Esther Rantzen reveals why the likes of Jeremy Clarkson have brought her television that gives her hope

There is no doubt that the return of Strictly makes the chill of winter bearable. And that’s just one example of the palpable difference television makes to millions of us, particularly those who live alone or cannot get out of their own homes. It can provide company, fun – and at its best, sparkling entertainment.

At the same time, it has the power to make a real difference to our knowledge and our attitude. When Chris McCausland took part in and won the last series of Strictly, he challenged every preconception about blindness and drove home the vital importance of opportunity and adventure.

Clarkson’s Farm has also been formative in changing attitudes, showing us urban ignoramuses the struggle involved in creating a farm. Although I’ve never been a fan of Top Gear, I’ve always been a fan of Jeremy Clarkson as a unique broadcaster. This Amazon Prime series shows him in a new light, facing real challenges and forcing us to recognise how difficult feeding the nation is.

When world-renowned sportsman Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams first aired, as I’ve never knowingly watched a single cricket match on television, I assumed that the allure of the programme would pass me by. How wrong I was. The third series has just finished, and if you missed it, I urge you to find it on BBC iPlayer.

I was so engaged by Freddie’s total commitment to bringing out the best in the young people he introduced to cricket that I simply didn’t want any of the episodes to end. Not only did he make a difference to the young people he trained, he has created a legacy, an inspiring example for other programme-makers to follow.

As a programme-maker myself, with That’s Life! running for 21 years, I’ve tried to analyse what made that show so special. Partly it was because Freddie was working with a real national problem: the fact that so many children and young people have nothing in their lives that brings them a sense of achievement or lifts their confidence, which means they can end up excluded from school and facing a hopeless future.

We hear from many of them at Childline, and to see this programme transform Freddie’s teams into young people with heightened confidence looking forward to their own future was inspiring. But it was also the courage and commitment of Freddie himself as he faced the impact of his terrible car accident and honestly revealed his vulnerability to the children whose lives he transformed, and to us.

When broadcasters use celebrities as magic puppets, immersing them in worlds where they have no previous experience or relying on them to bring to their programmes a fan base they have achieved elsewhere, it can be irritating – particularly when so-called “stars” rely on obscure reality shows for their brief flicker of fame.

On a weekly basis, countless “stars” risk humiliation in quizzes and panel games, or suffer ordeals in the jungle and on desert islands, on the assumption that watching them pushed miles from their comfort zones will intrigue and amuse us. And then sometimes along comes a Chris, Jeremy or Freddie…

Can television make a difference?

It certainly can. Lord Reith talked about entertainment and information being the goals of broadcasting. To this I’d add the enormous pleasure of watching people with a passion for what they do achieving far more than they themselves ever expected. And that gives us all hope.

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