Peter Kay UK's favourite comedian

As the festive pantomime season begins across the country, new research released today by smile the internet bank has revealed that funny man Peter Kay, star of Phoenix Nights and Max and Paddy is the UK's favourite comedian of all time.

Almost two-thirds (63%) of people questioned believe that the Bolton comic, who recently starred as Geraldine in reality TV spin-off ‘Britain's Got the Pop Factor... and Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly on Ice' provides the most laughs, especially at a time when the global money markets are continuing to fall.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand feature towards the bottom of the list of the nation's favourite comedians with less than one in ten (2%) respondents voting for them, which is probably due to their well documented recent misdemeanour.

The results revealed that the nation's second favourite comic is slapstick comedy actor, Lee Evans with almost one in five (19%) of the vote. Star of The Sunday Night Project, Alan Carr gained third place with one in eight respondents (12%) enjoying his acutely observed anecdotes that poke fun at his own hapless interactions with everyday life. Surprisingly though, Carr's sidekick Justin Lee Collins doesn't feature as one of the nation's favourite comedians.

Paul Hemingway, Head of Marketing at smile said: "It is perhaps not so surprising that Peter Kay features as the nations' favourite comedian as he has provided us with a great deal of entertainment in his latest spoof show as Geraldine McQueen. The pantomime season is the perfect time for the British public to smile and get into the festive spirit of things, especially after the turbulent year in the world economy."

Interestingly, when it comes to the nation's favourite comedy programme, the most laughs come from retro shows with over half (54%) of people voting for Only Fools and Horses as their favourite comedy programme of all time. Fawlty Towers was another popular vote with just over a third (35%) of people questions enjoying the charm and wit of hotelier, Basil Fawtly and his waiter sidekick, Manuel.

Blackadder and Red Dwarf also featured highly in the survey coming third and fourth respectively. The most popular modern TV sitcom was Little Britain with The Catherine Tate Show coming in at a close second.