Wednesday, May 28 2008, 18:23 BST

By Beth Hilton, Entertainment Reporter

UK viewers often fall in love with TV characters and suffer depression when shows end, a poll has found.

Around 22% of Britons experience "TV trauma" over the loss of their favourite programmes, according to a survey of 1,586 people by Tiscali TV. The figure rose to 32% among 16 to 24-year-olds.

Only Fools And Horses was revealed to be the most-mourned series, followed by Friends and Fawlty Towers.

The study also found that 29% of respondents, including 50% in the younger age bracket, had fallen in love with a TV character. The most popular choices were Doctor Who's Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) and Cold Feet's Adam Williams (James Nesbitt).

Psychologist Dr. David Lewis said of the findings: "TV personalities generate a powerful emotional bond with some viewers through seeming close, yet being unobtainable. This combination creates a strong attachment, which can be more potent than the one held with their own friends and family."

The top ten most-mourned TV shows in full:

1. Only Fools and Horses
2. Friends
3. Fawlty Towers
4. Cold Feet
5. Sex And The City
6. The Office
7. Cheers
8. West Wing
9. The Sopranos
10. The OC

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a96917/viewers-traumatised-when-shows-end.html

do you get traumitised when your favourite shows no longer air on TV?

I have gotten sad shen a show I loved is gone.

Star Trek The Next Generation and Deep Space were shows I missed greatly after they went off the air.

Like many TV watchers in Great Britain, I was very sad when they wrote Billie Piper off of Dr. Who. She was great on that show.

this is a really interesting article because it just goes to show that when we have got used to watching a show and its characters, and the episodes, they resonate with us in a way that makes sense to us as people. we laugh at them, but also cry with them, get annoyed, angry and emotional. i think that when you have grown attached to a show and its characters and when it ends, its very difficult to realise that once its gone, its never coming back, ever.

its always sad when people's favourite shows end. when you are a fan of something and its been on tv for a considerable period of time and then all of a sudden you learn its gone, it is often hard for some to accept that that is life and that its time to move on. i am often like that- that i wished that certain shows would return because the joy is seeing those characters come to life

I remember when I was 15 and I was like obsessed with Everybody Loves Raymond. I watched the finale and went to bed somewhat bummed out. So I can totally understand why people would get in that state of mind.

That was interesting. I don't get depressed when a show ends but sometimes I get mad when they get cancelled, especially if they don't have a proper ending.

That was interesting. I don't get depressed when a show ends but sometimes I get mad when they get cancelled, especially if they don't have a proper ending.

yeah, you mentioned on here how angry you were when invasion got cancelled. i got mad when caroline in the city was taken off the air for good and plus i had to watch that awful last episode, which was left unresolved :mad: