Fawlty Towers has been named as the greatest British sitcom of all time, with credit going to a “six-foot-five comic genius”.

The list of the 20 best British sitcoms has been compiled by a panel of television experts for Radio Times magazine.

John Cleese has been credited with channelling his rage as the highly-strung Basil Fawlty, proprietor of a sub-par Torquay hotel, which made the series a hit.

Fawlty Towers came top of the list ahead of other series including Father Ted, Blackadder, I’m Alan Partridge and Only Fools And Horses.

The BBC series ran for just two series of six episodes each in the 1970s.

Speaking to the 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.