'Fawlty Towers' top TV show

Fawlty Towers was the best British television programme ever made, according to a poll by the British Film Institute.

The classic farce about rude and incompetent hotel owner Basil Fawlty, written by and starring John Cleese, was the top choice of television industry experts.

The gritty 1960s drama Cathy Come Home was voted second, with science fiction favourite Doctor Who third.

The BFI polled 1600 people involved in Britain's television industry - including programme-makers, actors, critics and academics - to compile its list of the all-time top 100 shows.

Other shows in the top 10 were, in order, The Naked Civil Servant, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Blue Peter, Boys from the Blackstuff, Parkinson, Yes, Minister/Yes, Prime Minister and Brideshead Revisited.