Stone me! Hancock voted top British comedian

Tony Hancock, the eternal grump who turned misanthropic monologues into a fine art, has been voted the funniest comedian of all time.

In a poll which celebrates the quintessential ingredients of character-based comedy, radio listeners have named East Cheam's most famous resident as their number one comic icon.

The survey, published to coincide with the launch tonight of the new digital radio station BBC7, also ranks the Goons and Kenneth Williams among the ultimate purveyors of the peculiar art of British humour.

Welcoming the result, Hancock's writers, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, said that modern-day creations such as Alan Partridge and David Brent owed much of their success to mimicking the style of the classic comic curmudgeon.

"The thing they've all got in common is self-delusion," they said in a statement issued by the BBC. "They all think they're more intelligent than everyone else, more cultured, that people don't recognise their true greatness – self-delusion in every sense. And there's nothing people like better than failure."

Endorsing their view, Mary Kalemkerian, head of programmes for BBC7, added: "Classic comedians such as Tony Hancock and the Goons are obviously still firm favourites with BBC radio listeners. Age doesn't seem to matter – if it's funny, it's funny."

Some 34 years after the death of the genius that inspired it, the Tony Hancock Appreciation Society still has 1,500 members. Its president, Dan Peat, said of the poll win: "It's fantastic news. If he was alive he would have taken it one of two ways. He would probably have made some kind of dry crack, but in truth he would have been chuffed."

The single most celebrated comedian in the poll is Spike Milligan, who has two entries. He appears as a runner-up with the Goons, and is listed in his own right at number seven. Kenneth Horne, the much-loved star of the classic 1960s sketch show Round the Horne, is in third place. Morecambe and Wise are fifth, with Kenneth Williams sixth and Tommy Cooper eighth.

While the top positions were dominated by stars from the golden age of radio and TV comedy, many of today's stars also performed strongly. Paul Merton, who, coincidentally, starred in remakes of classic episodes of Hancock's Half Hour, reached number 19. And Ricky Gervais, best known as deluded middle manager David Brent, is listed at 24. The highest placed contemporary act is the cast of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, which appears at number four. Others in the top 10 include The Two Ronnies and Billy Connolly, while Jasper Carrot reached number 17 and Andy Hamilton, a regular on Radio 4's The News Quiz, made number 18.

BBC7, which broadcasts classic radio archive programmes, is launched today at 8pm with a two-hour simulcast on Radio 4

A taste of 'The Blood Donor'

Hancock on the philanthropy of giving blood:

"I've been thinking about this for a long time. Something for the benefit of the country as a whole. What should it be, I thought: become a blood donor or join the Young Conservatives? Anyway, as I'm not looking for a wife and I can't play table tennis, here I am."

Hancock on the superiority of the British stock:

Nurse: Mr Hancock, when a blood transfusion is being given the family background is of no consequence.

Hancock: Oh, come now, surely you don't expect me to believe that? After all, east is east ...

Nurse: And blood is blood all over the world, Mr Hancock. It is classified by groups and not by accidents of birth.

Hancock: I did not come here for a lecture on Communism, young lady!

Hancock on blood groups:

Dr McTaggart: You're AB negative.

Hancock: Is that bad?

Dr McTaggart: Oh no – you're rhesus positive.

Hancock: Rhesus?! They're monkeys, aren't they? How dare you! What are you implying? I didn't come here to be insulted by a legalised vampire!

The top 10

1 Tony Hancock

2 The Goons

3 Kenneth Horne (Round the Horne)

4 I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (various)

5 Morecambe and Wise

6 Kenneth Williams

7 Spike Milligan

8 Tommy Cooper

9 The Two Ronnies

10 Billy Connolly