Esther Rantzen, pioneering presenter and Childline founder, dies aged 86

Dame Esther Rantzen, a pioneering television presenter and campaigner who died aged 86, was one of Britain's most recognisable figures for four decades. She created and presented That's Life!, a BBC programme that mixed consumer reporting with entertainment for 21 years from 1973, attracting 20 million viewers at its peak. Most significantly, she founded Childline in 1986, a telephone hotline that gave abused and bullied children a place to report their suffering and seek help.

That's Life! pioneered television investigation of consumer problems including fraudulent businessmen and dodgy builders, whilst also entertaining audiences with jokey content and providing a platform for emerging talents such as Victoria Wood and Richard Stilgoe. Childline, now incorporated into the NSPCC, received 50,000 calls on its first night in 1986 and helped approximately 4 million callers before its merger in 2006. Rantzen went on to present several other series and appeared as a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing and I'm a Celebrity, before later becoming an advocate for assisted dying rights for terminally ill people.