Telegraph article: Bill Oddie says he was frozen out of 'Springwatch’ by the BBC
04/03/2012 16:10 GMT

Posted by lisa

This article appears in the Telegraph's online edition at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/9121086/Springwatch-presenter-Bill-Oddie-BBC-investigated-me-after-mystery-incident.html

Springwatch presenter Bill Oddie: BBC investigated me after mystery 'incident’

Bill Oddie says he was frozen out of 'Springwatch’ by the BBC after a complaint was made about his behaviour during filming.

By Richard Eden
7:30AM GMT 04 Mar 2012

When Bill Oddie stepped down as a presenter of Springwatch, the BBC said his health problems were to blame. The 70-year-old former comedian now claims, however, that he was forced out of the popular wildlife programme after an investigation into his behaviour during the filming.

Oddie says the BBC carried out the inquiry after complaints were made about an “incident” that took place while he was shooting the programme on Brownsea Island, in Dorset.

He refuses to say what the incident was and swears that he does not know “to this day” whether the complaints were made by members of the public or the crew.

The naturalist, who had worked on the programme since it was launched in 2005, says he telephoned his producer and said: “It’s as if you’ve been told not to talk to me”. She replied: “We have.”

In 2008, he was called to a meeting, at which he was told that he would not be asked back to the programme. “That was the big shock,” he says. “No one explained why. After I was told I wouldn’t be asked back, I started slipping into a depression that got worse and worse.”

Oddie, who became a household name as a member of The Goodies comedy programme, says tabloid newspapers learnt that he was being treated in hospital.

“Some of the papers got hold of that, tracked down what hospital I was in," he tells The Lady magazine. "Now, of course, the BBC was splendidly off the hook. They could issue a statement saying they were terribly sorry Mr Oddie wasn’t well. This, of course, was the reason Mr Oddie wasn’t doing Springwatch. But it wasn’t.”

He made a guest appearance in the penultimate episode of the 2010 series of the programme. The BBC declines to comment on its investigation. “We would never comment on any personnel issue,” says a spokesman, who adds: “Bill’s health and wellbeing has always been an important consideration for us. He has since done several projects with the BBC. We are always open to working with him.”