Bill Oddie hopes to return to Springwatch
24/03/2012 02:11 GMT

Posted by lisa

The following article appears on the Mirror's website at http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/tv-film-news/bill-oddie-set-for-springwatch-return-770568


Springing back to Springwatch: 'Ousted' Bill Oddie in line for return to BBC show

By Mark Jefferies
24 Mar 2012 00:00

The 70-year-old claimed he left the BBC show due to an incident during filming and was not asked back by producers


Bill Oddie is set to return to TV’s Springwatch two years after quitting in mysterious circumstances.



The 70-year-old claimed he left the BBC show due to an incident during filming and was not asked back by producers.

But the wildlife expert could now be in the frame for a surprise return.

He said: “I am hoping that I might come back and do a few bits and pieces.

“I can’t pretend that I wouldn’t because it’s a programme I was there right from the start with and I was there for a long time.

“I am now thrust back – which I can’t say I enjoy doing – into the dreaded pitching and trying to sell yourself land.

"I have got plenty of ideas but you just sit around and wait and there’s an awful lot of that.”

Bill left Springwatch in January 2009, saying at the time: “It feels like the right time to take a breather and recharge my batteries.”

But two months ago he claimed his exit was down to something that happen-ed in filming on Brownsea Island in Dorset.

After several weeks, he spoke to his producer and asked what was going on. Giving no further details about the “incident”, he said: “I was called in, and was told, ‘We won’t be asking you to do Springwatch next year’.



"So that was the big shock. No one explained why... I started slipping into a depression that got worse and worse... 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 and that they wished me the best.

"This, of course, was the reason Mr Oddie wasn’t doing Springwatch. But it wasn’t.”

Speaking about the circumstances again at a screening for movie We Bought A Zoo in London this month, the Goodies star said: “It’s a long time ago and a failure of communications.

"I wasn’t well eventually – there was no question about that – and was in a situation where I couldn’t have given my best. Like a lot of big organisations perhaps they could have been more sympathetic.”

Birdwatcher Bill also claimed he was not surprised his former co-host Kate Humble has left the show.

Laughing, he said: “I hope she only finds that a humorous comment because I could get in to a lot of trouble here, but Kate nearly left every flipping year.

"Kate’s very versatile and there were lots of other things she wanted to do.”

A BBC spokesman said they had always been open to working with Bill again and hoped he would do things for the show in the future.