Two Muppet experimenters, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant Beaker, defeated Dr. Strangelove, Dana Scully of "X Files" fame and Mr. Spock from "Star Trek" to be voted Britain's favorite screen scientists on Monday.
They beat their closest rival by a margin of 2 to 1 and won 33 percent of the 43,000 votes cast in an Internet poll.
Spock came in a distant second with 15 percent, followed by The Doctor from "Dr. Who," who garnered 13 percent. Scully, the only woman in the poll, came in sixth.
Beaker and Honeydew "are accessible, humorous and occasionally blow each other up," Roland Jackson of the British Association for the Advancement of Science said.
The balding, white-coated Honeydew and flame-haired, bulging-eyed Beaker created an array of crazy gadgets on the popular "Muppet Show."
"They're the kind of scientists you would like to be but never quite dared to," said Alan Slater, a scientist at the University of Exeter in southwestern England.
The poll, sponsored by the British science association and the BBC's Cult Television Web site, gave the public five weeks to choose their favorite scientist from a shortlist of 10 that also included Dr. Evil from the "Austin Powers" film series, Dr. Frankenstein, Dr. Frank N. Furter of the "Rocky Horror Show Picture Show," Dr Emmett Brown of the "Back to the Future" film series, and Q of James Bond fame.
Results of the poll were announced at the start of the association's science conference here.
