Never mind Holmes and Watson, it's the ladies of Sherlock who shine in a poll of the most popular female characters in the history of British TV.

The survey was conducted by BBC Worldwide of fans throughout the UK, the rest of Europe, Asia and North America to find out which ladies resonate most with lovers of British television.

And, to little surprise, Amanda Abbington's super spy Mary Morstan has come first in the poll, turning up in the top three of rankings in all of the territories that were polled by BBC Worldwide. Of course, she also received the most votes overall as well.

BBC

Whereas fans in Europe selected Mary for her "British sense of humour and Britishiness", Chinese and Indian fans tended to admire her confidence and those in the US found her intelligence most appealing.

"Wow! This is brilliant," Amanda Abbington said today (February 13). "Thank you for rating Mary Morstan your number one!

"That makes me very happy. I love Mary and I loved bringing her to life. She was a complicated, fun, dangerous, beautifully scrappy character to play and though she is no more, Long Live Mary Morstan!"

Even more impressive for Sherlock is that Una Stubbs' Baker Street landlady Mrs Hudson finished second overall, ahead of Pride and Prejudice's Elizabeth Bennett, Miss Marple and even Missy from Doctor Who.

BBC

Below is the full ranking of the most popular female characters in the history of British TV:

1. Mary Morstan – Sherlock

2. Mrs Hudson – Sherlock

3. Elizabeth Bennett – Pride and Prejudice

4. Miss Marple –Miss Marple

5. Missy – Doctor Who

6. Sybil Fawlty – Fawlty Towers

7. Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham – Downton Abbey

8. Hyacinth Bouquet – Keeping of Appearances

BBC

Sherlock had similar success in last year's BBC Worldwide poll, when Benedict Cumberbatch's Great Detective topped The Doctor and Luther to be named the world's favourite British TV character.

The good news is that there's a solid chance we'll be seeing more of most of the Sherlock gang, since co-creator Steven Moffat recently promised that the series will return after a lengthy hiatus.

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