Gladiator vaults to top of video vote

Crowd pleasers: Joaquin Phoenix and Russell Crowe

Gladiator, the Roman epic starring Russell Crowe as the muscle-bound warrior, has won yet another award after being crowned 2000's best film by 25,000 British voters.

Voters' favourites

Best film: Gladiator

Best comedy film: Kevin & Perry Go Large

Best children's film: Toy Story 2

Best children's video: Tweenies - Party Games, Laughs & Giggles

Best TV programme: Walking With Dinosaurs

Best comedy on video: The Royle Family (2nd series)

Best music or musical: Ronan Keating - Live

Best British video: Walking With Dinosaurs

It beat the animated escapades of Chicken Run and the latest James Bond instalment, The World Is Not Enough, to top the inaugural Video Entertainment Awards.

The honours, organised by the British Video Association and the British Association of Record Dealers, were split into eight categories.

The nation's favourite couch potatoes - The Royle Family - won the best comedy on video prize, beating Ali G's Massive, the phenomenally popular Fast Show and French and Saunders Live.

Another television favourite, Harry Enfield, took the best comedy film title with Kevin and Perry Go Large, which also starred Kathy Burke as the hormone-driven teenagers running wild in Ibiza.

Up and at 'em: Gladiator still thrilling film-goers

It beat American Pie, East is East and Runaway Bride to the title.

And there were no prizes for guessing that Toy Story 2, the UK's highest grossing film, was voted best children's film, just ahead of Stuart Little.

The film's humour is also appreciated by adults, giving the antics of its characters Woody and Buzz Lightyear mass appeal.

Walking With Dinosaurs, the BBC's series which used computer-generated images to bring the extinct creatures magically back to life, won two awards.

Royle Family: Favourite comedy on video

It topped the best video and best television programme categories, beating East is East and Friends respectively.

And while Ronan Keating beat Jesus Christ Superstar in the music category, the Tweenies toppled fellow BBC stars the Teletubbies to win the best children's video.