Dame Esther Rantzen, the broadcaster and campaigner whose television work helped lead to Childline, died at 86 on September 30, her family announced. In their statement, they remembered a mother and grandmother with an “endless capacity for joy.” Her legacy spans programs that brought everyday concerns to national television and services that gave children and older people someone to call.
Born in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, in 1940, Rantzen began at the BBC in 1963 as a radio studio manager. The Guardian reports that she moved into television as a researcher before becoming a presenter on Braden’s Week in 1968. The move brought her from behind-the-scenes production work into a public-facing role.
In 1973, she became the main host of That’s Life!, a consumer-affairs program that combined investigations with humor, household questions and viewers’ concerns. The Guardian described it as part magazine and part consumer show, with hard-hitting investigations and jokes. It ran for 21 years, until 1994, and at its peak drew more than 20 million viewers, according to the Guardian. Its scale made Rantzen a familiar presence in British homes, but the program’s focus often began with ordinary people writing about problems they wanted help understanding.
One of the program’s most consequential reports examined child abuse. On March 16, 1986, the episode prompted a temporary helpline. The NSPCC says the lines received around 100 calls in 48 hours and thousands of letters; many came from children describing abuse. The response showed Rantzen and her colleagues that young people needed a service that would remain available after the broadcast ended. The NSPCC’s account says she recognized that many children had no safe place to turn.
Childline launched nationally on October 30, 1986, as a round-the-clock helpline. Today, Childline says its help is free and confidential, with trained counsellors available by phone, message or one-to-one chat, day or night. The service grew from a television report into a lasting place for children to speak with trained volunteer counsellors. The NSPCC says Childline has since delivered more than six million counselling sessions. It has also reached millions more through its online resources, according to the NSPCC. It operates in 12 bases across the UK, and its helpline model has been replicated in 150 countries. Rantzen remained the charity’s founder and president.
Rantzen later helped create a service for older people. In 2011, she wrote publicly about feeling lonely while living alone for the first time. The Silver Line’s official history says older readers responded that her account reflected their own experiences. One letter in 2012 described an older woman with family nearby who sometimes went three days or more without speaking to anyone. Rantzen reached out to charities and organizations to help create a telephone service offering friendship, conversation and support. The Silver Line opened nationally in November 2013; its official history says staff and volunteers have since spoken with millions of older people. The service joined forces with Age UK in 2019 and became fully part of the charity in 2022. Today, The Silver Line describes itself as a free, 24-hour telephone line for older people. The organization says more than half its calls arrive overnight or on weekends, when few other helplines are open.
Television remained another way she drew attention to people’s lives. In 1988, Rantzen created Hearts of Gold, a series about people responsible for outstanding acts of kindness. After That’s Life! ended, she hosted the BBC Two program Esther from 1994 to 2002 and continued appearing in television projects. The Guardian reported that her work also earned broadcast honors, including the Bafta Richard Dimbleby award.
The two helplines grew from different experiences: children writing after a television report and older people responding to Rantzen’s account of loneliness. Both became ways for people to reach a listener beyond the moment when a story first brought them together. After her death, the NSPCC remembered her as Childline’s founder and president, while her family recalled her humor, ingenuity and care. Her work left behind programs and services that made room for people to be heard.
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