Bill Oddie calls the BBC 'bloody b**tards' over Springwatch sacking

Bill Oddie is still angry at the BBC for firing him from nature show Springwatch, calling the broadcaster ‘bloody b**tards’.

Oddie was sacked in 2008 after a complaint was made about his behaviour during the filming of a segment in Dorset, the precise details of which have never come to light.

“I never had a proper explanation,” he told The Daily Mirror. “I was called in and told: ‘We won’t be asking you to make any more programmes’.”

The broadcaster, and former member of comedy troupe The Goodies, who had long suffered with mental health problems, was diagnosed as bipolar in 2010.

He admitted of the time he was sacked from the show: “Unfortunately my bipolar element had come into it and I could be very tetchy, I don’t mind admitting.”

However, he is still angry about his treatment, calling the BBC ‘bloody b**tards’ who ‘didn’t give a damn’.

In 2012, Oddie revealed that his sacking caused a decline in his mental health which resulted in him almost taking his own life on two occasions.

He’s said that he ended up spending a year in hospital recovering from clinical depression.

Oddie was replaced on the show by Chris Packham, who still presents both Autumnwatch and Springwatch today.

Oddie’s Goodies co-star Graeme Garden recently spoke about why The Goodies is no longer repeated on the BBC.

“When fans have written in asking why they aren’t repeating The Goodies, the BBC always reply saying they’re looking forward and want to invest in new comedy,” he said.

“So, I thought, ‘Well, that means we won’t be getting the 6pm Dad’s Army slot then.’”

Read more
Ellis Hillon removed from Big Brother
Zoe Ball ‘offered Chris Evans’ Radio 2 job’
Tributes paid to Lovejoy star Dudley Sutton