Veteran British broadcaster, journalist and campaigner Dame Esther Rantzen has died at the age of 86, bringing to a close a career that spanned television, consumer advocacy and some of the United Kingdom’s most prominent charitable campaigns.
Rantzen’s family announced her death on September 30, saying her legacy would live on through the charities she founded and the people whose lives she touched.
She became one of Britain’s best-known television personalities through That’s Life!, the BBC consumer affairs programme she presented from 1973 to 1994. At its peak, the programme attracted audiences of more than 20 million and combined consumer investigations with campaigns on social issues.
Her work on the programme helped inspire the creation of Childline in 1986, providing a confidential helpline for children experiencing abuse, neglect and other difficulties. She later founded The Silver Line in 2013, aimed at combating loneliness and isolation among older people.
Rantzen was made a Dame in 2015 for services to children and older people and was also inducted into the Royal Television Society Hall of Fame during her long broadcasting career.
In her later years, she became one of Britain’s most prominent advocates for legalising assisted dying after revealing in 2023 that she had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. She continued campaigning for a change in the law even as her health deteriorated.
Tributes have followed from broadcasters, politicians, charities and former colleagues, many highlighting the lasting impact of her work on child protection, support for older people and British consumer journalism.
Rantzen is survived by her three children and five grandchildren. Her husband, television producer Desmond Wilcox, died in 2000.
