THAT'S LIFE!

THAT'S LIFE
BBC1 1973-1994

MAD UK #192, c. 1978
w: Les Lilley
a: Clive Collins

That's Life was a magazine program which mixed serious and light-hearted items in a studio-based format with film inserts, devised by Peter Chafer, John Lloyd and Esther Rantzen, it was presented and produced by Esther Rantzen with various teams of reporters and contributors. Special spinoff programs concentrated on serious topics which were first aired on That's Life, such as childbirth, mental health and child abuse. Its journalism relied on the skills of researchers many of who went on to hold senior jobs both inside and outside the media industry.

The first presenter is Cyril Fletcher.

Bernard Braden was host of a competing show called On the Braden Beat.

The show was spoofed on the BBC comedy show Not the Nine O'Clock News. Non-anglophiles may still rcognize Rowan Atkinson.