Dame Esther Rantzen, broadcaster, campaigner and charity founder, dies aged 86

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Broadcaster and campaigner Dame Esther Rantzen has died aged 86

Rantzen was known for presenting the BBC TV programme, That's Life, and later went on to set up Childline, the helpline for children suffering abuse or neglect

Rantzen also campaigned for the legalisation of assisted dying, and urged MPs to back legislation – our medical editor writes that when the bill failed, Rantzen called it "a tragic day"

Andy Burnham is among those to have paid tribute, saying she "changed countless lives", while MP Kim Leadbeater, who campaigned to legalise assisted dying, has called her "strong, warm and compassionate"

Charities have also praised Rantzen's "extraordinary legacy" and say she "used her platform to speak truth to power"

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Edited by Andrew Humphrey and Caitlin Doherty

Dame Esther Rantzen, veteran broadcaster, journalist, campaigner, and charity founder has died aged 86.

In a statement announcing Rantzen's death, her children said her "legacy of compassion and understanding" will live on in the charities she founded and in those "lucky enough to love and be loved by her".

Prime Minister Andy Burnham is among the many to have paid tribute, saying Rantzen "changed countless lives" through her "decades of campaigning".

Rantzen initially found fame as host of consumer programme That's Life! in 1973, which became an almost instant hit and ran for 21 series – drawing more than 20 million viewers at its peak.

She later went on to host her own BBC talk show, Esther, appeared in the second series of Strictly Come Dancing and was inducted into the Royal Television Society's hall of fame in 1997.

Outside of TV, Rantzen founded Childline in 1986, a charity that offers a private and confidential helpline for children, and The Silver Line in 2013 to support older people tackle feelings of loneliness and isolation.

In later life, Rantzen became a vocal advocate for assisted dying after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 2023, saying the UK's laws on the matter were "messy and cruel" and "must change quickly".

Others to have paid tribute include Kim Leadbeater, the MP who led an attempt to legalise assisted dying, who described Rantzen "strong, warm" and a "fighter to the end".

Rantzen's former boss, ex-BBC One controller Michael Grade, said: "I''ve lost a friend, and the nation has lost one of the great broadcasting pioneers."

Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharing Former BBC One controller Michael Grade, who once offered that very job to Esther Rantzen, has described her as a "force of nature".

"I've lost a friend, and the nation has lost one of the great broadcasting pioneers," he tells BBC News.

"She was a brilliant producer, a brilliant script writer, a brilliant journalist and a brilliant presenter, but most of all she was so clearly on the public's side," he says.

One of the key factors, he says, was that the public trusted her, party due to her "amazing ability to communicate".

Grade says before he joined the BBC, he "tried everything" to persuade Rantzen to join him at ITV, joking that "she was too smart to do that".

After becoming controller of BBC One, he says he got on with Rantzen "very well" and "encouraged her all I could".

He says her "greatest legacy," in his opinion, is the setting up of Childline: "She fought for the funding, she set up the organisation, she was a force of nature".

Esther Rantzen set up the charity Childline after being moved by phone calls she received during the one-off TV special Child Watch

Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharing Image caption, Howard Leader (L) worked with Esther Rantzen as a co-host on That's Life! for five years in the early 90s

Howard Leader, a former That's Life! co-host says he remains grateful for everything Esther Rantzen taught him in their years working together.

"We've know for a long time that Esther has been very ill, but in her own way she fought on until the very end," Leader tells the BBC.

"Over the time that I was with her, through her fantastic generosity, she taught me how to be a journalist," he adds, describing her as a "fantastic editor".

"I have been grateful to her for that everyday since."

Leader says That's Life! was an "incredibly intense" show to work on, juggling "light and fluffy" topics and hard-hitting journalism that in some cases changed UK laws.

"I think Esther's skill was that she really understood how to use the platform she had to create an effect for, we hope… the improvement of people in our country," Leader adds.

Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharing BBC Director-General Matt Brittin says Esther Rantzen's contribution to the BBC and public life is "immeasurable", describing her as a "legend of British broadcasting".

Praising That's Life!'s "incredible" 21-year run, Brittin says Rantzen's "warmth, spirit and fight for justice" continued "long after the programme ended, with a lifetime of campaigning where she changed the lives of millions".

"She leaves an enormous legacy and will be greatly missed. The thoughts of us all are with her children, grandchildren, family and friends," he adds.

Kate Phillips, the BBC's chief content officer, whose first job in television was as a runner on That's Life!, adds: "I was in awe of her then and I still am. Esther will be hugely missed and our thoughts are with her family and friends at this sad time."

Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharing Following the news of Dame Esther Rantzen's death, singer, actor and fellow dame Elaine Paige has paid tribute, saying Rantzen "helped so many children in distress" through her charity Childline.

"A great broadcaster, journalist & campaigner… Esther fought to the end for assisted dying, but was unsuccessful. RIP Esther," Paige wrote on X.

TV host Lorraine Kelly described Rantzen as "funny, forthright and fabulous", writing: "Sad news – a pioneer and a force of nature. Helped so many people."

Anna Williamson, a television presenter who was inspired to become both a Childline counsellor and ambassador after meeting Rantzen, has described her as "true fighter", "true pioneer" and a "genuinely incredible person".

"Rest in peace Dame Esther. The millions of children who have been helped by your vision & passion is something truly truly special," Williamson wrote.

Impressionist and comedian Rory Bremmer wrote that Rantzen's show That's Life! was "groundbreaking" in championing consumers – describing her as a "campaigner to the very end".

And broadcaster Nicky Campbell wrote: "Dame Esther Rantzen RIP. What a difference she made."

Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingKatie RazzallCulture editor

Esther Rantzen could have been the first ever female controller of BBC One.

Michael Grade, then controller, offered her the job when he was being promoted. But she turned him down. He told me “She didn’t want it. She didn’t want to give up That’s Life!”.

It was a big call and illustrates quite how invested she was in the show. By then, she’d established Childline, after children had written in to the programme detailing the abuse they were suffering.

But the BBC bosses had seen that she had the popular touch and knew how TV worked. It would have been a historic move. But she had other plans.

Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharing Image caption, That's Life! presenters in a supermarket in 1983. Bill Buckley is pictured on the right.

Esther Rantzen's co-presenter on the TV programme That's Life!, Bill Buckley, has been telling the BBC Radio 4 Front Row programme why he thinks the show was so successful.

The programme had 15m viewers on an average week, he says.

"It was her absolutely amazing gift of explaining complicated nuanced things in simple direct terms," he says.

She was a "really good journalist who could also understand showbiz and comedy."

When it came to campaigning and new ideas, "nothing would stop her… she saw the light at the end of the tunnel and followed it doggedly."

"She got drama, she got comedy, and with someone like that at the helm you were going to have a hit."

Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingKatie RazzallCulture editor

Younger audiences may not be aware of her, but Dame Esther Rantzen was a TV presenter at the top of her game during the golden age of British television.

That’s Life! was regularly watched by 20 million people, a blend of campaigning journalism, wonky vegetables and, famously, the dog that said "sausages".

The programme revolved around the letters sent in by viewers and the campaigns they launched – for safer playground surfaces for kids, child transplants, child seat belts in the back of cars and, of course, Childline.

Jane Elsdon-Dew, a former director of That’s Life!, told me that politicians watched the programme "very carefully" because they knew that after it, they would be "inundated" with letters asking them "what are you going to do?" about whatever subject Esther had turned her attention to.

Esther’s journalism changed laws, but she also had an ability to turn from the serious to the funny in a beat – and she often had her viewers in stitches.

Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharing Image source, PA MediaDame Esther Rantzen was also the founder of The Silver Line Helpline, which provides friendship, conversation and support to elderly people who may be feeling isolated.

The helpline is now part of Age UK – a national charity for the elderly – and its chief executive Paul Farmer describes Rantzen as "a true inspiration".

She "spent her life working tirelessly to help others", he says.

Through the Silver Line Helpline, Farmer adds that Rantzen "helped to support thousands of lonely older people, making sure they have someone to talk to whenever they might need it".

He says her dedication to older people was "unrivalled", adding "we can never thank her enough".

Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharing As we've reported, Dame Esther Rantzen became a prominent campaigner in favour of legalising assisted dying.

Dignity in Dying, an organisation that advocates for changing the law has paid tribute to Rantzen in a statement:

"Dame Esther was a true force of nature whose compassion, tenacity and wit will be greatly missed. Our heartfelt condolences are with her family and loved ones.

"Throughout her life, Dame Esther fought for people's rights: for children, for older people and latterly, for dying people who needed more choice and compassion, a cause she championed right up to her death.

"She spoke bravely about her experience and her family's own pain, but only so that those without a public voice could be heard. She used her platform to speak truth to power and gave a voice to so many other terminally ill and bereaved people across the country.

"We owe Dame Esther and her daughter Rebecca Wilcox, broadcaster and inimitable campaigner, a huge debt of gratitude for their tireless efforts to challenge a status quo they saw was broken; efforts which undoubtedly helped bring the UK closer than ever before to a safe, compassionate assisted dying law."

Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharing Dame Esther Rantzen was "a strong, warm and compassionate woman and a fighter to the end", says Labour MP Kim Leadbeater.

Leadbeater led an attempt in Parliament to legalise assisted dying.

In a statement published by the Press Association, Leadbeater says "like so many people all across the country, I felt that Esther was always a part of my life.

"From growing up watching her on TV to seeing her work tirelessly for the causes she cared so passionately about, like ChildLine and The Silver Line, she has been a constant source of inspiration and admiration.

She adds: "Her positivity and determination never to give in gave me strength, but more importantly helped all those others like her who were confronting a terminal illness to keep going in the knowledge that they were not alone.

"Esther was a strong, warm and compassionate woman and a fighter to the end."

Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharing Image source, Getty ImagesPrime Minister Andy Burnham has paid tribute to Dame Esther Rantzen following her death, saying she "changed countless lives".

"Through her decades of campaigning, including founding Childline and The Silver Line, she changed countless lives and gave a voice to people who often went unheard," he writes on X.

"I will always admire the characteristic courage and openness with which she spoke about her illness, making us all think about the difficult questions we face at the end of life," he adds.

"My thoughts are with her family and all who loved her."

Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingFergus WalshMedical editor

In recent years Dame Esther Rantzen had been a prominent campaigner in favour of changing laws across the UK to permit assisted dying.

She revealed in January 2023 that she had been diagnosed with lung cancer, and later the same year that she had joined the Dignitas organisation in Zurich, where help to die is legal.

Before becoming prime minister, Keir Starmer promised Rantzen that he would allocate parliamentary time for a debate and free vote at Westminster.

She had urged MPs to support a private member’s bill introduced by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater in 2024, which would have legalised assisted dying for some terminally ill people in England and Wales. The bill got bogged down in the Lords and ran out of parliamentary time after peers tabled over 1200 amendments.

Earlier this month Rantzen said she was "too physically fragile" to travel to Switzerland, and again urged MPs to support another attempt to introduce the legislation at Westminster, but it was voted down by MPs.

After the vote, she said by phone that it was “a tragic day”, and added: “I am so sad that people in this country won’t have the choice so many terminally ill people have in other countries, of shortening their own deaths by asking for help.”

Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharing Image caption, Rantzen, pictured in 1987, when she was the presenter of the popular TV programme That's Life! on the BBC

She founded the charities Childline and later Silverline, pictured here in the Belfast offices of Childline in 2009

And pictured in 2022, meeting the then-Duchess of Cornwall

Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharing Dame Esther Rantzen has left an "extraordinary legacy", NSPCC chief executive Chris Sherwood has said following the broadcaster’s death on Wednesday.

He says she "helped millions of children" by founding Childline in 1986, a charity that offers a private and confidential helpline for children.

Sherwood adds her "unwavering determination and tenacity in ensuring children were safe and heard never diminished".

"Esther was a unique and truly remarkable woman who during her life did incredible things and went to exceptional lengths to ensure children and young people across the UK had somewhere to turn when they were in need of help," he says.

"We will miss her so much but will ensure her extraordinary legacy and commitment to helping children lives on for many years to come."

Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharing Image source, Getty ImagesRantzen was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 2023 and soon became a prominent campaigner in favour of legalising assisted dying – though she accepted she might not be alive to see it become law.

Revealing she had signed up to Swiss assisted dying clinic Dignitas, Rantzen said she wanted to ensure her family's last memories of her were not "painful because if you watch someone you love having a bad death, that memory obliterates all the happy times".

But she admitted that if she did decide to have an assisted death at Dignitas that would put "my family and friends in a difficult position because they would want to go with me, and that means that the police might prosecute them".

Earlier this month, Rantzen shared an update on her health, admitting she had become "too physically fragile" to end her life at the Swiss assisted dying clinic Dignitas.

"Everything I didn’t want to happen I’m having to go through now," she said. Obviously, I would prefer that my end could be swift and painless and I could ask for help now I’m dying. But I can’t."

She wrote "this is why I want the law to change and change quickly", by giving the choice of assisted dying to future generations who are terminally ill with six months or less to live.

"It’s just a question of choice about this most personal issue of all, I don’t want to impose my choice on anyone else, but I believe they should have no right to impose their choice on me."

Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharing Dame Esther Rantzen got her first on-screen TV appearance on BBC consumer programme Braden's Week, fronted by Canadian presenter Bernard Braden, which she joined as researcher in 1968.

After Braden departed the BBC in 1972, the show was rebooted a year later, renamed That's Life! and Rantzen was selected as its main presenter.

Launched in May 1973, it became an almost instant hit.

Recorded just before transmission on Saturday – and then later Sunday – nights, it was initially a consumer protection programme investigating viewers' complaints about shoddy service and faulty goods.

Over the years it grew to include more quirky items.

It initiated the Jobsworth award for over-zealous bureaucrats and council officials, and Heap of the Week, in which failing domestic appliances would be destroyed on screen in a variety of ingenious ways.

The most memorable moment came in 1988, when Rantzen told the story of Nicholas Winton, the man who had organised the rescue of 669 children from Czechoslovakia, which was occupied in 1939 by Nazi forces.

Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharing Image caption, Rantzen with fellow That's Life! presenters Howard Leader, Kevin Devine, and Gavin Campbell in 1993

Dame Esther Rantzen presented the BBC show That's Life! for 21 years during its run from 1973 to 1994, a show that blended consumer rights investigations and entertainment.

She later went on to appear in Strictly Come Dancing, and was inducted into the Royal Television Society's hall of fame in 1997.

It was through her work on That's Life! that Rantzen founded Childline in 1986, a charity that offers a private and confidential helpline for children.

When they set up a helpline for an episode of the BBC television programme on child abuse, the presenter's team was inundated with calls.

Afterwards, Rantzen realised there was an urgent need for an outlet for vulnerable children to talk about the taboo subject of child abuse.

Rantzen was made a dame at a Buckingham Palace ceremony in 2015

Later on in 2013, Rantzen set up another telephone service. The Silver Line helpline provided a line for people aged 55 or older to tackle feelings of loneliness and isolation that many older people experience.

In 2015, Rantzen was recognised for her charity work when she was made a dame for her services to children and older people.

Rantzen joined the Swiss assisted dying clinic Dignitas after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 2023, and became a vocal campaigner for the UK's Terminally Ill Adults Bill.

Rantzen said she had become "too physically fragile" to travel to Dignitas, and said the law around assisted dying – which she called "messy and cruel" – must "change and change quickly".

Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharing In a statement issued to the Press Association her children Miriam Wilcox, Rebecca Wilcox and Joshua Wilcox said:

"Our adored mother, Dame Esther Rantzen, died today. Her legacy of compassion and understanding will live on in her charities Childline and the Silverline, and through those of us who were lucky enough to love and be loved by her.

"We are grateful she is finally at rest with her beloved husband, Desmond Wilcox, but we will miss her immeasurably. She was our sunshine. We will always remember her endless capacity for joy, her ability to comfort every heartache, her beautiful way with words and her expert guidance in all things.

"She was the most wonderful mother to us three children and a cherished grandmother to her five treasured grandchildren. We have been so lucky for so long, no matter how much time we had with Mum it could be never be enough, but we are so grateful for our lives together.

"Mum’s work with charities and campaigning, particularly for children, older people, and the terminally ill, meant the world to her so thank you to everyone who has written to her, shared their stories with her over the years and worked alongside her.

"We hope the humour, ingenuity and audacity she brought to her work may continue to inspire you as it will do us. We kindly ask that we are given privacy and time to grieve."

Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharing In a statement, the family of Esther Rantzen have paid tribute to the “most wonderful mother” and “cherished grandmother” who will be remembered for her “endless capacity for joy”.

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