FAWLTY TOWERS has beaten out stiff competition from Father Ted to be crowned the greatest British sitcom of all time.
The John Cleese series, set around a dysfunctional Torquay hotel, topped a new list compiled by a panel of television experts for Radio Times magazine.
Fawlty Towers came in just ahead of Father Ted, with I’m Alan Partridge, Blackadder and Only Fools and Horses rounding off the top five.
Speaking to Radio Times, co-writer and co-star of Connie Booth said: "Fawlty Towers succeeds, I think, because it allows infantile rage and aggression a field day in a buttoned down, well-mannered English society.
"It's unique in being a farce, with all the plot surprises and precision that the style requires. And it doesn't hurt that the star of the show is a six-foot-five comic genius. If he was shorter, I can't imagine how it would have worked."
A total of 42 comedy expert including Father Ted writer Graham Linehan and Blackadder scribe Richard Curtis voted on the list.
"When we find a comedy that does make us laugh, that brings a quick hit of joy into our lives, and we treasure it for ever,” Radio Times TV editor Alison Graham said.
"In our memories, great comedies are pearls that become more burnished and beautiful through the years. Absence really does make the heart grow fonder."
The top 20 reads as follows:
• Fawlty Towers, 1975-9
• Father Ted, 1995-8
• I'm Alan Partridge, 1997-2002
• Blackadder, 1983-9
• Dad's Army, 1968-77
• Only Fools and Horses, 1981-2003
• Porridge, 1973-8
• The Royle Family, 1998-2012
• Absolutely Fabulous, 1992-2012
• Dinnerladies, 1998-2000
• The Thick of It, 2005-12
• The Office, 2001-3
• Peep Show, 2003-15
• The Vicar of Dibley, 1994-2007
• The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, 1976-9
• The Young Ones, 1982-4
• Gavin & Stacey, 2007-10
• The Good Life, 1975-8
• Detectorists, 2014-17
There was no place for Mrs Brown’s Boys on the new list.
