While the French are unimpressed by British love scenes and Indian viewers enjoy them – it is a sense of humour that attracts viewers around the world to the UK’s TV shows, according to research.

A study commissioned by BBC Worldwide found that British humour is the most popular reason why home-grown TV shows enjoy an international audience.The quality of content came second, closely followed by the love of a British accent.

The depiction of English characters and a love of original British dramas completed the top five reasons why people watch British shows.

The British sense of humour is particularly popular in Germany, China, the US, and Australia, researchers, who sampled viewers in 10 countries, found.

They also discovered that Britain’s saucy scenes go down well in India, where just under a quarter (23 per cent) of people confessed their appreciation of a British love scene, and Mexico (17 per cent).

British humour is the most popular reason why home-grown TV shows enjoy an international audience

But the French ranked the British portrayal of romance lowest on the list (four per cent), with Italians (six per cent) also hinting that British love scenes leave much to be desired.

While food shows are popular at home, only eight per cent of US viewers, five per cent of French and four per cent of Japanese say they have any interest in watching shows from British kitchens. But around a quarter (28 per cent) of Chinese and Indian (23 per cent) respondents have an appetite for British cuisine.

Quintessential English characters go down well with Chinese viewers – with 29 per cent declaring their love for an English gentlemen or rose – as well as Japanese and Mexican viewers.Researchers sampled over 10,000 people between the ages of 16 to 64.