Esther Rantzen’s campaigns spanned child protection, transplants and assisted dying
Esther Rantzen’s television career combined light entertainment with campaigns that brought public attention to serious issues. Through That’s Life!, she helped push organ donation into the spotlight, exposed abuse at a boys’ boarding school and later founded Childline; her final campaign focused on assisted dying.
That’s Life! regularly attracted close to 20 million viewers. Its 1984 story about a child needing a liver transplant was credited by MPs with helping increase transplants, while Childline, founded in 1986, has helped six million children, according to the NSPCC. After revealing in 2023 that her lung cancer was at stage four, Rantzen joined Dignitas and campaigned for assisted dying; MPs in England and Wales rejected legalisation three weeks before the article was published.
- Rantzen used television to campaign on urgent social issues.
- Childline has helped six million children since 1986.
- Her assisted dying campaign kept the debate in public view.
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Originally published by The Guardian as “Esther Rantzen: one of the UK’s boldest, bravest ever campaigners – right to the very end”.