Bill Oddie

I am a great fan of Spring Watch and Autumn watch on the BBC. Great tele and educational the while.

I was a great fan of Bill Oddie when he was a comedian. Mainly because he was amusing. This tends to be why we like comedians. The Goodies looks a bit dated now but it was ground-breaking in its day. Trust me, younger readers, it was.

I went to the same school as Bill Oddie. Rumour had it that he was expelled on the last day of his last term, for marching a jazz band down the school drive contrary to the explicit prohibition issued by the Chief Master. It was the sort of school that had Chief Masters not Head Teachers. Jonathan Coe's The Rotter's Club describes the same school and some footage is available in the John Cleese film Clockwise. Yes it was photogenic too. I was a big disappointment to them. Anyway people get expelled from Public Schools for far more imaginative reasons than drugs and violence.

Thing is, over the last few years, Oddie has become a bit of an arse. He caught my imagination when he made bird-watching popular but now, when interviewed, he is rude to journalists and, when presenting he is unhelpful, unamusing and rude. If co-presenter Kate Humble drew a hunting knife slowly across his throat and then continued a link about badgers I think people would be more annoyed at the break in her flow of reportage than the body on the floor.

Sorry Bill. You lost my vote. Get a grip mate. Courtesy. It makes the world a nicer place. You don't. You're a grumpy curmudgeon well beyond your broadcast-before date. Retire. No offence.