CONSERVATIONIST and TV presenter Bill Oddie will help launch Thornbury Arts Festival when he appears at the 2015 opening event.

Regarded as Britain's best known birdwatcher, the star of popular nature programmes such as Springwatch will join award winning composer and singer-songwriter Sarah Class in a musical safari at the Armstrong Hall on Friday, April 17.

Emmy-nominated Sarah's credits include the score for the BBC wildlife filmThe Meerkats and music for the TV series Africa that was narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

Both Bill and Sarah are involved in the work of international conservation charity the World Land Trust, which protects the world's most biologically important and threatened habitats.

As well as their talk, a guided walk will be led around Kites Hill reserve, near Painswick, the morning after the opening night, which will give festival-goers the chance to see just one of the sites that the trust supports.

Recently the Gazette reported that comedian Jo Caulfield would be one of the big names to appear at the festival.

Now organisers have revealed they have also secured a visit by actors Philip and Samantha Bond.

Philip is best known for his appearances in the long-running BBC drama The Onedin Line, while his daughter Samantha played Miss Moneypenny in a number of the James Bond films. She was also in the TV comedy Outnumbered and appeared as Lady Rosamund Painswick in Downton Abbey.

As part of an expanded festival programme aimed at bringing in more people to the town, Sir Mark Walport will also give an insight into his role as the Government's chief scientific adviser, while the film The Great Escape will be screened ahead of a talk by author and journalist Simon Pearson.

His book The Great Escaper recounts the story of Squadron Leader Roger Bushell, who engineered the mass breakout of allied officers from Stalag Luft III that was immortalised in the film.

Performance storyteller Ben Haggerty, Thornbury's own award winning artist Sophie Ploeg and local musicians Keith and Julie Tippett, appearing with Bath-based band Radio Banska, have also been signed up for the festival, which will run from April 17-26.

A number of activities organised for children range from a circus skills workshop and learning about the art of film making to a Mad Hatter's tea party.