Bill Oddie, the actor, comedian and broadcaster, has died aged 85, leaving behind two distinct legacies: co-creator and star of the anarchic BBC comedy The Goodies, and later television's best-known birdwatcher through Springwatch. Both careers brought him huge popularity but were also marked by frustration and personal struggle, with the BBC accused of undervaluing The Goodies and Oddie's bipolar disorder eventually forcing him off the nature programme he loved.

The Goodies ran for 76 episodes between 1970 and 1982, co-written and performed with Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor, and drew audiences of up to 12 million at its peak, along with a Silver Rose of Montreux award and five singles that charted in 1974-75. Despite this, BBC executives dismissed it as a "children's show" and it was rarely repeated, prompting the trio to arrange a commercial DVD box set themselves. Oddie later found fame anew presenting Springwatch from 2005 with Kate Humble, but repeated bouts of bipolar depression caused him to miss episodes, and his exit from the show in 2008 was, by his own account, not voluntary.