The Monty Python team were a hit on TV and film

The films - including The Meaning of Life, The Life of Brian and The Holy Grail - beat Mission: Impossible and Star Trek to top the poll.

But Thunderbirds and the recent release of Dukes of Hazzard, were voted among the worst TV spin-offs.

More than 8,000 Radio Times readers placed their vote to mark the launch of the Radio Times Guide to Films 2006.

TOP FIVE FILMS 1. Monty Python films (1975 onwards - including The Meaning of Life, The Life of Brian and The Holy Grail) 2. Mission: Impossible (1996) 3. Star Trek films (1979 onwards) 4. The Fugitive (1993) 5. Batman (1966)

A 1977 version of Are You Being Served, was named worst TV spin-off, followed by The Avengers, starring Uma Thurman and Ralph Fiennes.

Barry Norman, who wrote the introduction to the guide, said: "Most movie spin-offs from TV series are doomed to failure because each episode of a series is simply an anecdote.

"A movie should at least be a short novel - and you can't make a novel out of an anecdote."

Other films included in the "best film" category were: The Untouchables (1987); The Addams Family (1991); The X-Files (1998); South Park (1999); and Starsky and Hutch (2004).

Films in the "worst category" included: Sgt Bilko (1996), Scooby-Doo (2002); Charlie's Angels (2000); The Saint (1997); and Bewitched (2005).