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''That's Life!'' was a

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

TV consumer affairs programme on the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

, at its height regularly reaching audiences of fifteen to twenty million, and receiving 10–15,000 letters a week. The series broadcast on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

for twenty-one years, from May 26, 1973, until June 19, 1994.

Format

''That's Life'' was a magazine which mixed serious and light-hearted items combined with satire in a studio-based format with film inserts, devised by

Peter Chafer Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

, John Lloyd and

Esther Rantzen Dame Esther Louise Rantzen (born 22 June 1940) is an English journalist and television presenter, who presented the BBC television series ''That's Life!'' for 21 years, from 1973 until 1994. She works with various charitable causes, and fou ...

, it was presented and produced by

with various teams of reporters and contributors. Special spin-off programmes concentrated on serious topics which were first aired on ''That's Life'', such as

childbirth Childbirth, also known as labour and delivery, is the ending of pregnancy where one or more babies exits the internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section. In 2019, there were about 140.11 million births globall ...

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...

and

child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to a ...

. Its journalism relied on the skills of researchers many of whom went on to hold very senior jobs both inside and outside the media industry. The large audiences, regularly topping the ratings charts and reaching a maximum of 22.5 million viewers, resulted in several changes in laws and practice, such as the introduction of compulsory seat belts for children, support for transplantation and the installing of safe surfaces in children's playgrounds.

Origins

Bernard Braden, the Canadian actor and broadcaster, invented consumer programmes for British television with his

itv ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

show "On the Braden Beat." When in 1968 Braden and his wife

Barbara Kelly Barbara Kelly (5 October 1923 – 15 January 2007) was a Canadian-British actress, 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 ...

agreed to transfer to the BBC, he starred with her in a situation comedy for the Entertainment Department, and he presented a consumer show which was produced in

Desmond Wilcox Desmond John Wilcox (21 May 1931 – 6 September 2000) was a British television producer, documentary filmmaker, journalist and television executive. He worked at the BBC and ITV during his career and was producer of series such as '' This ...

's Features Department. John Lloyd was a freelance producer who had worked with Braden on the itv consumer show, and in 1968 was hired to produce "Braden's Week" for the BBC. That show ran from 1968 to 1972 on Saturday nights on BBC 1, featuring Esther Rantzen and John Pitman as reporters, and Ronald Fletcher, Chris Munds and

Hilary Pritchard Hilary Pritchard (1942–1996) was a Manx film and television actress. Career Television roles included parts in '' The Avengers'' episode "Take-Over" and three episodes of the BBC's department store sitcom ''Are You Being Served?''. Pritcha ...

as humorous punctuation. It also memorably featured

Frankie Howerd Francis Alick Howard (6 March 1917 – 19 April 1992), better known by his stage-name Frankie Howerd, was an English actor and comedian. Early life Howerd was born the son of soldier Francis Alfred William (1887–1934)England & Wales, Deat ...

, Victor Ross of ''Reader's Digest'', and an expose of

Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, member of parliament (MP), suspected spy, and fraudster. Early in his life, Maxwell escaped from N ...

's company

Pergamon Press Pergamon Press was an Oxford-based publishing house, founded by Paul Rosbaud and Robert Maxwell, that published scientific and medical books and journals. Originally called Butterworth-Springer, it is now an imprint of Elsevier. History The cor ...

. The format which was extremely popular included a studio audience, a regular music slot featuring singer/songwriter

Jake Thackray John Philip "Jake" Thackray (27 February 1938 – 24 December 2002) was an English singer-songwriter, poet, humourist and journalist. Best known in the late 1960s and early 1970s for his topical comedy songs performed on British television, hi ...

, and sketches performed by Munds and Pritchard. It is sometimes wrongly thought that Braden was sacked by the BBC for making a commercial for

Stork margarine Stork is a brand of margarine spread manufactured primarily from palm oil and water, owned by Upfield, except in southern Africa, where it is owned by the Remgro subsidiary Siqalo Foods. When it was introduced into the United Kingdom and Ireland f ...

in the summer of 1971, and although advertising a product was not felt compatible with Braden's role in a consumer show, in fact Desmond Wilcox interceded for him with BBC senior executives, pointing out that at the time he was not under contract to the BBC, and he returned to make another series that autumn. (") However, in 1972 Braden was hired by a Canadian network to create a similar programme there. After he left, producers Peter Chafer, John Lloyd and presenter Esther Rantzen were tasked by the BBC to create a replacement consumer programme without Braden. Rantzen invented the title, ''That's Life!'' When Bernard Braden returned to the UK having completed his contract to make a consumer programme in Canada, his show Braden's Week had been replaced in his absence, and

was fronting ''That's Life!'' Braden's wife

never forgave Rantzen and was convinced that she had stolen the role from Braden and only got the job because she was married to Features Department head

Launch of ''That's Life!''

The first series of ''That's Life!'' broadcast in the summer of 1973 was written by John Lloyd, executive-produced by Peter Chafer and was presented by

Bob Wellings Robert Arthur Wellings (1 April 1934 – 1 March 2022) was a British television presenter who worked most notably on BBC current affairs television programme '' Nationwide''. Early life Wellings was born on 1 April 1934 in Jerusalem, then Manda ...

(co-presenter of the nightly current affairs magazine programme Nationwide),

George Layton George Layton (born 2 March 1943) is an English actor, director, screenwriter and author best known for three television roles – junior doctor Paul Collier in the comedy series '' Doctor in the House'' and its sequels '' Doctor at Large'', '' ...

, (actor, director and screenwriter) and Esther Rantzen. A regular feature was "Heap of the Week" filmed by Bill Nicholson, later a novelist and Oscar-nominated screenwriter. At the end of the run the Controller of BBC1 decided that the show had potential, but not with that presentation team, since only Rantzen was comfortable in the consumer role. A second series was commissioned for which Rantzen was promoted to producer/presenter, a role she held for the next twenty years.

Kieran Prendiville Kieran Prendiville (born 25 December 1947) is an English-Irish television writer, producer, and presenter. Early life Prendiville was born on 25 December 1947 in Rochdale, Lancashire, the son of an Irish father from Killorglin, County Kerry, ...

, a journalist who had worked on Man Alive, and actor

Glyn Worsnip Glyn Worsnip (2 September 1938 – 7 June 1996) was a British radio and television presenter. Born in Highnam, Gloucestershire, he was most famous for his appearances on ''That's Life!'' (where he was teamed with Kieran Prendiville from 1973 to 1 ...

, both joined the team as reporters and stayed for five years.

Production team

Throughout the 21 years, research and investigative journalism were the backbone of the programme, since most material was based on the first-hand experience of viewers which had to be rigorously investigated. All the reporters were also involved in researching items, as part of a team many of whom went on to senior roles in broadcasting and elsewhere. Alumni of the ''That's Life!'' production team include, among many others: * BAFTA winning film-maker

Adam Curtis Adam Curtis (born 26 May 1955) is an English documentary filmmaker. Curtis began his career as a conventional documentary producer for the BBC throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s. The release of ''Pandora's Box (British TV series), ...

*Helen Tumbridge executive producer of '' The Chase'' and ''

Beat the Chasers ''The Chase'' is a British television quiz show broadcast on ITV1 and hosted by Bradley Walsh. Contestants play against a professional quizzer, known as the "chaser", who attempts to prevent them from winning a cash prize. The six chasers ar ...

'' *Elaine Hackett creator of Crackit Productions *Liz Mills CEO of Captive Minds *Bob Duffield executive chair of GreyList *The Rt Hon

Shaun Woodward Shaun Anthony Woodward (born 26 October 1958) is a British politician who was the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for St Helens South from 2001 to 2015. He served in the cabinet from 28 June 2007 to 11 May 2010 as Secretary of State for North ...

ex Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and Chair of

LAMDA LaMDA, which stands for Language Model for Dialogue Applications, is a family of conversational neural language models developed by Google. The first generation was announced during the 2021 Google I/O keynote, while the second generation was a ...

*Sir

Peter Bazalgette Sir Peter Lytton Bazalgette (; born 22 May 1953) is a British television executive and producer, best known for producing over 3000 episodes of BBC's Food and Drink and Ready, Steady, Cook. He was elected President of the Royal Television Soci ...

, (chair of itv, president of the

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

, chair of the Arts Council) who in interview (blog "How Did They Do It?) stated "I specialised in programmes like That's Life, which was a bit like a local newspaper on national television and it had funny items and human interest stories but it also had some quite hard consumer stories as well and it was a way of making factual information entertaining. It was a very, very formative experience working with Esther Rantzen on that programme because it gave me an interest in how can we make information entertaining.", * Richard Woolfe, BAFTA winning channel controller at Channel Five and

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...

, and independent producer/Head of Department

Living TV Sky Witness is a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky, a division of Comcast. The channel primarily broadcasts drama shows from the United States, aimed at the 18–45 age group. An Italian version of Sky Witness, named S ...

and Planet 24 *Bryher Scudamore, editor of ''That's Life!'' editor in chief of BBC Online, channel editor of

UK Horizons UK Horizons was a television channel broadcast in the United Kingdom, as part of the UKTV network of channels, showing mainly BBC documentaries. Most programmes were abridged for commercial timing purposes. It took its name from the BBC series '' ...

, creator of Autodotbiography *Sebastian Scott, co-founder and joint managing director of

Princess Productions Princess Productions was a London-based television production company, formed by Henrietta Conrad and Sebastian Scott, which produced broadcast shows and pilots for all the major British broadcasters across a variety of genres, mainly specialisi ...

, consultant,

News Corp News Corporation, stylized as News Corp, is an American mass media and publishing company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The second incarnation of the News Corporation (1980–2013), original News Corporation, it was formed ...

* Donna Taberer head of Public Service Partnerships,

BBC Academy The BBC Academy is an educational arm of the British Broadcasting Corporation which trains current and prospective broadcasting employees in the skills of the Broadcasting industry, in addition to training the corporation's own staff and prospect ...

*Patsy Newey, BAFTA nominated executive producer *Angela Wallis, executive producer BBC and independent *Patricia Houlihan, series producer ''

Holiday A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...

'' *

Ian Sharp Ian Sharp (born 13 November 1946, Clitheroe, Lancashire) is an English film and television director. He is best known for directing the SAS action thriller ''Who Dares Wins'' (1982) and directing the action sequences of the James Bond film ''G ...

, film director

Robin of Sherwood ''Robin of Sherwood'' is a British television series, based on the legend of Robin Hood. Created by Richard Carpenter, it was produced by HTV in association with Goldcrest, and ran from 28 April 1984 to 28 June 1986 on the ITV network. In th ...

, second unit

Bond Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemica ...

films *

Shaun Ley Shaun Dominic Ley (born 14 June 1969) is a British journalist and newsreader for BBC News. A former regular presenter of ''The World This Weekend'' and ''The World at One'' on BBC Radio 4, he currently appears regularly on the BBC's domestic BBC ...

, journalist and news presenter *Jane Elsdon Dew, producer, director and trainer,

*Owen Gay, producer, director and commissioning editor *

Robin Bextor Robin Bextor (born 11 October 1953) is an English film and television producer and director. He is the father of the dance-pop singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor. (Short biography of Robin Bextor on p.9) Early life and education After education at Sh ...

, film director and author * Tim Knatchbull, author and film director *Pam Wagman, film producer *Chris Choi, consumer editor for ITV News * Alice Beer, consumer journalist and expert ''

Watchdog Watchdog or watch dog may refer to: Animals *Guard dog, a dog that barks to alert its owners of an intruder's presence * Portuguese Watch Dog, Cão de Castro Laboreiro, a dog breed * Moscow Watchdog, a breed of dog that was bred in the Soviet ...

'' and '' This Morning'' *Charlie Bunce, author, head of Factual Programmes, executive producer '' Grand Designs'' *Steve Havers, founder of

Spark Media Spark Media is an American independent multimedia and documentary production house based in Washington, D.C., United States. History Established in 1989 by director and producer Andrea Kalin, the company specializes in creating socially consciou ...

and creator of '' Escape to the Chateau'' *

James Hawes James Hawes is a British television director. He has worked in British television drama since the mid-1990s, and has also produced documentaries for British and American television networks. His work has ranged across high-end period pieces and ...

, drama and factual film director *Yvette Austin, BBC environment correspondent *

Laurence Rees Laurence Rees (born 1957) is an English historian. He is a BAFTA winning historical documentary filmmaker and a British Book Award winning author of several books about Adolf Hitler, the Nazis and the atrocities committed, especially by them, ...

, historian, ex-head of BBCtv History programmes and author, expert on Nazi history

''That's Life!'' investigations

Swindles

During the 21 years many investigations highlighted dangers, swindles and injustices. Among the conmen were

Peter Foster Peter Clarence Foster (born 1962) is an Australian career criminal who has been imprisoned in Australia, Britain, the United States, and Vanuatu for a variety of offences related to weight loss and other scams as well as absconding from justic ...

who was first exposed for selling a fake "slimming" tea called Bai Lin, various door-to-door salesmen selling double glazing, Coach House Finance based in Colchester in March/April/1975 which resulted in a conviction for fraud (), and many fake slimming aids.

Safety items

Including stories publicizing dangerous cots, lifts, taxi doors, the introduction of safe playground surfaces, and inspiring the legal requirement for seat belts for children in cars.

Child abuse

This was regularly exposed on the programme. The launch of Childline by Esther Rantzen was inspired by a helpline for abused children set up after one episode of the programme.

Significant campaigns

Ben Hardwick

A two-year-old toddler dying of biliary atresia, with only a few weeks to live. He was being treated by Professor Sir Roy Calne in Addenbrooks Hospital who told his mother Debbie that Ben's only hope would be a

liver transplant Liver transplantation or hepatic transplantation is the replacement of a Liver disease, diseased liver with the healthy liver from another person (allograft). Liver transplantation is a treatment option for Cirrhosis, end-stage liver disease and ...

, but transplantation had virtually ceased in the UK due to a ''

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined in ...

'' which implied that organs were being taken from patients who were still alive. Professor Calne suggested the only way to encourage

organ donation Organ donation is the process when a person allows an organ of their own to be removed and transplanted to another person, legally, either by consent while the donor is alive or dead with the assent of the next of kin. Donation may be for re ...

would be to tell Ben's story on TV, Debbie therefore rang ''That's Life!'' The film of Ben captured the nation's imagination, a donor (Matthew Fewkes) was found and Ben lived for another year. On his death,

Marti Webb Marti Webb (born 13 December 1943) is an English actress and singer, who appeared on stage in '' Evita'', before starring in Andrew Lloyd Webber's one-woman show '' Tell Me on a Sunday'' in 1980. This included her biggest hit single, " Take T ...

recorded his favourite song, "

Ben Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( he, ...

" to raise money for a charity founded in his name, and

and

wrote a book ''Story of Ben Hardwick by Shaun Woodward and Esther Rantzen'' which also raised money for the Ben Hardwick Fund which still exists. The impact of Ben's story doubled the number of transplants and one recipient of a liver transplant, Matthew Hardwick (no relation) appeared in the final programme, "That's Life All Over!"

The Scandal of Crookham Court

A letter to

which was forwarded to her by Childline came from a boy at the boarding school, Crookham Court School in Newbury, who had been sexually abused by the owner of the school and had discovered that his brother was also sexually abused by another teacher. A three-month investigation led by researcher Richard Woolfe uncovered widespread abuse of the boys in the school; Rantzen, Woolfe and Hereward Harrison (a Childline executive) visiting the school to speak to pupils. Paedophile Philip Cadman was the millionaire owner of the school who was as a result of the programme tried and convicted of abuse, as were teachers Bill Printer and Philip Edmonds. A special programme, The Scandal of Crookham Court reconstructed the court case at which the children gave evidence. Author Ian Mucklejohn assisted the investigation and has written a book based on his experience teaching at the school and the evidence of pupils who suffered abuse there. (The Tragedy of Crookham Court School (The Karnac Library) by Ian Mucklejohn) "Nest of Paedophiles discovered in the wake of That's Life Investigation"

Sir Nicholas Winton the British Schindler

Sir Nicholas Winton was revealed for the first time on ''That's Life!'' as having rescued a generation of

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

children from the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

. Unknown to him, or them, Sir Nicholas was placed in the audience next to three people who had been on the trains he organized and owed their life to him.

Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; né O'Meara; born 30 March 1965) is a British broadcaster, journalist, writer, and television personality. He began his Fleet Street career in 1988 at '' The Sun''. In 1994, aged 29, he was appointed editor of the ...

described it as the best moment of television he had ever seen. It has been viewed on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

and

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

more than forty million times. A biography was written by his daughter, (''The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton'' by Barbara Winton), and feature films and documentaries were made about his achievements. Other members of his team included Trevor Chadwick, whose statue is in

Swanage Swanage () is a coastal town and civil parish in the south east of Dorset, England. It is at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck and one of its two towns, approximately south of Poole and east of Dorchester. In the 2011 census the civil ...

, and

Doreen Warriner Doreen Agnes Rosemary Julia Warriner (16March 190417December 1972) was a development economist born in Long Compton, Warwickshire, England (now in Stratford-on-Avon district). In October 1938, she journeyed to Czechoslovakia to assist anti-N ...

, who is honoured with an OBE and a plaque in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Bullying

An anti-bullying campaign was inspired by the suicide of teenager Katharine Bamber, after a phone call to the programme from her mother Susan. It resulted in schools adopting anti-bullying policies.

Music on ''That's Life!''

Although the Braden's Week comedy sketches were discontinued, music was still provided each week by a range of artists, including

Alex Glasgow Alex Glasgow (14 October 1935 – 14 May 2001) was an English singer-songwriter from Low Fell, Gateshead, England. He wrote the songs and music for the musical plays ''Close the Coal House Door'' and '' On Your Way, Riley!'' by Alan Plater, and ...

, Five Penny Piece,

Richard Stilgoe Sir Richard Henry Simpson Stilgoe (born 28 March 1943) is a British songwriter, lyricist and musician, and broadcaster who is best known for his humorous songs and frequent television appearances. His output includes collaborations with Andrew ...

and

Victoria Wood Victoria Wood (19 May 1953 – 20 April 2016) was an English comedian, actress, lyricist, singer, composer, pianist, screenwriter, producer and director. Wood wrote and starred in dozens of sketches, plays, musicals, films and sitcoms over se ...

. For many years the brilliant British drummer and composer

Tony Kinsey Cyril Anthony Kinsey (born 11 October 1927) is an English jazz drummer and composer. Early life Kinsey was born in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England. He held jobs on trans-Atlantic ships while young, studying while at port with Bill West i ...

was musical director and arranged the title song "That's Life!" for the Hanwell Brass Band. Eventually the musical interludes were provided by non-singers; staff of big companies sang "The Lay of the Week" to customers who complained, and unsuspecting members of the public became a choir in "Get Britain Singing" in which the team of reporters went undercover in gloomy locations such as service stations and hospitals in order to startle people with a cheerful blast of music that inspired them to burst into song. Charity records introduced on ''That's Life!'' were

Pie Jesu "Pie Jesu" ( ; original Latin: "Pie Iesu" ) is a text from the final couplet of the hymn " Dies irae", and is often included in musical settings of the Requiem Mass as a motet. The phrase means " pious Jesus" in the vocative. Popular settings The s ...

written by

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...

sung by Sarah Brightman and Paul Miles-Kingston;

Wet Wet Wet Wet Wet Wet are a Scottish soft rock band formed in 1982. They scored a number of hits in the UK charts and around the world in the 1980s and 1990s. They are best known for their 1994 cover of The Troggs' 1960s hit " Love Is All Around", which ...

"With a Little Help From My Friends"; Tom Jones and Dave Stewart "All You Need is Love". In 1992, ''That's Life'' talent contest called Search for a Star discovered singer Alison Jordan, and record producer

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of ''The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on t ...

who offered a contract as the top prize. The singer

Jeremy Taylor Jeremy Taylor (1613–1667) was a cleric in the Church of England who achieved fame as an author during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. He is sometimes known as the "Shakespeare of Divines" for his poetic style of expression, and he is fr ...

invented the term

Jobsworth A jobsworth is a person who uses the (typically small) authority of their job in a deliberately uncooperative way, or who seemingly delights in acting in an obstructive or unhelpful manner. It characterizes one who upholds petty rules even at the ...

in one of his songs, which prompted the creation of a ''That's Life'' Jobsworth Award, presented to anyone who insisted on imposing a stupid rule – such as the clamper who clamped the car in a hospital car park belonging to a husband attending the imminent birth of his baby. From there the term entered the Oxford Dictionary.

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

Hansard ''Hansard'' is the traditional name of the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official print ...

Debates for 1 May 1996 (pt 10) "There seems to be here an element of what might qualify for Esther Rantzen's "jobsworth" award. I would certainly like to look at it more closely. I will therefore follow up the matters that my Hon. Friend has raised today, and I hope to be able to write to him in due course."

Humorous items on ''That's Life!''

Rude vegetables sent in by viewers were notably memorable, cropping up in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' more than 20 years after ''That's Life!'' ended.) Equally popular were the talented pets discovered by the show, which included singing dogs, dogs that played football, and talking dogs like Prince who said "sausages", a cat who played ping-pong, () dogs who caught soda water from a syphon () and many others including a horse that could count and racing bunnies. Besides the pets there were "talented tots", such as toddlers who could play the piano, snooker and golf. Talented passers-by were also featured every week in the vox pops at the start of the show, notably Annie Mizen, who was discovered in a street market in her eighties and became a star. Esther Rantzen was arrested for obstruction when vox popping in the North End Road. The resulting film took pride of place in her edition of '' This Is Your Life'' in which the arresting officer P.C. A. Herbert was a surprise guest. During its 21-year run ''That's Life!'' was broadcast three times on

April 1 Events Pre-1600 * 33 – According to one historian's account, Jesus Christ's Last Supper is held. * 527 – Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne. *1081 – Alexios I Ko ...

st, and each time created a prank film to fool the viewers. The first directed by Nick Handel appeared to show a dog that could drive. The second was an animal in

London Zoo London Zoo, also known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for science, scientific study. In 1831 o ...

called a Lirpa Loof. starring

David Bellamy David James Bellamy (18 January 1933 – 11 December 2019) was an English botanist, television presenter, author and environmental campaigner. Early and personal life Bellamy was born in London to parents Winifred May (née Green) and Thoma ...

, which persuaded charabanc-loads of visitors to search the zoo for the non-existent animal with purple droppings. The third was a face cream made from rhinoceros spit that eradicated wrinkles from the face but transferred them to a backside, thus imperilling marriages.

Edwina Currie Edwina Currie (' Cohen; born 13 October 1946) is a British writer, broadcaster and former politician, serving as Conservative Party Member of Parliament for South Derbyshire from 1983 until 1997. She was a Junior Health Minister for two years ...

, ex Health Minister, promised to mention this to the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

"That's Life All Over!"

In 1994, the show ended with a 90-minute special recalling the most memorable moments and listing some of the changes inspired by the series. "That's Life All Over!" was executive produced by Richard Woolfe and included a surprise section Rantzen knew nothing about in advance, hosted by

David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was a British television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ' ...

. Review in the

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

of last programme: "And finally, after 21 years of good consumer journalism and naughty root vegetables, it was That's Life All Over (BBC1). Male presenters came and went - all bluff coves who could switch from the seaside-postcard snigger to the mortician's mask for child-abuse items - but it was always Esther Rantzen's show. Archive footage reminded us of those heady early days when Esther would sweep to her stool in a burnt-orange A-line or

Laura Ashley Laura Ashley (née Mountney; 7 September 1925 – 17 September 1985) was a Welsh fashion designer and businesswoman. She originally made furnishing materials in the 1950s, expanding the business into clothing design and manufacture in the 1960s ...

marquee, her cleavage quivering like eggs in a coddler. Esther's great achievement was to pull off a most un-British thing - the inculcation of the right to complain in a people who know their place before their name. A magazine

Mary Poppins It may refer to: * ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fantasy novels that introduced the character. * Mary Poppins (character), the nanny with magical powers. * ''Mary Poppins'' (film), a 1964 Disney film sta ...

, she would add a spoonful of sugar - or smut - to help the medicine go down, and the result was a faintly queasy mixture of consciousness raising and consciousness debasing. That held true to the last show when organ-transplant kids whose lives had undoubtedly been saved by the Ben Hardwick appeal turned up alongside a man who once ran a class for

Trimphone The Trimphone is a model of telephone designed in the early 1960s in the UK, the first prototypes appearing in 1965. It was positioned as a more fashionable alternative to the standard telephones available from the Post Office Telephones, the ...

impersonators (breep, breep). He has moved with the times and is now offering tuition in the mobile phone. Cheap cheap, goes the phone, cheap cheap. And looking at the children's faces, you wondered."

Controversies

Conflict with Wendy Henry, editor of the ''News of the World''

An interview with

Doc Cox Robert Doc Cox (born 1 July 1946), also known as Ivor Biggun, is a British musician and former television journalist. He is known for his appearances on the BBC TV programme ''That's Life!'' from 1982 to 1992 and for four albums of humorous, smu ...

was published by

Wendy Henry Wendy is a given name now generally given to girls in English-speaking countries. In Britain, Wendy appeared as a masculine name in a parish record in 1615. It was also used as a surname in Britain from at least the 17th century. Its popularity ...

, edited to appear hostile to Rantzen. When Cox appeared on that Sunday's programme and denied the quotes, Henry rang and offered to send the transcript. The transcript revealed the way the interview had been edited. This was shown on the subsequent programme to much hilarity, so Henry had the original tapes edited to try to make it fit the newspaper version, and made it available on the phone, revealing it had involved 90 edits in 3 minutes. Henry subsequently left journalism and became PR for

Battersea Dogs and Cats Home Battersea Dogs & Cats Home (now known as Battersea) is an animal rescue centre for dogs and cats. Battersea rescues dogs and cats until an owner or a new one can be found. It is one of the UK's oldest and best known animal rescue centres. It w ...

Libel actions

Doctor Gee and

Barry Island Barry Island ( cy, Ynys y Barri) is a district, peninsula and seaside resort, forming part of the town of Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. It is named after the 6th century Saint Baruc. Barry's stretch of coast, on the Bristol Chan ...

both sued the programme and won substantial damages from their libel actions against ''That's Life!'' and the BBC.

Critics

The programme aroused strong feelings both in favour and against, from "wonderfully weird and funny" to "ghastly and depressing" ''That's Life!'' (1973–1994)

Transmissions

Original series

Spin-offs

Special programmes were created on serious issues discussed on ''That's Life!'', such as

stillbirth Stillbirth is typically defined as fetal death at or after 20 or 28 weeks of pregnancy, depending on the source. It results in a baby born without signs of life. A stillbirth can result in the feeling of guilt or grief in the mother. The term ...

, ("The Lost Babies"),

("Trouble in Mind"), fire safety, and volunteers in their own time refurbishing the St Petersburg Children's Hospital *Talented Pets compilations *A Christmas Special *''Junior That's Life!'' a series for children, introducing

*''That's Family Life!'' – an interview programme featuring family dilemmas *2013 ''

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan K ...

'' created a "That's Life Special" celebrating 40 years from the launch, and also launching

The Silver Line The Silver Line is a free confidential telephone helpline offering information, friendship and advice to older people in the United Kingdom, available 24 hours a day. As of 1 October 2019 The Silver Line joined forces with Age UK to help more of ...

Helpline for lonely and isolated older people.

Specials

''Esther Rantzen's House Trap'' and ''Do The Right Thing''

In October 2018, it was announced that a consumer show, ''Do The Right Thing'' would air on Channel 5, with Rantzen presenting alongside

Eamonn Holmes Eamonn Holmes (; born 3 December 1959)Holmes receives honorary degree
BBC ...

and

Ruth Langsford Ruth Wendy Holmes (née; Langsford; born 17 March 1960) is an English television presenter. She has presented various television shows, including '' This Morning'' (1999–present) in which she is the longest serving presenter, '' Gift Wrapped ...

. Another Channel 5 consumer programme, ''Esther Rantzen's House Trap'' was a production more in keeping with the format of the BBC's long-running ''

'' programme, with hidden cameras trying to trap rogue traders in the homes of a number of undercover actors. Unlike ''Watchdog'', these actors were all people of an advanced age with each episode focusing on a different trade, such as locksmiths, where older people were likely to being preyed upon. ''Esther Rantzen's House Trap'' was a four-part series produced by Karen Plumb and Grant Mansfield at Plimsoll Productions for Channel 5, who commissioned the show alongside other consumer-focused shows such as ''Shop Smart Save Money'' and ''Do the Right Thing''.

References

External links

* {{Consumer protection BBC Television shows Consumer protection television series 1970s British television series 1980s British television series 1973 British television series debuts 1994 British television series endings English-language television shows Consumer protection in the United Kingdom