Esther Rantzen, the television presenter and founder of Childline, has died aged 86. Her career, from consumer champion to campaigner on child abuse and loneliness, placed her at the forefront of what television could achieve.
Early Career and That's Life!
Rantzen's early career reflected the 1960s world. Privately educated in north London from age 10, after living in New York, she attended Somerville College, Oxford. Starting as a radio studio manager, she secured her first TV production role as a researcher on BBC-3, Ned Sherrin's satirical show in the mid-1960s. She then moved to Braden's Week, hosted by Bernard Braden, who put his researchers on screen and later returned to Canada. That's Life! launched in 1973 with Rantzen as main presenter, conceived as a revamped Braden's Week but becoming something entirely different.
Over its 21 years, That's Life! attracted audiences exceeding 22 million at its peaks. The show mixed bizarre items, like funny-shaped vegetables, with serious investigations, such as lethal patio doors. A dog named Prince that could say "sausages" became a cultural touchstone. The programme's emotional range was striking, moving from light amusement to heartbreaking stories, such as a toddler injured by a poorly surfaced playground, and back to comedy with Victoria Wood.
Consumer Campaigns and Systemic Change
The show's large audiences, exposed to consumer injustices, drove rapid change. Seatbelts were made mandatory for children as a result of That's Life! campaigns. Anti-bullying policies were introduced in schools nationwide following Rantzen's campaign inspired by the death of Katharine Bamber, a teenager who took her own life in the early 1990s.
As her investigations grew more impactful, Rantzen focused on serious systemic issues: organ donation, maternity care, stillbirth, mental health, and food manufacturing. In 1986, the one-off special Childwatch featured survivors of childhood abuse. The immediate result was Childline, Britain's first anonymous helpline for abused children. The BBC did not anticipate the response. The Childwatch set featured a giant cake, reflecting light entertainment conventions. For 48 hours after the show, professionally staffed phone lines were not operational, so the production team took calls, overwhelmed by numbers and the urgency of children in mortal fear. The project was later professionalised with police and other agencies involved.
Later Campaigns and Legacy
A call to Childline led Rantzen to uncover a "nest of paedophiles" at Crookham Court boarding school, resulting in three criminal convictions and awareness of abusers' predatory strategies. Widowed in 2000 when Desmond Wilcox died, she campaigned on palliative care and spoke about bereavement. In 2013, The Silver Line launched nationally to address loneliness in old age. Awarded a CBE in 2006, she was made a dame in 2015 for Childline and The Silver Line. Her legacy is complicated by changing approaches, but her groundbreaking television work raises the question of whether such change would have occurred without her interventions.
