and recorded by The Goodies.

Oddie

Bill Oddie, member of The Goodies, ornithologist and television presenter


Jonathan Lynn

From the late 1960s, Jonathan Lynn was appearing in and writing television sitcoms, including the television comedy series Twice a Fortnight with Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Tony Buffery.

Wild In Your Garden

Presenters Bill Oddie, Kate Humble (both in a suburban garden in Bristol, England) and Simon King (mostly on location nearby) presented live action from a number of hidden cameras in or near nest boxes, badger setts and the like.

World Land Trust

Other high profile supporters of the Trust have included Ken Livingstone, David Bellamy, Bill Oddie, Frank Thornton, Simon Barnes and Mark Carwardine .


see also

Bartley Reservoir

The reservoir featured in a television programme in 1985, when Bill Oddie was interviewed there by Julian Pettifer for a 50-minute Nature Watch Special: Bill Oddie - Bird Watcher.

Graeme Garden

With Tim Brooke-Taylor and Bill Oddie, Garden appeared in the Amnesty International show A Poke In The Eye (With A Sharp Stick) (during which they sang their hit song "Funky Gibbon").

West Midland Bird Club

He discussed his membership of the Club in one of his first forays in the world of television natural history, as the subject of a Nature Watch Special: Bill Oddie - Bird Watcher, in which he was interviewed by Julian Pettifer, at Bartley Reservoir and the Christopher Cadbury Wetland Reserve.