The IT Crowd named Britain's funniest sitcom

Based on laughs per hour

The IT Crowd has been named Britain’s funniest sitcom using a scientific - if fairly blunt – way of measuring quality.

Researchers asked 125 volunteers to binge-watch all episodes of the top 10 shows as chosen by comedy-lovers then measured the duration of laughs per hour.

Graham Linehan’s Channel 4 show, starring Richard Ayoade, Chris O’Dowd and Katherine Parkinson topped the chart with an average of 1min 44sec of laugher per hour. Second was Peep Show with 1min 36s and third The Inbetweeners with 1min 22s. This Country came bottom of the ten, with just seven seconds of laughter per hour.

Everyone watched the programmes at home, and a laugh was counted as one where the volume reached at least 60dB.

But however scientific the survey by marketplace website OnBuy, the selection of the top ten threw up an unusual selection. The list was chosen by a survey of 2,325 people – but they overlooked perennial favourites such as Fawlty Towers Blackadder, Dad’s Army and Only Fools and Horses, while including the likes of My Family.

The study came as Google reported that searches for ‘best sitcoms on Netflix’ have risen by 140 per cent this year

Psychologist Lee Chambers said: ‘Sitcoms give us optimism and hope and permission to be imperfect. They give us characters to connect with, laugh with, and commiserate with. And in the end, life is always good, and this is liberating. It also takes less concentration to watch familiar sitcoms, and even re-watching them breeds affection as it's easier on the mind.’