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 British TV shows, according to new research.

A study commissioned by BBC Worldwide found that British humour is the most popular reason why homegrown 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%) of people confessed their appreciation of a British love scene, and Mexico (17%).

But the French ranked the British portrayal of romance lowest on the list (4%), with Italians (6%) also hinting that British love scenes leave much to be desired.

While food shows are popular at home, only 8% of US viewers, 5% of French and 4% of Japanese say they have any interest in watching shows from British kitchens.

But around a quarter (28%) of Chinese and Indian (23%) respondents have an appetite for British cuisine.

Quintessential English characters go down well with Chinese viewers - with 29% declaring their love for an English gentlemen or rose - as well as Japanese and Mexican viewers.

BBC Worldwide's president of global markets Paul Dempsey said: "The international demand for British TV shows is clear. This survey shows it is the range and quality of our programming that keeps global audiences coming back for more."

Researchers sampled over 10,000 people between the ages of 16 to 64.