Del Boy is voted the king of TV comedy

It is the reaction shot that elevates it from a moment of inspiration to a stroke of genius.

It is the reaction shot that elevates it from a moment of inspiration to a stroke of genius.

Del Boy and Rodney are straining on their stepladders, struggling to bear the weight of a gigantic chandelier that Grandad is unscrewing from the room above. It is vital that it be lowered slowly and lovingly to the ground.

All is going well.

"One more turn," Grandad shouts down. "Brace yourself, Rodney," says Del.

Then, 20ft down the hall, another, quite separate chandelier crashes to the floor, shattering into countless pieces. Del looks at Rodney. Rodney looks at Del. A whole lifetime of humiliation and resignation in the face of adversity is summed up in a single, shared glance.

The scene, taken from a 1982 episode of Only Fools and Horses, starring David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst, has been nominated number one of the "50 best-ever sitcom moments" by a panel of 17 experts, including Ronnie Barker, Ray Galton, Alan Simpson and Victoria Wood, assembled by the Radio Times to be published this week.

They are British sitcoms, of course, so there is nothing from Friends, nothing from Cheers or M*A*S*H and nothing from Sergeant Bilko. They are also an exercise in unashamed nostalgia, with only two representatives from the current comedic crop - the episode of The Royle Family in which a vegetarian turns up at a party given by Antony, which comes in at number 22, and number 47, the funeral scene from The League of Gentlemen marked by a wreath marked simply, "Bastard!"

Unsurprisingly, the BBC is the clear winner in the network stakes. Only Channel 4's Father Ted (12 and 32) and Yorkshire Television's Rising Damp (21) prevent a complete rout of ITV by the corporation's celebrated comedy and light entertainment department.

Second overall is another Fools and Horses episode. This is the famous one, used recently in BBC advertising, where Del, attempting to act suavely in the pub, leans sideways against the bar counter only to fall full-length through the newly opened serving hatch. David Jason has been heaped with praise for this performance. He needed to convey the impression that he really did not know the hatch had been opened and thus had to fall the full distance without altering his relaxed stance.

In at number three is Absolutely Fabulous, starring Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley. In the opening episode, Eddie falls out of her cab onto the pavement outside her house. Rising unsteadily to her feet, she staggers down the front path, at which point she spies her straight-laced daughter Saffy glaring down at her from an upstairs window. "I'm all right, darling," she calls out, desperate not to be taken for a drunk - and promptly falls into the flowerbed.

Argument over the list is bound to be furious. Indeed, the Radio Times would be disappointed if this were not the case. Why nothing from Red Dwarf? Why only one entry from the compleat Blackadder? And how on Earth did Bottom make it onto the list?

Fawlty Towers fans will not be disappointed, even if the egregious Basil reaches no higher than number six in the chart, with his retort to an awkward female guest who questions the view from her window. "And what, may I ask, did you expect to see from a bedroom window in Torquay? The Sydney Opera House? The Hanging Gardens of Babylon?"

John Cleese, who wrote Fawlty Towers with his then wife, Connie Booth, makes four more appearances, at 10, 13, 31 and 36. The episode "The Germans" (10), is showing tonight on BBC1 at 8.45.

But there was no place for Monty Python at the party, no doubt because his Flying Circus was not a situation but a state of mind, rather like Not the Nine O'Clock News. Tony Hancock was bound to figure in the list. Some would say he did well to make three appearances, topped by The Blood Donor ("A pint? A pint? That's very nearly an armful."). Others would argue that he should have been awarded the top 10 places unopposed.

Dad's Army is there, at four, nine and 35. The scene where the captured German officer demands Pyke's name for his record of alleged mistreatment, only for Captain Mainwaring to intervene: "Don't tell him, Pyke", gained the most votes. Steptoe and Son gains two entries (18 and 50), as does the more recent One Foot in the Grave (20 and 42).

Ronnie Barker scores three times for Porridge (29, 39 and 45) and once for Open All Hours (23). The late Leonard Rossiter makes two appearances, at 17 for The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin and for Rising Damp (21).

Today, with American sitcoms dominating the ratings, the fear must be that "they don't make 'em like that anymore". The only counter, arguably, is The Royle Family. but what do the Royles do? They sit around and watch sitcoms on the telly.