The Fear of Oddie

He's plotting something...

Righto, first things first, I like Bill Oddie. He has done a ton of great things for birds and nature, and looks like a genuinely good bloke to be around and have a few pints with. At least today he does. Rewind back to the late 70's and early 80's however and I almost jumped with fright at the mere mention of his name. Bill Oddie. Biiiiill Oddieeeee! *Shudder* To my younger self he was the bogeyman incarnate. Like clowns. Real bad clowns.
Bill was a member of a group of three comedians known as The Goodies who had a teatime television show, and it was by watching this (I was a big fan by the way) that my fear of Odd emerged. He was the wild one of the bunch, unpredictable and zany and this combined with his now famous beard created something 'not good' in my already overcooked imagination. His actions on screen as I stabbed a fork into another chip were for comedic effect but rather than translating his antics into comedy, my brain only conjured up scenes more at home in a nightmare. That mop or skateboard Oddie swung around, might just as well have been a bloodsoaked pickaxe or machete.
His facial expressions too, hilarious for most but to me a hairy mask that betrayed a homocidal streak. A streak wanting to leave nothing on its trail alive. (Side note: how did I ever get through childhood?)
I kept watching the show of course because children and adults love being afraid, but the dread of Bill appearing at any second almost had my heart beating out of its 'socket'.
Nosferatu. Dracula. Freddy Krueger. Pinhead. Pennywise the Clown. Michael Myers. Jason Voorhees. I would have shared a drink with any of you guys before the Oddie beast.