A new study by Currys has discovered the UKs favourite British TV show through a series of knock out rounds, leaving one show left standing.

The study asked 2000 Brits to choose between a selection of popular British television shows. The shows chosen for the study were selected based on IMDB popularity, with each needing to meet the criteria of a minimum of 1500 votes for reality TV and 10000 for drama. They also needed to be categorised as from the UK, between the years 2020-2022, with only the top ranked ‘version’ of each show included. Then the top eight from each resultant category were selected for the study.

No fighting over first place! Peaky Blinders takes the top spot as the UK’s favourite British TV show

The winner according to the British public was period crime drama Peaky Blinders, which beat Game of Thrones marginally with 50.04% of the votes. The finals of the study revealed that the public prefers drama over reality TV with the last reality show in the list, I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, dropping out in the third round of votes.

When asked about the attributes they look for in their TV shows, 1 in 5 said ‘powerful acting’ and nearly a third chose ‘mystery’ – both qualities the Peaky Blinders series is known for. However, when it came to the most important thing Brits look for in a show, the majority (36%) look for humour in what they watch.

The nation’s viewing habits: 1 in 10 are binge watchers

The research by Currys also asked the public about their viewing habits. And, when asked why they watch TV 47% use TV as a means to unwind, nearly a quarter (23%) of respondents watch TV with the intention of learning something and 1 in 10 are influenced to watch something due to social media.

When it came to the consumption of TV, despite the boom of streaming services giving shows on demand, nearly 1 in 5 (19%) still prefer to watch their TV episodes live. The majority (25%) though consume 2-3 episodes per sitting and 1 in 10 admit to binging TV series when possible.