The top 20 comedy characters

It’s an old saying that laughter is the best medicine, but if true, you’ll be wanting the finest Chief Surgeons on your ward, expertly slicing in to get at our funny bone from all sides while other lesser comedy doctors faint before them. But who is ruling the nation’s Comedy Wing? Ever since someone first filmed a man pushing a pie into another man’s face slightly more hilariously than the last, every man has thought they knew best. So to settle the debate once and for all, we ran a poll to find out who exactly British males think is the funniest to hit the screens big and small, whether it be man, woman, child or serial killer (you know who you are).

We asked. You voted. We counted. We counted again. We even had Peter Snow whip out his swing-o-meter with some of those ‘first past the post’ graphics to boost the dramatic tension. But now, at long last, ShortList can reveal the results of the nation’s best-loved comedy characters. And if you don’t agree with your fellow readers, contact us at editor@shortlist.com and tell us exactly why…

Click on the next page to view the comedy countdown.