Britain Goes Wild with Bill Oddie
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Britain Goes Wild with Bill Oddie was a live BBC TV show, broadcast nightly, Monday - Thursday, from 31 May - 17 June, 2004.
Following on from the previous year's Wild In Your Garden, presenters Bill Oddie, Kate Humble (both on a farm in Devon, England) and Simon King (mostly on location) spent one hour each evening, describing wildlife and presenting live action from a number of hidden cameras in or near nest boxes, as well as a badger sett. Short, pre-filmed documentary pieces were also included.
It set a record for its timeslot of 8pm on BBC TWO on its first evening of broadcast of 3.4 million viewers — one million more than the Channel 4 programme showing at that time. It also created a run on nest boxes for wild birds and bumble bees, bird baths and bird feed from suppliers, likened to the Delia power phenomenon created when Delia Smith mentioned the tools and ingredients she was using on her cooking programme Delia's How to Cook.
Oddie presented an update of some of the featured animals later in 2004.
A sequel, Springwatch with Bill Oddie, was broadcast in 2005.
External link
- BBC press release of 23 June 2004, reviewing the series (http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2004/06_june/23/wild.shtml)