Channel voted top for 'alternative' comedy

BBC Three has overtaken Channel 4 as the home of 'alternative' comedy for TV viewers.

A survey of 3,000 viewers, commissioned by the BBC, found that one in five viewers said the digital channel was their first choice for alternative comedy.

That puts it narrowly ahead of BBC1 (on 19 per cent) and Channel 4 (on 15 per cent) – and among 16 to 34-year-olds, the figure is higher still.

Six months ago, most viewers, 23 per cent, named BBC1 as the best alternative-comedy channel.

The channel has been the nursery bed for such acclaimed shows as Little Britain, Nighty Night and Monkey Dust; and tomorrow starts screening the American version of The Office.

However it is widening its appeal away from being a purely youth-led entertainment channel to incorporate more documentary and drama shows, too.

The first episode of The Office: An American Workplace, to be screened tomorrow, closely follows Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s original scripts – although later episodes were created by US writers from scratch,

Gervais said: "[They] are totally original and they stand up in their own right. They have done a brilliant job."

Published: 13 Jun 2005