Esther Rantzen spent decades making TV shows that changed lives, but one moment defined her career. In 1988, she brought Sir Nicholas Winton onto That’s Life! and let two women he had saved as children reveal themselves live on screen. The footage has gone viral several times since, and the story of how it happened remains remarkable.
That’s Life! ran on BBC One from 1973 to 1994, and during that time Rantzen turned it from a consumer rights programme into an issues-based show that attracted very large audiences. A particularly memorable episode came in February 1988, when she spoke to viewers about Winton’s work.
A man named Winton arranged the rescue of 669 children from Czechoslovakia during a time when Nazi forces had taken over the country in 1939. He made a brief visit to Prague and succeeded in saving a largely Jewish group of children, securing places for them in Britain. His efforts earned him a knighthood in 2003, an honour given for his humanitarian work.
Winton’s Rescue Mission
Winton came from German-Jewish parents and compiled a roster of children who needed sponsorship. He then located families prepared to host them. Along the way he had to work his way around numerous political obstacles, among them the Dutch border, which had shut itself to Jewish refugees.
Before his mission started, a decision by the House of Commons on admitting young refugees into the country had already been made, and it proved useful. Working with his mother, he placed pictures of the children in British publications such as Picture Post to locate sponsors, and arranged lodgings for some of the refugees.
For travel expenses, he collected funds, and when the children arrived on British soil, he supplied what they needed. It was not until his wife discovered a scrapbook in their loft holding names of children he had rescued that his work came to light, after it had gone unreported for nearly 50 years.
When the scrapbook was handed over, Holocaust researchers stepped in to help locate some of the people depicted in it.
The Show’s Surprise
Winton was first contacted by Rantzen, who addressed him as Nicky and congratulated him on his remarkable accomplishment. Despite that praise, he had expressed some disappointment about his own efforts, remarking that “not enough” people had been saved.
She said she felt utterly destroyed by the feeling that she had failed. Rantzen wanted to show this remarkable man that each life he had saved carried weight.
When he made his debut on That’s Life!, the scrapbook he had assembled was shown to the audience. Two women he had rescued as children, Vera Gissing and Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines, revealed themselves to him on television. They sat on either side of Winton, who was entirely unaware of the surprise — a moment that Rantzen later described as “incredibly moving”.
The Audience Response
The production team received contact from viewers who had watched the show and realised their connection to Winton. That gave the show’s team an idea which would go on to become one of British television’s most famous moments.
In the next episode, Rantzen requested that everyone who owed their life to him rise. From his seat in the front row, Winton turned and saw the entire ground floor of the Television Theatre on its feet.
She said it was the sole occasion during her career that she had to pause the recording so she could wipe away her tears.
Legacy and Aftermath
She told the story of having seen the episode “many times” and “each time found myself deeply moved”, and she remained in touch with Winton, seeing him often until his death in 2015, when he was 106 years old.
Sir Anthony Hopkins stars in the biopic One Life, which is the latest in a series of films and documentaries about Winton. It premiered at the Toronto Film Festival before being released in the UK in January 2024.
Rantzen said it had been estimated that 6,000 people owe their very existence to Nicholas Winton. She added: “The Jewish children Nicky rescued were almost the only ones in Czechoslovakia to survive the Holocaust”.
Millions of people now know about Winton’s enormous effect thanks to Rantzen sharing his story with viewers on That’s Life!.
Key Facts
- Winton rescued 669 children from Czechoslovakia, occupied in 1939 by Nazi forces
- He was knighted in 2003 for his humanitarian work
- Winton’s scrapbook was found by his wife in their loft
- The That’s Life! moment took place in February 1988
- The episode has gone viral several times in recent years
- Winton died in 2015 at the age of 106
What We Make Of It
Rantzen’s decision to bring Winton onto That’s Life! and have his rescued children reveal themselves live was a broadcast moment that proved, in her words, that “every life he had saved was precious”.
A scrapbook discovered in a loft began the process of recognition for Winton’s work, which had gone unrecognised for nearly 50 years. The episode demonstrated the power of television to connect strangers across decades.
What altered the course was Rantzen’s decision to ask the survivors to rise from their seats. That simple request transformed a quiet story into a public tribute. The moment has endured as one of the most powerful in British television history, and its repeated rediscovery online suggests the story still moves people deeply.
A whole generation of viewers first encountered Winton through that episode. The survivors got to meet the man whose scrapbook had saved their lives. And for Rantzen, it proved her hunch that every life counted.
Esther Rantzen earned a defining moment on That’s Life!, yet the real spotlight belonged to Winton and the children he saved.
Source material: “How That's Life! gave Esther Rantzen a career-defining moment,” the BBC.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.