Comedian and former Goodie who became a noted ornithologist and TV presenter.

Bill Oddie, who has died at the age of 85, was one of Britain's best known comedians and naturalists. A product of the Cambridge Footlights, the cradle of so much post-war British comedy, he shot to fame in the 1970s as a member of the anarchic Goodies. Bird watching was a lifelong passion and he moved into presenting nature programmes, including the BBC's Springwatch. But his life was plagued by bouts of acute depression which caused repeated admissions to psychiatric hospitals - where Oddie suffered from severe lithium poisoning as a result of his treatment. A beardless Bill Oddie (R) with the cast of I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again in 1965 His ancestors on both sides were mill workers. However, his father Harry had made good, moved to Birmingham and worked as an accountant at the Midlands Electricity Board. The comedian later said his father's work ethic greatly influenced his approach to his own career. But Bill saw little of his mother Lillian during his childhood. She had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent much of her time in hospital. Oddie later discovered that her depression had followed the premature deaths of his two older siblings.