Chris Serle, BBC TV and radio presenter, dies aged 81

Chris Serle

Chris Serle, the former BBC TV and radio presenter, has died at the age of 81.

The news of his death was confirmed by his family yesterday (September 23), who said he had passed away on September 16.

Serle worked on programmes for the broadcaster throughout the ’80s and ’90s. He became especially well known for the satirical consumer affairs show That’s Life! alongside Dame Esther Rantzen.

The Bristol-based presenter also worked on as In at the Deep End and and spent an extended period as host of Points of View. As for his radio work, He also chaired Radio 4’s Pick of the Week and was the host of a long-running afternoon show on BBC Radio Bristol.

Chris Serle
Presenter Chris Serle (right) and actor Michael Palin inspecting a map on the set of the television show ‘Step Up to Wordpower’, February 26th 1990. (Photo by Don Smith/Radio Times/Getty Images)

Rantzen was among those paying tributes, sending her “deepest sympathy” to Serle’s family and writing in a statement: “I am so very sad to hear that Chris Serle, one of our best loved That’s Life! reporters, has died.

“He was as nice off camera as he was in the studio on camera – funny, clever, charming, a very versatile presenter. When I first met him he was a producer, but it was clear that he had all the attributes of the best reporters.

“Viewers and listeners of That’s Life! and the many other radio and television programmes he presented will be equally sad.”

Serle is survived by his wife Ali and their three children, alongside two children from a previous marriage.

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