Their experiments rarely go right and usually result in serious injury for one of them, but Dr Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant Beaker have been voted the UK's favourite screen scientists.

Almost 43,000 people took part in the vote to find the nation's favourite screen scientist. In descending order the results were as follows:

1. Beaker and Dr Honeydew (The Muppets) – 33 per cent
2. Mr Spock (Star Trek) – 15 per cent
3. The Doctor (Doctor Who) – 13 per cent
4. Q (James Bond) – 9 per cent
5. Dr Emmett Brown (Back to the Future) – 8 per cent
6. Dana Scully (The X Files) – 8 per cent
7. Dr Strangelove – 5 per cent
8. Frank 'N' Furter (Rocky Horror Picture Show) – 4 per cent
9. Dr Evil (Austin Powers) – 4 per cent
10. Dr Frankenstein – 1 per cent

Commenting on his friends Beaker and Honeydew, Kermit the Frog said: "They have spread the message that science is not just for short round-headed bald guys and their orange-haired, goggle-eyed sidekicks. It's also for people like you and frogs like me."

The result has been announced to coincide with the start of the BA Festival of Science, which runs from 4-11 September in Exeter. The theme of this year's Festival is the responsibility of being a scientist.

"I'm not sure that Dr Honeydew is quite the role model we would be looking at for a responsible scientist," said Dame Julia Higgins, President of the BA. "His treatment of his faithful assistant Beaker is rather alarming, though admittedly also rather amusing."

However, Kermit the Frog was at least relieved on one point. "As an amphibian, I'm happy to report that they don't do dissections," he said, "unless you count the countless times that Beaker has been blown to bits."