Bill Bailey

Mark Robert Bailey{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/1191391/|title=Bill Bailey|publisher=screenonline}} was born on 13 January 1965 in Bath, Somerset,{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/oct/29/bill-bailey-comedian-q-and-a|title=Bill Bailey: 'The worst thing anyone's said to me? "You're that bloke off the Hairy Bikers"'|last=Greenstreet|first=Rosanna|date=2016-10-29|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-06-04}} son of Christopher{{cite news | url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/bill-bailey-i-wouldnt-dance-with-an-unvaccinated-partner-on-strictly-thvhw7f9g | title=Bill Bailey: 'I wouldn't dance with an unvaccinated partner on Strictly' | date=16 July 2023 | last1=Billen | first1=Andrew }} and Madryn{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2020/12/19/bill-bailey-strictly-success-people-thought-joke/ | title=Bill Bailey on his Strictly success: 'People thought I'd be a joke' | newspaper=The Telegraph | date=19 December 2020 | last1=Harvey | first1=Chris }} Bailey. His father was an NHS general practitioner "who ran a little surgery in the front of the house", and his mother a hospital ward nurse.{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/aug/27/bill-bailey-my-family-values | title=Bill Bailey: My family values | newspaper=The Guardian | date=26 August 2011 | last1=McGrath | first1=Nick }}{{cite news | url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcare/article/bill-bailey-interview-strictly-extraordinary-portraits-zb0qspxzw | title=Would you trust Bill Bailey as a doctor? | date=16 July 2023 | last1=Glass | first1=Katie }} Until 2018, when he revealed the correct date, his birthday was wrongly recorded by the media as 24 February.{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/BillBailey/status/967476430463479808|title=Thanks for all the lovely birthday messages. I accept them as belated wishes for my actual birthday which is in January, the 13th and it was in'65 so papers all wrong . Fake news! SAD! Anyway here's me celebratin'pic.twitter.com/QEyF4wlpjK|last=Bailey|first=Bill|date=24 February 2018|website=@BillBailey|language=en|access-date=17 March 2018}}{{cite web |title=Bill Bailey: it's no time for a mid-life crisis |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/stage-and-theatre/84478852/bill-bailey-its-no-time-for-a-midlife-crisis |website=www.stuff.co.nz |date=22 September 2016 |last1=Donaldson |first1=Michael |access-date=14 July 2024}} He spent most of his childhood in Keynsham,{{cite web |last1=Connolly |first1=Nancy |title=Bill Bailey recalls first 'shambolic' gig in Bath |url=https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/bill-bailey-recalls-first-shambolic-2747168 |website=SomersetLive |date=14 April 2019 |publisher=Local World |access-date=5 October 2021}} a town between Bath and Bristol. His maternal grandparents lived in an annexe built on the side of the house by his maternal grandfather, who was a stonemason and builder. Two rooms at the front of the family house were for his father's surgery.{{cite episode|title=Desert Island Discs featuring Bill Bailey|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/desertislanddiscs_20080608.shtml|series=Desert Island Discs|series-link=Desert Island Discs|network=BBC|station=Radio 4|airdate=8 June 2008}}

Bailey was educated at King Edward's School,"[http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/11-bristol-celebrities-go-school-17024 Where did these 11 Bristol celebrities go to school?]", Bristol Post, 2 April 2017 (Accessed 4 April 2017) an independent school in Bath,{{cite web|url=http://www.kesbath.com/cgi-local/artman/exec/search.cgi?cat=1&fields=art_num&keyword=1553&template=index/newspage.htm |title=Comedy Map of Britain |access-date=2 February 2007 |publisher=King Edward's School, Bath |year=2007 |work=News Events & Diary |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929195711/http://www.kesbath.com/cgi-local/artman/exec/search.cgi?cat=1&fields=art_num&keyword=1553&template=index%2Fnewspage.htm |archive-date=29 September 2007 |url-status=dead }} where he was initially a highly academic pupil. At about the age of 15, he started to become distracted from school work when he realised the thrill of performance as a member of a school band called Behind Closed Doors, which played mostly original work. He is a classically trained musician and was the only pupil at his school to study A-level music, which he passed with an A grade. He also states he was good at sport and was the captain of the KES 2nd XI cricket team in 1982, which often surprised his teachers. He would often combine music and sport by leading the singing on the long coach trip back from away rugby fixtures. It was here that he was given the nickname Bill by his music teacher for being able to play the song "Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey" so well on the guitar.

Bailey started studies for an English degree at Westfield College of the University of London, but left after a year.[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/bill-bailey-people-are-obsessed-by-how-i-look-1027334.html "People are obsessed by how I look"], The Independent, 21 November 2008. He received an Associate Diploma from the London College of Music.{{cite web|url=https://www.teachsecondary.com/music/view/what-i-learnt-at-school-bill-bailey|title=What I learnt at school: Bill Bailey|website=teachsecondary.com|date=8 January 2016|access-date=23 October 2019}} He was also made an honorary member of the Society of Crematorium Organists.{{cite web|url=http://www.societyofcrematoriumorganists.org.uk/members|title=The Society of Crematorium Organists|publisher=The Society of Crematorium Organists|access-date=20 October 2018}} He performed with a boy band called The Famous Five.{{Cite web |last=Yaqoob |first=Janine |date=2020-12-19 |title=Strictly Come Dancing winner Bill Bailey's bid for chart stardom in 80s boyband |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/strictly-come-dancing-winner-bill-23194799 |access-date=2023-11-06 |website=The Mirror |language=en}}{{cite web|url=http://www.billbailey.co.uk/biography/|title=Biography|author=Vanilla Storm Limited|work=billbailey.co.uk|access-date=2 December 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208050605/http://billbailey.co.uk/biography/|archive-date=8 December 2015|df=dmy-all}} Acting roles included a part in a Workers' Revolutionary Party stage production called The Printers with Vanessa Redgrave and Frances de la Tour.

Bailey began touring the country with comedians such as Mark Lamarr. In 1984, he formed a double act, the Rubber Bishops, with Toby Longworth (a fellow former pupil at King Edward's, Bath). It was there that Bailey began developing his own style, mixing in musical parodies with deconstructions of or variations on traditional jokes ("How many amoebas does it take to change a lightbulb? One, no two! No four! No eight..."). Longworth left to join the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in 1989 and was replaced by Martin Stubbs.

Stubbs later quit to pursue a more serious career, and in 1994 Bailey performed Rock at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with Sean Lock, a show about an ageing rockstar and his roadie, script-edited by comedy writer Jim Miller. It was later serialised for the Mark Radcliffe show on BBC Radio 1. The show's attendances were not impressive and on one occasion the only person in the audience was comedian Dominic Holland. Bailey almost gave up comedy to take up a telesales job.{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/bill-bailey-for-whom-the-bill-toils-6157771.html| archive-url=https://archive.today/20130420113731/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/bill-bailey-for-whom-the-bill-toils-6157771.html| url-status=dead| archive-date=20 April 2013|location=London|work=The Independent|title=Bill Bailey: For whom the Bill toils|date=18 November 2004}}

He went solo the next year with the one-man show Bill Bailey's Cosmic Jam. The show led to a recording at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London, which was broadcast in 1997 on Channel 4 as a one-hour special called Bill Bailey Live. It was not until 2005 that this was released on DVD uncut and under its original title. It marked the first time that Bailey had been able to tie together his music and post-modern gags with the whimsical rambling style he is now known for.

After supporting Donna McPhail in 1995 and winning a Time Out award, he returned to Edinburgh in 1996 with a show that was nominated for the Perrier Comedy Award. Amongst the other nominees was future Black Books co-star Dylan Moran, who narrowly beat him in the closest vote in the award's history.

Bailey won the Best Live Stand-Up award at the British Comedy Awards in 1999.

Although he did not win the Perrier Comedy Awards in 1996, the nomination was enough to get him noticed. In 1998, the BBC gave him his own television show, Is It Bill Bailey?. Bailey's television debut had been on the children's show Motormouth in the late 1980s – playing piano for a mind-reading dog. Bailey reminisced about the experience on the BBC show Room 101 with Paul Merton in 2000. In 1991, he was appearing in stand-up shows such as The Happening, Packing Them In, The Stand Up Show and The Comedy Store. He also appeared as captain on two panel games, an ITV music quiz pilot called Pop Dogs, and the Channel 4 science fiction quiz show Space Cadets. Is it Bill Bailey? was the first time he had written and presented his own show.

Over the next few years, Bailey made guest appearances on shows such as Have I Got News for You, World Cup Comedy, Room 101, Des O'Connor Tonight, Coast to Coast and three episodes of off-beat Channel 4 sitcom Spaced, in which he played comic-shop manager Bilbo Bagshot. In 1998, Dylan Moran approached him with the pilot script for Black Books, a Channel 4 sitcom about a cold-hearted bookshop owner, his nice-guy assistant, and their socially awkward female friend. It was commissioned in 2000, and Bailey took the part of the assistant Manny Bianco, with Moran playing the owner Bernard and Tamsin Greig the friend, Fran. Three series of six episodes each were made.

When Sean Hughes left his long-term role as a team captain on Never Mind the Buzzcocks in 2002, Bailey became his successor. Host Mark Lamarr continually teased him about his looks and his pre-occupation with woodland animals. On 18 September 2008, it was announced that Bailey would leave the series and be replaced by a series of guest captains including Jack Dee and Dermot O'Leary.{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7623854.stm|work=BBC News|title=Bailey says goodbye to Buzzcocks|date=18 September 2008|access-date=18 July 2012}} While touring in 2009, Bailey joked that the main reason for leaving the show was a lack of desire to continue humming Britney Spears' Toxic to little known figures in the indie music scene. During this time he also left his position as "curator" of the Museum of Curiosity, and declared his intention to "retire" from panel games, although he has since appeared on QI many more times and hosted Have I Got News For You.

Bailey has appeared frequently on the intellectual panel game QI since it began in 2003, alongside host Stephen Fry and regular panellist Alan Davies; he was the winner of the show's unaired pilot episode. Other television appearances include a cameo role in Alan Davies' drama series Jonathan Creek as failing street magician Kenny Starkiss and obsessed guitar teacher in the "Holiday" episode of Sean Lock's Fifteen Storeys High. He later appeared with Lock again as a guest on his show TV Heaven, Telly Hell. He appeared twice on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. Bailey also hosted his own show Comic's Choice, which aired in 2011.

Bailey presented Wild Thing I Love You, which began on Channel 4 on 15 October 2006. The series concentrates on the protection of Britain's wild animals, and has included re-homing badgers, owls and water voles.

Bailey appeared in the second series of the E4 teenage "dramedy" Skins playing Maxxie's dad, Walter Oliver. In episode 1, Walter struggles with his son's desire to be a dancer, instead wishing him to become a builder, which is what he himself does for a living. Walter is married to Jackie, played by Fiona Allen.

Bailey appeared on the first episode of Grand Designs Live on 4 May 2008, helping Kevin McCloud build his eco-friendly home. In 2009, Bailey appeared in the BBC show Hustle as the character "Cyclops", a side-line character. In autumn 2009, Bailey presented Bill Bailey's Birdwatching Bonanza.{{cite web|title=Bill Bailey's Birdwatching Bonanza|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1582688/|publisher=IMDb|access-date=7 October 2012}}

File:Bill Bailey rocking out.jpg in 2008]]

Continuing his foray into natural history, Bailey presented ITV1's half-hour wildlife mini-series Baboons With Bill Bailey.{{cite web|url=http://www.billbailey.co.uk/latestnews/2011/04/something-hairys-on-the-telly-tonight-also-features-baboons/|title=Something hairy's on the telly tonight! Also features baboons|publisher=Bill Bailey|date=8 April 2011|access-date=26 August 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001234602/http://www.billbailey.co.uk/latestnews/2011/04/something-hairys-on-the-telly-tonight-also-features-baboons/|archive-date=1 October 2011|df=dmy-all}} The series was filmed in Cape Town and spanned eight episodes, with exclusive content available on itvWILD.{{cite web|url=http://www.itvwild.com/tvshows/baboons-with-bill-bailey|title=ITV – Baboons with Bill Bailey|publisher=itvWILD|access-date=26 August 2011}}

Bill Bailey played Droxil, a Harvest Ranger from the Planet Androzani Major, in the 2011 Christmas Special of Doctor Who, titled The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe.

In 2009, Bailey presented a project about the explorer and naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, in the form of an Indonesian travelogue.{{cite news|url=http://wallacefund.info/comedian-bill-baileys-new-show-about-alfred-russel-wallace|title=Comedian Bill Bailey's new show about Alfred Russel Wallace|access-date=9 November 2010|work=The Alfred Russel Wallace Website}} Bailey said in an interview that Wallace had been "airbrushed out of history", and that he felt a "real affinity" with him. In 2013, to coincide with the centenary of Wallace's death, Bailey presented a two-part documentary, Bill Bailey's Jungle Hero, first broadcast on BBC Two on 21 and 28 April 2013.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0160p0s |title=Bill Bailey's Jungle Hero |publisher=BBC |date=7 June 2013 |access-date=26 May 2014}} He travelled around producing and filming the series in Indonesia and Borneo.{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/media/s3584589.htm|website=Abc.net.au|title=ABC Triple J interview with Bill Bailey|date=June 9, 2012}}

Bailey took part in the eighteenth series of the televised dancing competition Strictly Come Dancing, broadcast in late 2020. He won the competition with his partner, Oti Mabuse, becoming the show's oldest winner at 55, displacing the previous oldest winner Joe McFadden.{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2020/12/13/strictly-come-dancing-2020-semi-final-results-live-updates/|title=Strictly Come Dancing 2020, semi-final results: Ranvir Singh waltzes home after dance-off defeat to Jamie Laing|author=Michael Hogan|date=13 December 2020|website=The Telegraph|access-date=14 December 2020}} Their win made Mabuse the first dancer to receive the title two years in a row.{{Cite web|last=Morgan|first=Lucy|date=2020-12-21|title=Oti Mabuse shared the sweetest tribute to her husband after Strictly Come Dancing win|url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/entertainment/a35028343/oti-mabuse-husband-strictly-win/|access-date=2020-12-22|website=Cosmopolitan|language=en-GB}}

Bailey voiced Grandfather Smed in the 2022 short film The Smeds and the Smoos. {{Cite web |date=May 16, 2022 |title=Bill Bailey joins The Smeds and The Smoos |url=https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2022/05/16/50796/bill_bailey_joins_the_smeds_and_the_smoos |website=Chortle}}

In 2001, Bailey began touring the globe with Bewilderness. A recording of a performance in Swansea was released on DVD the same year, and the show was broadcast on Channel 4 that Christmas. A modified version of it also proved successful in America, and in 2002 Bailey released a CD of a recording at the WestBeth Theatre in New York City. The show contained his popular music parodies (such as Unisex Chip Shop, a Billy Bragg tribute, which he also performed with Bragg himself at the 2005 Glastonbury Festival), "three men in a pub" jokes (including one in the style of Geoffrey Chaucer) and deconstructions of television themes such as Countdown and The Magic Roundabout. A Bewilderness CD was sold outside gigs, a mixture of studio recordings of songs and monologues Bailey had performed in the past; it was later released in shops as Bill Bailey: The Ultimate Collection... Ever! That same year he also presented a Channel 4 countdown, Top Ten Prog Rock.

Bailey premiered his show Part Troll at the 2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. A critical and commercial success, he then transferred it to the West End, where tickets sold out in under 24 hours, and new dates had to be added. He continued to tour it all over the UK as well as in Australia, New Zealand and the US. Bailey expanded on subjects such as the war on Iraq. He also talks extensively about drugs, at one point asking the audience to name different ways of baking cannabis. A DVD was released in 2004.File:Bill Bailey - SYTYF.JPG]]His 1995 show Bill Bailey's Cosmic Jam. was released in 2005. The two-disc set also contained a director's cut of Bewilderness, which featured a routine on Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time not seen in the original version.

Bailey performed a show at the 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe entitled Steampunk.

Bailey appeared at the Beautiful Days festival in August 2007. The UK leg of the Tinselworm tour enjoyed three sell-out nights at the MEN Arena in Manchester, Europe's largest indoor arena, and culminated with a sell-out performance at Wembley Arena.

Early in 2007, a petition was started to express fans' wishes to see him cast as a dwarf in The Hobbit films, after his stand-up routine mentioned auditioning for Gimli in The Lord of the Rings. The petition reached its goal in the early days of January, and was sent to the producers. It was hoped that as the Tinselworm tour took him to Wellington where the film was in pre-production, he would be able to audition.{{cite web|url=http://www.wiredmag.co.uk/archive-feature.php?issue_id=50&feature_id=69 |title=All That Glitters |access-date=31 December 2007 |work=Wired, Croydon's listings magazine |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080104022358/http://www.wiredmag.co.uk/archive-feature.php?issue_id=50 |archive-date= 4 January 2008 }}

Dandelion Mind was released on DVD on 22 November 2010.

In 2012, his world tour entitled Qualmpeddler toured the UK as well as returning to Australia and New Zealand in August and September 2012.

In September and October 2018, Bailey toured his show, The Earl of Whimsy, to seven venues within New Zealand.

In December 2021, Bailey started touring his new show, En Route To Normal, to venues in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In 2022 Bailey took the tour to venues in Europe, and in October to Australia.{{Cite web |last=Northover |first=Kylie |date=2022-09-22 |title='Yes, it's my fault': Did Bill Bailey really predict the pandemic? |url=https://www.theage.com.au/culture/comedy/yes-it-s-my-fault-did-bill-bailey-really-predict-the-pandemic-20220915-p5bi8h.html |access-date=2023-11-05 |website=The Age |language=en}}

File:Bill-Bailey.jpg

Bailey plays numerous musical instruments, and incorporates music into his comedy. He has perfect pitch.{{Cite web|date=2020-11-19|title=Bill Bailey: 'Strictly's been extraordinary! I've even surprised myself'|url=http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/nov/19/bill-bailey-strictly-come-dancing-interview|access-date=2020-11-19|website=The Guardian|language=en}} His stand-up routines often feature music

from genres such as jazz, rock (most notably prog rock from the early 1970s), drum'n'bass, classical, and even theme songs, usually for comic value. Favourite instruments include the keyboard, guitar, theremin, kazoo and bongos. He also mentioned in an interview that he has achieved Grade 6 Clarinet. He was part of punk band Beergut 100,{{cite web|url=http://living.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=1484&id=1247052006|title=Looking back at a week of Fringe madness|access-date=2 January 2007|work=The Scotsman|location=UK|year=2006|author=Simon Neville}} which he founded in 1995 with comedy writer Jim Miller and also featured Martin Trenaman and Phil Whelans, with Kevin Eldon as lead singer.{{cite web|url=http://www.notbbc.co.uk/features/15/kevin_eldon_interview.html|title=Kevin Eldon Interview|access-date=2 January 2007|publisher=notbbc.co.uk|year=2006|author=Natbat}} The band performed at the 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.{{cite news|url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/edinburgh2006/story/0,,1826826,00.html|title=The essential guide to Edinburgh|access-date=2 January 2007|work=The Guardian|location=London|date=28 July 2006}} His musical routines include performing "The Star-Spangled Banner" in a minor key and performing the Hokey Cokey in the style of the electronic band Kraftwerk.

In February 2007, Bailey appeared twice with the BBC Concert Orchestra and Anne Dudley in a show entitled Cosmic Shindig. Performed in the Colosseum in Watford on 24 February and in the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 26 February, the show contained orchestrally accompanied versions of many of Bailey's previously performed songs, an exploration of the instruments of the orchestra and a number of new pieces of music. The Queen Elizabeth Hall performance was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 16 March 2007 as a part of Comic Relief 2007.

Bailey had planned to put himself forward as Britain's Eurovision entry in 2008, as a result of several fan petitions encouraging him to do so.{{cite web|title=Eurovision|url=http://www.billbailey.co.uk/latestnews/2007/07/eurovision/|publisher=Bill Bailey|access-date=8 October 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026090514/http://www.billbailey.co.uk/latestnews/2007/07/eurovision/|archive-date=26 October 2011|df=dmy-all}}

In October 2008, he performed Bill Bailey's Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall with the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Anne Dudley.{{cite news|title=Bill Bailey's Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra|work=The Guardian|location=London|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2008/oct/17/comedy|access-date=20 October 2008|first=Brian|last=Logan|date=17 October 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081018113223/http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2008/oct/17/comedy| archive-date= 18 October 2008 | url-status= live}}

In November 2009, he was a guest on Private Passions, the biographical music discussion programme on BBC Radio 3.{{cite web|author=2 days left|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/privatepassions/|title=BBC Radio 3|publisher=BBC|access-date=26 August 2011}}

In July 2011, Bailey performed at the Sonisphere Festival in Knebworth, headlining the Saturn Stage.{{cite web|last=Bhamra|first=Satvir|url=http://amplified.tv/2011/03/28/bill-bailey-to-headline-sonisphere/|title=Bill Bailey to headline Sonisphere|publisher=Amplified.tv|access-date=26 August 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302063226/http://amplified.tv/2011/03/28/bill-bailey-to-headline-sonisphere/|archive-date=2 March 2012|df=dmy-all}} He released an album, In Metal, using songs played at Sonisphere, later that year.

In June 2014, The Music House for Children announced Bailey would become their patron alongside Sophie Ellis-Bextor in celebration of their 20th anniversary.

Bailey lives in the Hammersmith area of London with his wife Kristin, whom he married in 1998, on a whim, in Indonesia. In 2009, he said: "We were travelling around Asia and sailed into a place called Banda, with a beautiful lagoon, and a smoking volcano on one side and a Dutch colonial fort, an old church and remains of a little town on the other. We decided to get married there and then."{{cite news|title=Stand up guy: Bill Bailey on music, marriage and the moment he refused to sell out|first=Charlotte|last=Philby|date=5 December 2009|work=The Independent|location=London|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/stand-up-guy-bill-bailey-on-music-marriage-and-the-moment-he-refused-to-sell-out-1832693.html|access-date=13 August 2010}} Their son Dax was born in 2003.

Bailey supports Queens Park Rangers{{cite magazine|url=http://fourfourtwo.com/interviews/celebrityfans/49/article.aspx|title=Bill Bailey – Celebrity fans – Interviews|magazine=FourFourTwo|date=31 July 2009|access-date=26 August 2011| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110718063441/http://fourfourtwo.com/interviews/celebrityfans/49/article.aspx| archive-date= 18 July 2011 | url-status= live}} and describes himself as an avid fan of Star Trek.{{cite web|url=http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/20259/bill-bailey-interview|title= denofgeek.com Bill Bailey Interview|date= 18 November 2009}}

He has a carnivorous pitcher plant named after him, Nepenthes x Bill Bailey, created by Borneo Exotics in Sri Lanka.{{cite web|url=http://www.sundaytimes.lk/100530/Plus/plus_17.html|title=Borneo Exotics strikes gold for the third time at Chelsea Flower Show|work=sundaytimes.lk|access-date=2 December 2015}} His sporting interests include standup paddleboarding (SUP). He is an active supporter of British Canoeing.[https://www.britishcanoeing.org.uk/news/2020/comedy-legend-bill-bailey-is-our-guest-on-this-weeks-paddlecast Comedy legend Bill Bailey is our guest on this week's Paddlecast] Retrieved Novemeet 21, 2020.

Bailey is a lifelong supporter of the Labour Party and appeared in its fifth party election broadcast of the 2010 general election campaign.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rro9m9RCLzI&feature=player_embedded| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211114/rro9m9RCLzI| archive-date=2021-11-14 | url-status=live|title=Sixty Seconds|publisher=YouTube|date=3 May 2010|access-date=26 August 2011}}{{cbignore}} In 2015, he endorsed Jeremy Corbyn's campaign in the Labour Party leadership election, saying, "Corbyn's nomination showed there is a kind of craving for a bit of honest speaking, a bit of principled plain speaking. But I think he is in a bit of a bind. Nuanced debate doesn't cut it in the toxic, political atmosphere. He’s having a fast-forward of his own political evolution, having to become 'a politician' – the thing he never was."{{cite news |last=Ellis|first=David|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/comedy/bill-bailey-interview-a3134216.html|title=Bill Bailey on happiness, Jeremy Corbyn and how turning 50 changed him|newspaper=London Evening Standard|date=10 December 2015|access-date=1 May 2018}}

Bailey is a feminist and a supporter of the Fawcett Society.{{cite web|title=Bill Bailey |url=http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=447 |publisher=Fawcett Society |access-date=22 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928122323/http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=447 |archive-date=28 September 2011 }}{{cite news|last=Moore|first=Suzanne|title=What's the nicest thing a man can do for a woman? Shout at a bigot|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/feb/26/suzanne-moore-feminist-men-shout-at-a-bigot|access-date=22 August 2011|newspaper=The Guardian|date=26 February 2011}} He is also a prominent advocate of men's issues, most notably raising awareness of prostate cancer and the Men United campaign.{{cite web|url=http://menunited.prostatecanceruk.org/|title=Prostate Cancer UK|work=prostatecanceruk.org|access-date=2 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123005457/https://menunited.prostatecanceruk.org/|archive-date=23 November 2018|url-status=dead}} He is a patron of International Animal Rescue and has been instrumental in the organisation's campaign to rescue dancing bears.{{cite news|title=Dancing bears 'tradition' to be halted in India|url=http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/dancing-bears.html|access-date=12 December 2011|newspaper=Wildlife Extra|date=October 2006}}{{cite news|title=Comic joins animal protest|url=http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/2243922.comic_joins_animal_protest/|access-date=12 December 2011|newspaper=The Argus|date=3 May 2008}} He has also campaigned for the Sumatran Orangutan Society. For his work in environmental conservation, he received an honorary doctorate in conservation and sustainability from the Australian University of the Sunshine Coast in October 2014.{{cite web|url=http://www.usc.edu.au/university/news-and-events/events-calendar/2014/october/bill-bailey-honorary-doctorate-ceremony-at-university-of-the-sunshine-coast |title=Bill Bailey — Honorary Doctorate ceremony at University of the Sunshine Coast |access-date=14 October 2014 |publisher=University of the Sunshine Coast |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141014091739/http://www.usc.edu.au/university/news-and-events/events-calendar/2014/october/bill-bailey-honorary-doctorate-ceremony-at-university-of-the-sunshine-coast |archive-date=14 October 2014 }}

• The James Whale Radio Show (TV series) (circa 1990) (Guest)
• Maid Marian and her Merry Men (1992) (Cameo court jester to King John)
• Blue Heaven (1994)
• Asylum (1996)
• Space Cadets (1997) (Regular team captain)
• Is It Bill Bailey? (1998)
• Spaced (1999–2001)
• Have I Got News for You (guest 1999, 2001, 2005; guest presenter 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011)
• Saving Grace (2000)
• Black Books (2000–2004)
• Jonathan Creek
• "Satan's Chimney" (2001)
• "The Tailor's Dummy" (2003)
• Wild West (2002–2004)
• Never Mind the Buzzcocks (guest 1999; Regular team captain 2002–2008)
• QI (2003–present) (Frequent guest)
• 15 Storeys High – "The Holiday" (2004)
• The Timothy Mays Movie (2005) (Voice of the Sperm Whale){{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0371724/|title=The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)|author=Hitsuzen|date=29 April 2005|work=IMDb|access-date=2 December 2015}}
• The Libertine (Cameo as advisor to Charles II of England)
• Wild Thing I Love You (2006) (Presenter)
• Top Gear (A Star in a Reasonably Priced Car / Fake Angelina Jolie)
• Hot Fuzz (2007)
• Run Fatboy Run (2007) (Cameo)
• Skins (2008) (Cameo as Maxxie Oliver's father)
• Love Soup (2008)
• We Are Most Amused (2008) (One-off special)
• Hustle (as 'Cyclops')
• "Return of the Prodigal" (2009)
• "Diamond Seeker" (2009)
• "Picasso Finger Painting" (2012)
• Steve's World (2009)
• Burke and Hare (2010)
• Bill Bailey's Birdwatching Bonanza (2010)
• Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (2010)
• Talkin' 'bout Your Generation (2010); one episode
• Jo Brand's Big Splash (2011); one episode
• Chalet Girl (2011){{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1487118/|title=Chalet Girl (2011)|author=shead23|date=14 October 2011|work=IMDb|access-date=2 December 2015}}
• Doctor Who – The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (2011)[http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2011/09/dwn200911224008-christmas-guest-stars.html Christmas Guest Stars Revealed]. Doctor Who News.
• Baboons with Bill Bailey (2011)

Retrieved 20 April 2012.

• It's Kevin (2013)
• The Secret Life of Evolution (2013)
• The Grand Tour (2018); Celebrity Face Off, Series 2 Episode 5
• The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales... (2018)
• In the Long Run (2018)
• Midsomer Murders (2019); Drawing Dead, Series 20 Episode 3{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7280772/|title='Midsomer Murders' Drawing Dead (TV Episode 2018)|work=IMDb|access-date=30 September 2021}}
• Strictly Come Dancing (2020)
• Roald & Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious Mouse (2020){{cite web|url=https://www.skygroup.sky/article/all-star-cast-announced-for-sky-original-roald-beatrix-the-tail-of-the-curious-mouse|title=Roald & Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious Mouse|website=sky.com|access-date=24 December 2020}}
• My Life Is Murder (2021); Hidden Gems, Season 2 Episode 8
• Patriot Brains (2021); Host & Question Master
• This Is My House (2021)
• Worzel Gummidge (2021); Mr Peregrine, Series 2 Episode 3{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0012ws0|title=Calliope Jane|website=BBC|access-date=23 December 2021}}
• Travel Man: 96 Hours in Iceland (2021){{cite web|url=https://www.channel4.com/programmes/travel-man-96-hours-in-iceland|title=Travel Man: 96 Hours in Iceland|website=channel4.com|access-date=25 December 2021}}
• The Smeds and The Smoos (2022); Grandfather Smed (Voice role){{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2022/tv/global/first-look-image-the-smeds-and-the-smoos-1235386530/|title=First Look Image: Bill Bailey, 'Bridgerton's' Adjoa Andoh in Julia Donaldson's 'The Smeds and The Smoos'|website=variety.com|date=28 September 2022 |access-date=28 September 2022}}
• Bill Bailey's Master Crafters: The Next Generation (2023), (Presenter){{cite web|url=https://www.skygroup.sky/article/up-next-2023-sky-s-unscripted-slate-blossoms-with-12-new-sky-original-commissions-across-factual-and-arts-|title=Up Next 2023: Sky's unscripted slate blossoms with 12 new Sky Original commissions across Factual and Arts|website=skygroup.sky|date=30 January 2023 |access-date=11 June 2023}}
• Extraordinary Portraits (2023–present), (Presenter){{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/mediapacks/extraordinary-portraits|title=Bill Bailey talks about the new series of Extraordinary Portraits which celebrates people who work in the NHS|website=bbc.co.uk/mediacentre|date=14 July 2023 |access-date=14 July 2023}}
• Bill Bailey's Australian Adventure (a.k.a. Bill Bailey's Wild Western Australia) (2023), (Presenter){{cite web|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/tv-listings?ts=1699812000000|title=Bill Bailey's Australian Adventure|website=radiotimes.com/mediacentre|access-date=6 November 2023}}
• Perfect Pub Walks (2024), (Presenter){{cite web|url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/bill-bailey-front-perfect-pub-070000604.html|title=Bill Bailey to front Perfect Pub Walks|website=uk.news.yahoo.com|date=9 June 2023 |access-date=11 December 2023}}
• Bring The Drama (2024), (Host){{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2024/bill-bailey-host-bring-the-drama|title=Bill Bailey announced as host of Bring The Drama on BBC Two|website=bbc.co.uk/mediacentre|date=17 January 2024 |access-date=19 January 2024}}
• Man and Witch: The Dance of a Thousand Steps (2024); Donkey

• Bill Bailey's Remarkable Guide to British Birds (Quercus, 2018) {{ISBN|978-1786487131}}
• Bill Bailey's Remarkable Guide to Happiness (Quercus, 2020) {{ISBN|978-1529412451}}
• My Animals, and Other Animals (Quercus, 2024) {{ISBN|978-1529436143}}

{{reflist}}

{{sisterlinks|commons=Category:Bill Bailey|d=no|species=no|voy=no|v=no|b=no|s=no|n=no|wikt=no}}

• {{official website|http://www.billbailey.co.uk}}
• {{IMDb name|0047155}}
• {{discogs artist|artist=Bill Bailey (2)}}
• {{Screenonline name|id=1191391}}
• [http://www.chortle.co.uk/comics/b/371/bill_bailey Bill Bailey] on Chortle
• {{British Comedy Guide|people|bill_bailey}}

{{Strictly Come Dancing}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Bill}}

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