That's Life!
Encyclopedia
That's Life! was a magazine-style television
series on BBC1 between 26 May 1973 and 19 June 1994, presented by Esther Rantzen
throughout the entire run, with various changes of co-presenters. The show was generally recorded about an hour prior to transmission, which was originally on Saturday nights for many years and then on Sunday nights. In its latter days, in an attempt to win back falling ratings, it was moved back to Saturday nights.
, particularly safety issues. The importance of wearing seat belts, for example, was illustrated before attitudes supporting their use became widespread. Britain's telephone helpline for children, ChildLine
, was developed by Rantzen following items on the programme. Awareness for the need for child organ transplants was increased through the 1985 death of Ben Hardwick
, a toddler whose liver
disease was followed by the show. In tribute, Marti Webb
released a version of Michael Jackson
's "Ben
".
The programme also featured less serious items, which over time grew in number. These included the 'Jobsworth
,' exposing companies and authorities who had implemented obscure regulations and policies causing more grievances than they aimed to correct. In another feature, 'Heap of the Week', viewers would write in regarding annoying unreliable domestic appliances and other failed items, which would then be disposed of in destructive ways to the delight of their owners. A regular feature as the final item of each show, particularly in the 1980s and '90s, was various members of the team disguised as various people or things in locations such as supermarket
s and garden centre
s, suddenly breaking into song and grabbing passers by and getting them to join in. Some of the more light-hearted features tapped into the British seaside postcard-style humour, being cheeky and suggestive but never out-and-out rude.
The co-presenters added extra personality to the show and other presenters contributed humour by reading cuttings sent in by viewers or by singing. The first of these contributors was the songwriter and lyricist Richard Stilgoe
; for the show he wrote comic songs satirising various domestic issues, such as a song to celebrate the date 25 years into the future when he would have at last paid off the mortgage to his house. The co-hosts of the show were always men, though several women were featured as the 'humour' contributors, including actresses Joanna Munro and Mollie Sugden
. In later shows the co-hosts would dramatise cases by each reading the dialogue of a 'character.' This resulted in hilarity during less-serious cases when they attempted to imitate foreign accents; Adrian Mills
was famously unable to perform in a Spanish accent in an undercover item looking at a crooked money-making scam.
The show was also infamous for showcasing unusually-shaped vegetable
s, "odd odes" (humorous poems), comical newspaper and advertisement typographical errors, performing pets (memorably, a dog able to "say" "sausages" and "Esther"), and street interviews with members of the public, including an eager old lady called Annie Mizen who became a regular on the show after she was discovered at a street market.
An early regular contributor was poet Pam Ayres
. Later there were also musical interludes from performers such as Jake Thackray
, Victoria Wood
, Doc Cox
, and occasionally Grant Baynham. Baynham had buckets of water thrown over him in several live programmes after Rantzen had apparently objected to him smoking
, much to his considerable chagrin; on his final show, he got his own back by doing the same to Esther.
Presenters often left the confines of the studio for various stunts; Esther was arrested during one vox pop
for apparently obstructing the pavement. The incident was broadcast in its entirety, along with Esther being driven away in a police van and the crowd's humorously cheering her arrest.
In 1993, taxi driver Tom Morton, who knew over 16,000 telephone numbers in Lancashire, beat the British Olympia Telephone Exchange computer with his recall
. The interviewer, Adrian Mills, said he had never seen anything like it.
A cartoon strip, drawn by Rod Jordon, featuring items from that edition accompanied the closing credits.
The award-winning documentary film maker Adam Curtis
, who went on to make The Power of Nightmares
and The Century of the Self
, started his career on the show. According to The Observer
he "found dogs that could sing and researched investigative segments. Along the way he learned a lot about comic timing and the ways an audience might be engaged by issues. 'The best lesson that Esther taught me was that people who think they are funny rarely are'".
The show was a staple of the post-watershed
Sunday night BBC 1
schedules for many years (having originally been broadcast on Saturday nights) and, despite its criticisms (see below section), pulled in very high viewing figures, becoming somewhat of a minor national institution in its heyday. However, by the 1990s, times had changed. There were by now other, more hard-hitting consumer investigation programmes being broadcast (such as ITV
's The Cook Report
and the BBC
's own Watchdog
, and several others), and the always slightly uneasy mix of hard-hitting and comical articles of the show was by now seen by many as very awkward and somewhat dated. In 1992, to try and win back straying viewers, the show was moved from its traditional haunt of Sunday nights, back to Saturdays. There was also a radical revamp of the set (bringing the co-presenters out from behind their desk, and several other tweaks to both the appearance and format of the show), but the move did not fully rejuvenate the programme as was hoped. The show was generally felt to have run its course, belonging to an era which had now passed. It was finally dropped in 1994, but was given a decent send-off.
The very last edition was named That's Life All Over, and was predominantly a highlight show. Esther had been deliberately given a false finish time, and when she expected the programme to close, she was surprised that a whole extra section of the programme was introduced looking at the work she had done over the years.
between 1968 and 1972. Rantzen was a reporter on this show, while her future husband, Desmond Wilcox
, was an editor. Braden was dismissed when he appeared in an advert
on ITV
, breaking his contract terms, leading to the introduction of That's Life! a year later.
However, although Braden himself was publicly circumspect about the decision, his wife Barbara Kelly
(also a TV presenter) was forthright in condemning it and was plainly hostile towards Rantzen.
Almost thirty years later Kelly told Alice Pitman of The Oldie
that she was "very bitter at the time, very, very bitter" and recalled that Braden's producer, Desmond Wilcox
, who subsequently married Rantzen, had brought together Kelly, Rantzen and newsreader Angela Rippon
for a pilot
of an afternoon show, although, in Kelly's view, "it was just a front - he wanted Esther, and Angela and I were sort of left dangling." At the turn of the 21st century Kelly weighed into a spat in the press between Rantzen and her stepdaughter Cassandra Wilcox, as a result of which she received a large number of supportive letters from members of the public who recalled her husband's usurpation by Rantzen. Kelly placed these in a folder marked "Hate Rancid File".
The ITV sketch show End of Part One
in 1979, scripted by Andrew Marshall
and David Renwick
, created a spoof of That's Life! entitled "That's Bernard Braden's Show Really".
In 1980, a spin-off show That's Life Junior ran for one season on BBC1, on early Saturday evenings. Hosted by Rantzen with Paul Heiney
& Chris Serle
, the items were aimed at children, with two boys – one of whom was future BBC journalist Shaun Ley
– reading out the humorous items in place of Cyril Fletcher
.
Over time the programme increasingly concentrated on sentimental, light and humorous items - particularly after being taken to court by a doctor it tried to discredit and landing the BBC with huge litigation costs (estimated at £1.2 million in a Guardian
article ) - and featured and appealed to senior citizens. The public hence became increasingly polarised between those who loved the programme, and those who loathed both it and its presenter Esther Rantzen
. The latter camp included Victor Lewis-Smith
, who in addition to sketches and spoof songs featured on his Radio 1
show, made some hoax phone calls to the programme, sometimes referring to Rantzen as 'Teeth' after her most prominent feature.
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
series on BBC1 between 26 May 1973 and 19 June 1994, presented by Esther Rantzen
Esther Rantzen
Esther Louise Rantzen CBE is an English journalist and television presenter who is best known for presenting the BBC television series That's Life!, and for her work in various charitable causes. She is founder of the child protection charity ChildLine, and also advocates the work of the Burma...
throughout the entire run, with various changes of co-presenters. The show was generally recorded about an hour prior to transmission, which was originally on Saturday nights for many years and then on Sunday nights. In its latter days, in an attempt to win back falling ratings, it was moved back to Saturday nights.
Format
The original purpose of the programme was consumer protectionConsumer protection
Consumer protection laws designed to ensure fair trade competition and the free flow of truthful information in the marketplace. The laws are designed to prevent businesses that engage in fraud or specified unfair practices from gaining an advantage over competitors and may provide additional...
, particularly safety issues. The importance of wearing seat belts, for example, was illustrated before attitudes supporting their use became widespread. Britain's telephone helpline for children, ChildLine
ChildLine
ChildLine is a free 24 hour counselling service for children and young people up to 18 in the UK provided by the NSPCC. ChildLine deals with any issue which causes distress or concern, common issues dealt with include child abuse, bullying, parental separation or divorce, pregnancy and substance...
, was developed by Rantzen following items on the programme. Awareness for the need for child organ transplants was increased through the 1985 death of Ben Hardwick
Ben Hardwick
Benjamin Hardwick was Britain's youngest liver transplant patient. He became a celebrity through appearing on the BBC television programme That's Life! after his parents appealed for more awareness of organ donation when their son, who suffered from liver disease, urgently needed a transplant...
, a toddler whose liver
Liver
The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...
disease was followed by the show. In tribute, Marti Webb
Marti Webb
Marti Webb is a musical actress from England, who appeared on stage in Evita, before starring in Andrew Lloyd Webber's one woman show Tell Me on a Sunday in 1980...
released a version of Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
's "Ben
Ben (song)
"Ben" is a song written by Don Black and composed by Walter Scharf for the 1972 film of the same name . It was performed in the film by Lee Montgomery and by Michael Jackson over the closing credits. Jackson's single, recorded for the Motown label in 1972, spent one week at the top of the U.S. pop...
".
The programme also featured less serious items, which over time grew in number. These included the 'Jobsworth
Jobsworth
A jobsworth is a person who uses their job description in a deliberately uncooperative way, or who seemingly delights in acting in an obstructive or unhelpful manner....
,' exposing companies and authorities who had implemented obscure regulations and policies causing more grievances than they aimed to correct. In another feature, 'Heap of the Week', viewers would write in regarding annoying unreliable domestic appliances and other failed items, which would then be disposed of in destructive ways to the delight of their owners. A regular feature as the final item of each show, particularly in the 1980s and '90s, was various members of the team disguised as various people or things in locations such as supermarket
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
s and garden centre
Garden centre
A garden centre is a retail firm that sells plants and products related to gardens as its primary business. It is open to the public, with facilities to care for and display plants.- UK :...
s, suddenly breaking into song and grabbing passers by and getting them to join in. Some of the more light-hearted features tapped into the British seaside postcard-style humour, being cheeky and suggestive but never out-and-out rude.
The co-presenters added extra personality to the show and other presenters contributed humour by reading cuttings sent in by viewers or by singing. The first of these contributors was the songwriter and lyricist Richard Stilgoe
Richard Stilgoe
Richard Henry Simpson Stilgoe OBE is a British songwriter, lyricist and musician. He is noted for clever wordplay as much as for his music....
; for the show he wrote comic songs satirising various domestic issues, such as a song to celebrate the date 25 years into the future when he would have at last paid off the mortgage to his house. The co-hosts of the show were always men, though several women were featured as the 'humour' contributors, including actresses Joanna Munro and Mollie Sugden
Mollie Sugden
Isobel Mary 'Mollie' Sugden was an English comedy actress best known for portraying the saleswoman Mrs. Slocombe in the British sitcom Are You Being Served? from 1972 to 1985. She later reprised this role in Grace & Favour, which ran from 1992 to 1993...
. In later shows the co-hosts would dramatise cases by each reading the dialogue of a 'character.' This resulted in hilarity during less-serious cases when they attempted to imitate foreign accents; Adrian Mills
Adrian Mills
Adrian Mills is a British television presenter. He appeared on That's Life! with Esther Rantzen for seven years until its demise in 1994. Since then he has presented talk show Central Weekend Live, reported for BBC viewer feedback programme Bite Back, appeared as a location reporter on Surprise,...
was famously unable to perform in a Spanish accent in an undercover item looking at a crooked money-making scam.
The show was also infamous for showcasing unusually-shaped vegetable
Unusually-shaped vegetable
An unusually shaped vegetable is a vegetable or fruit that has grown into an unusual shape not in line with the normal body plan. While some examples are just oddly shaped, others are heralded for their amusing appearance, often representing a body part such as the buttocks...
s, "odd odes" (humorous poems), comical newspaper and advertisement typographical errors, performing pets (memorably, a dog able to "say" "sausages" and "Esther"), and street interviews with members of the public, including an eager old lady called Annie Mizen who became a regular on the show after she was discovered at a street market.
An early regular contributor was poet Pam Ayres
Pam Ayres
Pam Ayres MBE is an English poet, songwriter and presenter of radio and television programmes. Her 1975 appearance on the television talent show Opportunity Knocks led to a variety of appearances on TV and radio shows, a one woman touring stage show and performing before the Queen.-Early life:Pam...
. Later there were also musical interludes from performers such as Jake Thackray
Jake Thackray
John Philip "Jake" Thackray , was an English singer-songwriter, poet and journalist. Best known in the late 1960s and early 1970s for his topical comedy songs performed on British television, his work ranged from satirical to bawdy to sentimental to pastoral, with a strong emphasis on storytelling,...
, Victoria Wood
Victoria Wood
Victoria Wood CBE is a British comedienne, actress, singer-songwriter, screenwriter and director. Wood has written and starred in sketches, plays, films and sitcoms, and her live stand-up comedy act is interspersed with her own compositions, which she accompanies on piano...
, Doc Cox
Doc Cox
Robert "Doc" Cox , also known as Ivor Biggun, is a British musician and former television journalist...
, and occasionally Grant Baynham. Baynham had buckets of water thrown over him in several live programmes after Rantzen had apparently objected to him smoking
Smoke
Smoke is a collection of airborne solid and liquid particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwanted by-product of fires , but may also be used for pest...
, much to his considerable chagrin; on his final show, he got his own back by doing the same to Esther.
Presenters often left the confines of the studio for various stunts; Esther was arrested during one vox pop
Vox populi
Vox populi , a Latin phrase that literally means voice of the people, is a term often used in broadcasting for interviews with members of the "general public".-Vox pop, the man on the street:...
for apparently obstructing the pavement. The incident was broadcast in its entirety, along with Esther being driven away in a police van and the crowd's humorously cheering her arrest.
In 1993, taxi driver Tom Morton, who knew over 16,000 telephone numbers in Lancashire, beat the British Olympia Telephone Exchange computer with his recall
Eidetic memory
Eidetic , commonly referred to as photographic memory, is a medical term, popularly defined as the ability to recall images, sounds, or objects in memory with extreme precision and in abundant volume. The word eidetic, referring to extraordinarily detailed and vivid recall not limited to, but...
. The interviewer, Adrian Mills, said he had never seen anything like it.
A cartoon strip, drawn by Rod Jordon, featuring items from that edition accompanied the closing credits.
The award-winning documentary film maker Adam Curtis
Adam Curtis
Adam Curtis is a British BAFTA winning documentarian and a writer, television producer, director and narrator. He works for BBC Current Affairs.-Early life and education:Curtis was born in 1955...
, who went on to make The Power of Nightmares
The Power of Nightmares
The Power of Nightmares, subtitled The Rise of the Politics of Fear, is a BBC documentary film series, written and produced by Adam Curtis. Its three one-hour parts consist mostly of a montage of archive footage with Curtis's narration...
and The Century of the Self
The Century of the Self
The Century of the Self is an award winning British television documentary film. It focuses on how Sigmund Freud, Anna Freud, and Edward Bernays influenced the way corporations and governments have thought about, dealt with, and controlled people....
, started his career on the show. According to The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
he "found dogs that could sing and researched investigative segments. Along the way he learned a lot about comic timing and the ways an audience might be engaged by issues. 'The best lesson that Esther taught me was that people who think they are funny rarely are'".
The show was a staple of the post-watershed
Watershed (television)
In television, the term watershed denotes the time period in a television schedule during which programs with adult content can air....
Sunday night BBC 1
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
schedules for many years (having originally been broadcast on Saturday nights) and, despite its criticisms (see below section), pulled in very high viewing figures, becoming somewhat of a minor national institution in its heyday. However, by the 1990s, times had changed. There were by now other, more hard-hitting consumer investigation programmes being broadcast (such as ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's The Cook Report
The Cook Report
The Cook Report was a British current affairs television programme shown on ITV, produced for the network by Central Television from 1987 to 1998.-History:...
and the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's own Watchdog
Watchdog (TV series)
Watchdog is a BBC television series that investigates viewers' reports of problematic experiences with traders, retailers, and other companies around the UK...
, and several others), and the always slightly uneasy mix of hard-hitting and comical articles of the show was by now seen by many as very awkward and somewhat dated. In 1992, to try and win back straying viewers, the show was moved from its traditional haunt of Sunday nights, back to Saturdays. There was also a radical revamp of the set (bringing the co-presenters out from behind their desk, and several other tweaks to both the appearance and format of the show), but the move did not fully rejuvenate the programme as was hoped. The show was generally felt to have run its course, belonging to an era which had now passed. It was finally dropped in 1994, but was given a decent send-off.
The very last edition was named That's Life All Over, and was predominantly a highlight show. Esther had been deliberately given a false finish time, and when she expected the programme to close, she was surprised that a whole extra section of the programme was introduced looking at the work she had done over the years.
Origins
The BBC conceived the programme as a replacement for the remarkably similar Braden's Week, hosted by Bernard BradenBernard Braden
Bernard Chastey Braden was a Canadian-born English actor and comedian.Braden was born in Vancouver, British Columbia and educated at Magee Secondary School, Kerrisdale, Vancouver. He produced plays on CJOR Vancouver in the late 1930s and early 1940s. He married Barbara Kelly in 1942 and they moved...
between 1968 and 1972. Rantzen was a reporter on this show, while her future husband, Desmond Wilcox
Desmond Wilcox
Desmond John Wilcox was a British documentary maker at the BBC and ITV. He was producer of This Week, Man Alive and That's Life!.- Early life :...
, was an editor. Braden was dismissed when he appeared in an advert
Television advertisement
A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...
on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
, breaking his contract terms, leading to the introduction of That's Life! a year later.
However, although Braden himself was publicly circumspect about the decision, his wife Barbara Kelly
Barbara Kelly
Barbara Kelly was a Canadian-born actress, possibly best-known for her television roles in the United Kingdom opposite her husband Bernard Braden in the 1950s and 1960s and for many appearances as a panelist on the British version of What's My Line?.-Early years:Barbara Kelly was born in...
(also a TV presenter) was forthright in condemning it and was plainly hostile towards Rantzen.
Almost thirty years later Kelly told Alice Pitman of The Oldie
The Oldie
The Oldie is a monthly magazine launched in 1992 by Richard Ingrams, who for 23 years was the editor of Private Eye. It carries general interest articles, humour and cartoons, and has an eclectic list of contributors, including James Le Fanu, John Sweeney, Thomas Stuttaford, Virginia Ironside,...
that she was "very bitter at the time, very, very bitter" and recalled that Braden's producer, Desmond Wilcox
Desmond Wilcox
Desmond John Wilcox was a British documentary maker at the BBC and ITV. He was producer of This Week, Man Alive and That's Life!.- Early life :...
, who subsequently married Rantzen, had brought together Kelly, Rantzen and newsreader Angela Rippon
Angela Rippon
Angela M. Rippon, OBE, born 12 October 1944, Plymouth, Devon, England, is an English television journalist, newsreader, writer and presenter. Rippon presented radio and television news programmes in South West England before moving to BBC One's Nine O'Clock News, becoming a regular presenter in 1975...
for a pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
of an afternoon show, although, in Kelly's view, "it was just a front - he wanted Esther, and Angela and I were sort of left dangling." At the turn of the 21st century Kelly weighed into a spat in the press between Rantzen and her stepdaughter Cassandra Wilcox, as a result of which she received a large number of supportive letters from members of the public who recalled her husband's usurpation by Rantzen. Kelly placed these in a folder marked "Hate Rancid File".
The ITV sketch show End of Part One
End of Part One
End of Part One was a British television comedy sketch show written by David Renwick and Andrew Marshall and produced by Simon Brett, it was made by London Weekend Television. It ran for two series on ITV, from 1979 to 1980 and was an attempt at a TV version of The Burkiss Way...
in 1979, scripted by Andrew Marshall
Andrew Marshall (writer)
Andrew Marshall is an English comedy screenwriter, most noted for the domestic sitcom 2point4 children. He was also the inspiration for Marvin the Paranoid Android in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy...
and David Renwick
David Renwick
David Peter Renwick is an English television writer, best known for creation of the sitcom One Foot in the Grave and the mystery series Jonathan Creek....
, created a spoof of That's Life! entitled "That's Bernard Braden's Show Really".
In 1980, a spin-off show That's Life Junior ran for one season on BBC1, on early Saturday evenings. Hosted by Rantzen with Paul Heiney
Paul Heiney
Paul Heiney has been a radio broadcaster or television reporter in the United Kingdom for over thirty years.-Early life:...
& Chris Serle
Chris Serle
Christopher "Chris" Richard Serle is a former BBC TV presenter, reporter and actor. Serle was educated at Clifton College and Trinity College, Dublin, where he studied modern languages...
, the items were aimed at children, with two boys – one of whom was future BBC journalist Shaun Ley
Shaun Ley
Shaun Ley is a British journalist and a presenter of The World This Weekend and The World at One on BBC Radio 4....
– reading out the humorous items in place of Cyril Fletcher
Cyril Fletcher
Cyril Fletcher was an English comedian; his catchphrase was 'Pin back your lugholes'. He was most famous for his Odd Odes, which was a section of the television show That's Life!. Fletcher had first begun performing the Odd Odes in 1937, long before they first appeared on television...
.
Criticisms
Throughout the show's life, there was criticism of the format of the typical edition moving abruptly from a deeply serious issue to a comical one (such as the infamous rudely shaped vegetables) and back again. This was always defended by Esther and the crew, who said that the aim was to represent the full spectrum of life, from the sad to the funny, and always tried to end editions on an uplifting, light-hearted and/or humorous item.Over time the programme increasingly concentrated on sentimental, light and humorous items - particularly after being taken to court by a doctor it tried to discredit and landing the BBC with huge litigation costs (estimated at £1.2 million in a Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
article ) - and featured and appealed to senior citizens. The public hence became increasingly polarised between those who loved the programme, and those who loathed both it and its presenter Esther Rantzen
Esther Rantzen
Esther Louise Rantzen CBE is an English journalist and television presenter who is best known for presenting the BBC television series That's Life!, and for her work in various charitable causes. She is founder of the child protection charity ChildLine, and also advocates the work of the Burma...
. The latter camp included Victor Lewis-Smith
Victor Lewis-Smith
Victor Lewis-Smith is a British satirist, producer, critic and prankster. He is known for his sarcasm and biting criticism.-Radio and recordings:...
, who in addition to sketches and spoof songs featured on his Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
show, made some hoax phone calls to the programme, sometimes referring to Rantzen as 'Teeth' after her most prominent feature.
Reporters/Co-Presenters
- Grant Baynham (1986–1989)
- Bill BuckleyBill Buckley (LBC)Bill Buckley is a radio and television presenter. For three years, he was a co-presenter of BBC Television's consumer affairs programme That's Life!, and has presented shows on BBC Southern Counties Radio, BBC Radio Leicester, London talk radio station LBC 97.3 and BBC London...
(1982–1985) - Gavin Campbell (1982–1994)
- Kevin Devine (1991–1994)
- Michael Groth
- Paul HeineyPaul HeineyPaul Heiney has been a radio broadcaster or television reporter in the United Kingdom for over thirty years.-Early life:...
(1979–1981) - George LaytonGeorge LaytonGeorge Layton is an English actor, director, screenwriter and author. He was educated at Belle Vue Boys' Grammar School in Bradford and later studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts where he won the Emile Littler award. He went on to leading parts at Coventry and Nottingham and...
1973 - Howard Leader (1990–1994)
- Adrian MillsAdrian MillsAdrian Mills is a British television presenter. He appeared on That's Life! with Esther Rantzen for seven years until its demise in 1994. Since then he has presented talk show Central Weekend Live, reported for BBC viewer feedback programme Bite Back, appeared as a location reporter on Surprise,...
(1985–1994) - Kieran PrendivilleKieran PrendivilleKieran Prendiville is a television writer, producer and presenter.-Early years:Kieran grew up in England where his father had emigrated to practise medicine...
(1973–1978) - Chris SerleChris SerleChristopher "Chris" Richard Serle is a former BBC TV presenter, reporter and actor. Serle was educated at Clifton College and Trinity College, Dublin, where he studied modern languages...
(1979–1981) - Scott SherrinScott SherrinScott Sherrin was a multi-talented child star. Originally from London he was adopted and grew up in Springfield, Chelmsford, where he attended The Tyrrells Primary school, and The Boswells School, between productions...
- Bob WellingsBob WellingsBob Wellings was a BBC television presenter who worked for That's Life!, Look East and Nationwide.-References:...
1973 - Glyn WorsnipGlyn WorsnipGlyn Worsnip was a British radio and television presenter. Born in Highnam, Gloucestershire, he was most famous for his appearances on That's Life! and on Nationwide.He attended Monmouth School and after two years service in the RAF as a Photographic Intelligence Officer he graduated...
(1973–1979)
Humour contributors
- Maev Alexander
- Pam AyresPam AyresPam Ayres MBE is an English poet, songwriter and presenter of radio and television programmes. Her 1975 appearance on the television talent show Opportunity Knocks led to a variety of appearances on TV and radio shows, a one woman touring stage show and performing before the Queen.-Early life:Pam...
- Tommy BoydTommy BoydTimothy Leslie Boyd , better known as Tommy Boyd, is a British radio and television presenter who now lives in Chichester, West Sussex.-Early career:...
- Doc CoxDoc CoxRobert "Doc" Cox , also known as Ivor Biggun, is a British musician and former television journalist...
(1982–1989) - Simon FanshaweSimon FanshaweSimon Hew Dalrymple Fanshawe is a writer and broadcaster. He contributes frequently to British newspapers, TV and radio...
- Cyril FletcherCyril FletcherCyril Fletcher was an English comedian; his catchphrase was 'Pin back your lugholes'. He was most famous for his Odd Odes, which was a section of the television show That's Life!. Fletcher had first begun performing the Odd Odes in 1937, long before they first appeared on television...
(1973–1981) - John Gould
- Joanna Munro (1982–1984)
- Mollie SugdenMollie SugdenIsobel Mary 'Mollie' Sugden was an English comedy actress best known for portraying the saleswoman Mrs. Slocombe in the British sitcom Are You Being Served? from 1972 to 1985. She later reprised this role in Grace & Favour, which ran from 1992 to 1993...
(1986)
Musical guests
- Lynsey de PaulLynsey De PaulLynsey de Paul is an English singer-songwriter. Allmusic journalist, Craig Harris stated, "one of the first successful female singer-songwriters in England, de Paul has had an illustrious career".-Early life:De Paul was born to Meta and Herbert Rubin, a property developer...
- Richard StilgoeRichard StilgoeRichard Henry Simpson Stilgoe OBE is a British songwriter, lyricist and musician. He is noted for clever wordplay as much as for his music....
- Jake ThackrayJake ThackrayJohn Philip "Jake" Thackray , was an English singer-songwriter, poet and journalist. Best known in the late 1960s and early 1970s for his topical comedy songs performed on British television, his work ranged from satirical to bawdy to sentimental to pastoral, with a strong emphasis on storytelling,...
- Victoria WoodVictoria WoodVictoria Wood CBE is a British comedienne, actress, singer-songwriter, screenwriter and director. Wood has written and starred in sketches, plays, films and sitcoms, and her live stand-up comedy act is interspersed with her own compositions, which she accompanies on piano...
(1976–1979)