Hitsuzen (29 April 2005). "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)". IMDb . Retrieved 2 December 2015. Bailey himself has stayed remarkably clear of censure, impressive in a career of more than 30 years, perhaps because his default mode is silliness. Which isn’t to say he’s not political. As a life-long Labour voter, he says he is more optimistic about Keir Starmer than he was about his predecessor. Given his career was very much a case of building slowly and finding his feet, Bailey is all too aware of the devastating impact Covid-19 is having on the comedy scene. A week before we chat, Grayson Perry caused a stir by saying that the pandemic could actually benefit the arts by clearing out some of the dead wood. Did Bailey hear that? Bhamra, Satvir. "Bill Bailey to headline Sonisphere". Amplified.tv. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012 . Retrieved 26 August 2011. Bailey has a carnivorous pitcher plant named after him, Nepenthes x Bill Bailey, created by Borneo Exotics in Sri Lanka. [48] His sporting interests include standup paddleboarding (SUP). He is an active supporter of British Canoeing. [49] Political views and activism [ edit ]

He doesn’t, however, need ancient monuments, or Australian facsimiles of ancient monuments that were only built in 2008, to create an air of wistful strangeness. One scene is just him going to an ordinary coffee shop, but the cosiness of the wood burner they have prompts Bailey to daydream about giving it all up and moving to WA for good. On the way there, his breath misting against the dawn, he observes that the local crows’ extended caws make them sound “sarcastic”.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. Bailey is a lifelong supporter of the Labour Party and appeared in its fifth party election broadcast of the 2010 general election campaign. [50] 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." [51] A nature-lover, he also started drawing to pass the time: butterflies, birds, moths and bees. This led to him revisiting a sidelined project from a couple of years ago about happiness, which turned into a book. Bill Bailey’s Remarkable Guide to Happiness features warm and meditative musings on topics such as using coffee grounds to grow strawberry plants. Despite the creativity, though, there was one thing Bailey avoided: home schooling his 16-year-old son: “He did his lessons on the internet,” he says. “I make it a personal rule of mine: never get involved in algebra.” Alternative comedy was exciting: it felt like we were carving out a life that nobody had planned. There was a punk ethic It’s called a theremin and has been most famously used in 1950s science-fiction films such as The Day the Earth Stood Still. Bill is one of the few modern representatives of the instrument, and has presented a Radio 4 show called “Good Vibrations: The Story of the Theremin”, and written an article on the subject for the Guardian.

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, that he would be able to audition. [35]The 100 Greatest Stand-Ups– Announcements– Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time!". Channel 4. 11 April 2010. Archived from the original on 23 June 2013 . Retrieved 26 August 2011. Bill Bailey is not sitting comfortably for today’s interview. “Dancing is like playing a piece of music,” says the 55-year-old comedian and unlikely star of this year’s Strictly Come Dancing, “only with dancing your whole body is the instrument. And if you’re doing that all day, you just ache generally.” a b Philby, Charlotte (5 December 2009). "Stand up guy: Bill Bailey on music, marriage and the moment he refused to sell out". The Independent. London . Retrieved 13 August 2010. I think Keir was up against a lot of baggage from the Corbyn era and he had to deal with that to make Labour electable. I think he’s done that. If there was an election he would win and he’d make an effective leader.