Bill's Solo Videos

Like the other Goodies, Bill Oddie has appeared in many other television shows and films.  This page focuses on home video releases of Bill's solo work as an actor or presenter.

In some cases only representative samples of a title are shown, rather than attempting to detail every release (for example, when a video has been repackaged as part of a box set, reissued with a new catalog number, released in another country/region, or released on Blu-Ray).  Some titles also may be available from authorized online streaming services such as Amazon Instant Video, Netflix, etc. - you may wish to check the services available in your part of the world.

In addition to general releases of television shows & movies, this page also has a selection of Corporate Videos in which Bill appeared as an actor or narrator.  Corporate videos typically are commissioned by a company or organization for use as a training, promotional, or informational video.  The Corporate videos appearing on this page are ones I've happened to find; I'm sure there are many others.

Bill's Solo TV Shows & Movies

The Roland Rat Tapes (VHS)

This is the home video release of Roland Rat: The Series in which Bill Oddie makes a guest appearance.

VHS
PAL format
BBC Video - BBCV 4165
Released 1988. 

Read It Yourself - The Ugly Duckling (VHS)

Based on Ladybird's Read-it-Yourself bookThe Ugly Duckling; the video came with a free colour storybook.  From the back cover: "Bill Oddie present a video programme that will stimulate and entertain young children.  It features songs, stories and superb illustrations in full colour.  Young children who are ready to read and eager to learn more can join in with the children on the screen, as Bill Oddie talks about the words and pictures in the storybook."

PAL format
Ladybird Video - LPV 8253
Released 1988 - 40 min

Asterix and the Big Fight - 30th Anniversary Limited Edition (VHS)

The 30th Anniversary edition VHS release of Asterix and the Big Fight featured an all star cast with Bill Oddie playing the lead role of Asterix and Bernard Bresslaw as Obelix.  Tim Brooke-Taylor has a very small part as Cacofonix.

Note that this VHS has a yellow starburst saying "Asterix 30th Anniversary Limited Edition" and a red box at the bottom saying "Featuring the voices of Bill Oddie as Asterix", etc. This VHS appears to be the only edition of the film with this cast.  While Asterix and the Big Fight was included in an Asterix box set with the credits from the 30th anniversary edition the actual film used had a different cast.

VHS
PAL format
Palace PVC 4037 A
Released 1989.   75 minutes

Ask Oscar - Air (VHS)

One of three of the Ask Oscar videos featuring Bill Oddie.  From the back of the box: "Narrated by Bill Oddie with bubbling enthusiasm, Oscar the Mole explains some of the fascinating facts to do with AIR.  What is it made of?  Why does a balloon go bang?  Where does the wind come from?  He answers lots of other intriguing questions too - aided by a lively blend of animation and live action."

VHS
NTSC format
Video School Ltd - F.S.C #6379-1
Released 1989.  30 minutes

Ask Oscar - Light (VHS)

One of three of the Ask Oscar videos featuring Bill Oddie.  From the back of the box: "Children of all ages will be captivated and entertained by the Ask Oscar series.  These humorous and imaginative programmes have been designed to introduce children to the world of science - in a sympathetic yet informative way.  The bright and colourful action will delight even the youngest minds.

Narrated by Bill Oddie with bubbling enthusiasm, Oscar the Mole explains some of the fascinating facts about LIGHT.  Where does the Sun go at night?  How do mirror work?  What is a rainbow made of?  He answers lots of other intriguing questions too - aided by a lively blend of animation and live action."

VHS
NTSC format
Video School Ltd - F.S.C #6399-1
Released 1989.  30 minutes

Ask Oscar - Water (VHS)

One of three of the Ask Oscar videos featuring Bill Oddie.  From the back of the box: "Narrated by Bill Oddie with bubbling enthusiasm, Oscar the Mole discusses some of the fascinating facts about water.  Where does it come from?  What happens when it gets very hot, or very cold?  Why do some things float and others sink?  He answers lots of other intriguing questions too - aided by a lively blend of animation and live action."

VHS
NTSC format
Video School Ltd - F.S.C. #6918-1
Released 1989.  30 minutes

The Bubblegum Brigade (VHS)

The complete series of The Bubblegum Brigade, which was developed and written by Bill Oddie and his wife Laura Beaumont.  Bill stars in this series.  Here's the description from the back of the box: "The Bubblegum Brigade are the craziest bunch of Do-Gooders you could imagine.  Lead by William (Bill Oddie), a grumpy ex-toymaker, the gang endeavour to right wrongs and mend broken hearts and generally spread a little happiness.  Unfortunately, their feet are as big as their hearts and they constantly put them into trouble, all well intentioned, but ending in comic catastrophe.  The brigade consists of William's children, Alph, Bunnie, Fiddle, and Jinx plus W.A.L.L.I the computer.  Together they might just get it right; eventually."

VHS 
PAL format
Video Gems R1253
Released 8 September 1989.  120 minutes

Edd the Duck (VHS)

Bill Oddie is one of the guest stars in this video.

Vid-ee-oh! Rap Toon Show (VHS)

This video was a  "unique cartoon and Rap Show" whose proceeds were donated to the National Children's Home.  It includes a selection of cartoons (Popeye, Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, etc) plus a rap show with guests including Bill Oddie (who appears very briefly).

VHS
PAL format
NCH CVW91
Released 1991. 41min

The Plank  (VHS & DVD)

Bill Oddie has a cameo in the 1967 version of this film in which "a pair of hapless workmen (Eric Sykes and Tommy Cooper) cause chaos with a plank of wood."  Note that Bill only appears in this version of the film; he is not in the 1979 remake.

VHS
PAL format
Carlton Home Entertainment - RCC 3072
Released 3 April 1995.  46 minutes

DVD
PAL Region 2
ITV Studios Home Entertainment
Released 18 October 2004.   46 minutes

The Detectives (VHS & DVD)

Bill appears in the Series 3 episode Twitchers.

VHS
The Detectives - Series 3 Part 2 - Undercover Operations
PAL format
Video Collection International - VC6612
Released 16 February 1998.  85 minutes
Contains the three episodes Twitchers, Flash, and On Thin Ice

DVD
The Detectives - The Complete Third Series 
PAL Region 2.
2entertain
Released 23 October 2006.  169 minutes
Contains all six episodes from the third series:DC Of Love, Flash, Art Attack, On Thin Ice, Between a Rock And a Hard Place, andTwitchers.

The Willows in Winter (VHS)

A sequel to The Wind in the Willows featuring the voices of Rik Mayall as Toad, Alan Bennett as Mole, Michael Palin as Rat, and Michael Gambon as Badger.  Bill Oddie provides the voice of Sweep.

VHS
PAL format
Carlton Home Entertainment 30370 30243
Released 1 November 1999.  71 minutes

Married... with Children: The Complete Sixth Season (DVD)

Bill Oddie appears in the three-part sixth season episode The England Show.

DVD
NTSC Region 1
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Released 19 December 2006
600 minutes
Includes all 26 episodes from the sixth season of Married with Children.

The Truth About Killer Dinosaurs (DVD)

Bill Oddie presents this television show BBC television series.

DVD
PAL Regions 2+4
2entertain - BBCDVD1696
Released 2005.  118 minutes

Fun at the Funeral Parlour (DVD)

The complete series of the BBC comedy, following the misfortunes of a Welsh family of funeral directors. Bill Oddie appears as a fictional version of himself in the episode The Heron Incident.

DVD
PAL Region  2
2entertain video - BBCDVD1987
Released 18 September 2006. 379 minutes

Bill Oddie's How to Watch Wildlife (DVD)

Bill Oddie's wildlife series was released as two DVD sets - parts 1 and 2.  Later these two editions were sold together as a box set in a cardboard slipcase.

DVDs

How to Watch Wildlife Part 1
PAL Region 2.  2 disks
BBC Contender Home Entertainment CTD10410 
Released 6 February 2006.  224 min

How to Watch Wildlife Part 2
PAL Region 2.  2 disks
BBC Contender Home Entertainment CTD10411
Released 6 March 2006.  224 min

How to Watch Wildlife The Complete Series
PAL Region 2
BBC Contender Home Entertainment
Released 18 sept 2006.  448 min

George and the Dragon (DVD)

Bill Oddie appears in this film as the character Odo.

From the official product description: "Comic adventure based loosely on the story of St George and the dragon. In 12th century England, the handsome and noble knight George (James Purefoy) returns home from the Crusades dreaming of a peaceful life on his own piece of land. However, in order to obtain his land from the ruling King Edgar (Simon Callow), he must help to find the King's daughter, Princess Lunna (Piper Perabo), who has mysteriously disappeared. When he joins the Princess's fiance, Garth de Guerney (Patrick Swayze), in the search for her, he is drawn into battle with Adelaide, the last surviving dragon." 

Who Do You Think You Are? - Series 1 Complete (DVD)

This popular BBC2 TV series follows ten well-known celebrities as they go back to their roots and research their, at times, surprising family histories. The celebrities featured in this series are: Bill Oddie, Amanda Redman, Sue Johnston, Jeremy Clarkson, Ian Hislop, Moira Stuart, David Baddiel, Lesley Garrett, Meera Syal and Vic Reeves.

DVD
PAL Region 2.  3 disks
Acorn Media UK AV9486
Released 5 March 2007.  540 minutes

Monarch of the Glen: The Complete Collection (DVD)

One of the bonus features is this set is a documentary about the Scottish Highlands from Bill Oddie.

DVD
NTSC Region 1.  18 disks
BBC Warner
Released 23 October 2007.  3477 minutes

Earth Ride (DVD)

Bill narrates this look at "incredible journeys of a droplet of water".

Here is a partial description from the back of the box: "What makes water so special?  Using state of the art graphic and computer techniques, Earth Ride propels you into the biggest water rides in the world.  You follow a drop of your own sweat and plummet with it becoming a river, a flash flood, a waterspout, a hurricane.  You enter a glacier in a blizzard and exit in an avalance."

DVD
PAL format
BBC
Released 2008?  60 minutes

Paradise Postponed/Titmuss Regained (DVD)

Bill Oddie appears in three episodes of the 1991 miniseries Titmus Regained as the character Hector Bolitho Jones (those episodes are entitled And the Next Day, Tomorrow, and Today).  The series, written by John Mortimer, was shown in the US on the PBS Series Masterpiece Theatre.

DVD
NTSC Region 1
Acorn Media
Released 6 October 2009.  738 minutes

Tickle On The Tum - The Complete Series One (DVD)

Bill Oddie is one of the special guests who appear in this classic ITV children's seriesset in the fictional village of Tickle-On-The-Tum. 

DVD
PAL Region 2
Revelation Films Ltd - par61487
Released 23 August 2010. 187 minutes

John Peel's Dandelion Records (DVD)

Recordings and stories from some of the musicians who were on John Peel's Dandelion label, including Bill Oddie.  The entire DVD is approximately 6 hours long and comes with a 14-page DVD book on Dandelion Records artists.

Here is a track listing from the video's website: 

Intro incl. John Peel: 12 minutes

Kevin Coyne and Siren: 1:08
Dave Clague talks about Kevin Coyne and Siren: 38 minutes
Medicine Head/John Fiddler: 1:36
Gene Vincent: 4 minutes
Stack Waddy playing and talking, including Sheila Ravenscroft: 30 minutes
Bridget St. John interview and gig excerpt: 30 minutes
Tractor: 50 minutes
Tractor interview and Dandelion and Tractor studios: 23 minutes
Principal Edwards: 5 minutes
Bill Oddie: 6 minutes

DVD
NTSC Region 1
OZIT DVD007
Released 2009

Gone Birding Board Game with VHS Tape

Gone Birding! - A full-color video adventure in bird identification introduced by Jane Alexander.  Hosted by Bill Oddie and Peter Alden

Description from the back of the box: "Join award-winning actress and birder Jane Alexander, British television bird-show host and comedian Bill Oddie, and renowned American bird-tour leader and author Peter Alden, as they lead you on a spectacular birding tour of North America.  

Gone Birding is the quickest and most entertaining way to learn bird identification.  The game provides good competitive fun for novices and experts. The object of the game is to find the most bird species on a grand birding tour of  North America. Players use the video to determine the number of spaces they can move on the game board.

Includes a 2 hour (126 minutes) video filmed by noted wildlife cinematographers, contains 10 separate games, nearly 1,000 scenes of over 350 species of birds in clorious color."

The gameboard is a map of North America featuring habitat zones and over 100 top birding locations."

For 1 to 6 players, ages 7 to adult
Copyright 1988 Rupicola Productions, Inc.
Walpole, MA USA

Reissued as North American Edition in a smaller box
Copyright 1994 Artco/Rupicola

NOTE: This game should not be confused with Bill Oddie's Great Bird Race Game, which does not come with a video.  

That game is described as "the authentic Birdwatching game" and makes use of cards illustrated by Philip Snow for to give a player "all the thrills, the surprises, the near misses and the total dip-outs [of birdwatching] all in the comfort of your living room."  

Bill's Corporate Videos

Castle Clues (VHS)

Exploring the Tower of London with Bill Oddie and Graeme Garden

This video, presented by Bill Oddie and Graeme Garden, was for educators to show to children who would be visiting The Tower of London.  It was sold in both PAL and NTSC format and came with a booklet of study notes.

From the back of the box: "In Castle Clues Bill Oddie and Graeme Garden explore the Tower in search of its long and varied past as a royal castle.  The clues which they - and the viewer - find, besides explaining the Tower's history and its present day layout, will also guide visitors who want to understand and enjoy other castles.

As well as offering 30 minutes of entertaining viewing, Castle Clues is a carefully structured learning experience, for the 8-12 age group especially, and the accompanying study notes include suggestions for working school and on site directed at developing the skills of evidence-based learning."

VHS
Released in PAL and NTSC formats
Royal Armouries at the Tower of London
Releaed 1988.  30 min

Bird About Town

Introduced by Bill Oddie

From the back of the box: "Say "urban birds", and most people will think of sparrows, starlings and, perhaps, pigeons.  Yet the truth is that an astounding diversity of bird life exists in and around even our largest cities.  Ruddy Duck live and breed quite happily on a London Lake, black Redstart risk electrocution nesting inside a live electricity transformer, and kittiwake forsake their cliffside homes for the narrow ledges of a Tyneside flour mill.  This filme documents the intriguing changes that birds have made in their behaviour while adapting to an urban existence."

VHS
PAL format
RSPB Film Unit Production

Bird Images Video Guide (VHS)

Bill Oddie narrates a series of video guides which "have been specially filmed throughout Britain, Europe and beyond to show birds as the birdwatcher sees them."  

Some titles in the series are The Guide to Birdwatching, The Birds of Britain & Europe, British Wildfowl, British Waders, The Raptors of Britain & Europe, and The Gulls of Britain.  

VHS Tapes
PAL format
Bird Images
Released 1994, 1995
Over an hour each

Bill Oddie's Guide to British Birds (VHS)

VHS
PAL format
170 minutes

The Peculier Story

A video documentary, narrated by Bill Oddie and the Theakston brewery team in Masham, which tells the Tehakston story from 1827 to the present day (including the origin of the name Old Peculier and why it is spelled with an "e" and not with an "a").  The documentary includes rare archive photography.

VHS
PAL format
Theakston Traditional Brewers

Curator of Time (VHS)

A Tour of the Natural History MuseumPresented by Bill Oddie

Bill Oddie "acts as our guide to one of the best museums of natural science in the world.  The Natural History Museum contains over 60 million specimens of plants, animals, rocks and minerals, and some very exciting exhibitions which tell the story of life on Earth.

During the program, Bill investigates many of the Earth's mysteries - from volcanoes to arthropods who account for eight out of ten of all living animals.  He also takes us behind the scenes to meet some of the 300 scientists who are looking for answers to many of today\'s most important questions about the environment, conservation, disease and evolution."

VHS
PAL format Cookson
40 minutes

The Big History Action Pack

From the back of the box: "Start your own adventures in history...a fascinating A-Z of England's history, hysterical jokes and best days out guide.  Plus a FREE 16 page activities booklet and brilliant wallchart of England\'s history."  With Blue Peter's Stuart Mills, also features Dave Benson Phillips, Wendy Douglas, Janet Gershlick, and Loyd Grossman and with the voices of Kirsten O'Brien and Bill Oddie.

PAL VHS
English Heritage 
75 minutes