UK broadcaster and Childline founder Esther Rantzen dies at 86

British journalist Esther Rantzen arrives for a service of thanksgiving for the life and work of the late British singer Dame Vera Lynn at Westminster Abbey in central London, Britain on March 21, 2022. — AFP pic

First Published: Thursday, 01 Oct 2026 9:16 AM MYT

LONDON, Oct 1 — UK broadcaster Esther Rantzen, a campaigning, trailblazing journalist who forged a career in the male-dominated world of 1970s television, died on Wednesday, her family announced. She was 86.

She had long channelled her campaigning talents into groundbreaking helplines for kids and the elderly as well as a law on assisted dying.

Rantzen had fought a long battle with terminal lung cancer, and up to the end had pleaded for the UK parliament to pass a law to allow assisted dying.

After announcing her diagnosis in 2023, she said in order to guarantee a “good death” she would like to have the option of going to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland.

But in September, ahead of a vote by MPs on the bill, Rantzen revealed she had become “too physically fragile to make the journey”.

MPs rejected the bill in their vote.

Her family on Wednesday paid tribute to the “most wonderful mother” and “cherished grandmother” who will be remembered for her “endless capacity for joy”.

Rantzen became a beloved household figure in the 1970s presenting the BBC’s “That’s Life!”, a magazine programme that at its height regularly reached audiences of 15-20 million viewers.

The programme – with its blend of hard-hitting investigations, consumer affairs and light-hearted offbeat items – ran for 21 series between 1973 and 1994, inspiring a number of spin-offs and specials.

Helplines

Childline, a telephone helpline for children and teenagers that Rantzen founded, grew out of a 1986 “That’s Life!” spin-off about child abuse.

Now run by the NSPCC children’s charity, it offers young people someone to talk to on any issue and takes over 185,000 calls every year.

Rantzen was born into a Jewish family in Berkhamsted, northwest of London on June 22, 1940.

After studying English at the University of Oxford, she began her television career as a clerk in the BBC programme planning department, before getting a prized job as a researcher.

In 1977, Rantzen married Desmond Wilcox, an influential producer as well as her former boss at the BBC.

In 2011, Rantzen, widowed and with her three children having all left home, wrote about her feelings of loneliness.

The article prompted a deluge of responses from others in the same situation, prompting Rantzen to launch a 24-hour telephone helpline for older people along the same lines as Childline.

Named The Silver Line Helpline, it opened its lines in 2013 and has since helped millions of people ease feelings of isolation or get practical information. — AFP