Departures of note

Dame Esther Rantzen was an English journalist and television presenter who became one of Britain's best-known broadcasters. Born in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, she studied English at Somerville College, Oxford, before joining the BBC, where she worked as a researcher on programmes such as BBC-3 and Man Alive. In 1973 she became the main presenter of That's Life!, the consumer affairs magazine she helped devise, which ran on BBC1 for 21 years and regularly reached audiences of more than 18 million, prompting changes in law and practice from child seat-belt rules to safer playground surfaces.

In 1986, inspired by a That's Life! investigation into child abuse, Rantzen founded Childline, the first national helpline for children in danger or distress, which has since been copied in some 150 countries and later merged with the NSPCC. In 2013 she set up The Silver Line, a helpline and befriending service for lonely older people. She also presented her own talk show Esther on BBC Two, appeared on Strictly Come Dancing and I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, and campaigned on palliative care and assisted dying after being diagnosed with lung cancer in 2023.

Rantzen was appointed OBE in 1991, CBE in 2006 and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2015 for services to children and older people. She died aged 86 following her battle with lung cancer.