Yahoo Movies 'Fawlty Towers' named the best British sitcom of all time
John Cleese’s Fawlty Towers has been voted the best British sitcom of all time in a new poll.
It beat the likes of I’m Alan Partridge and Father Ted to the top spot, after a panel of 42 comedy experts cast their votes for the Radio Times.
Among them were Father Ted scribes Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan, veteran humorist Barry Cryer, Richard Curtis and Radio Times writer Alison Graham.
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Other than Father Ted, which came in second place, and Peep Show, all the shows on the longlist were produced by and aired on the BBC.
Speaking about the poll, Connie Booth, who co-wrote Fawlty Towers with John Cleese and played receptionist Polly, 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.”
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John Cleese added: “I was very lucky to be working at the BBC when decisions were taken by people who had actually made programmes.
“I’m proud we are up there with Porridge and Only Fools and Ab Fab and Blackadder and The Office and Reggie Perrin and The Thick of It.”
Here are the poll winners in full:
Fawlty Towers
Father Ted
I’m Alan Partridge
Blackadder
Dad’s Army
Only Fools and Horses
Porridge
The Royle Family
Absolutely Fabulous
Dinnerladies
The Thick of It
The Office
Peep Show
The Vicar of Dibley
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
The Young Ones
Gavin & Stacey
The Good Life
Detectorists
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