Our favourite book is The Lord of the Rings. Our favourite sitcom is Only Fools and Horses. And our favourite movie is Monty Python’s Life of Brian.

There’s no point trying to argue: we know these things are true because the nation has voted on them, via an assortment of television extravaganzas. And tonight the pollsters set out to tackle an even knottier topic: Britain’s favourite view.

Over the next five weeks, ITV1 viewers will be presented with 16 picturesque landscapes, both urban and rural, from Skye to St Ives, Waterloo to Wast Water. Each view will be championed by a celebrity advocate, but the ultimate choice will be yours.

So, what should win? Elegant Edinburgh or sequestered Strangford? Super-old Stonehenge or the all-new London Eye? In a sneak preview, we have spoken to seven of the leading advocates about the views they are backing – and added a potted guide so you can stand in the same spots yourself.

Once you’ve decided on your own personal favourite, you can find out how to vote at www.itv.com/view.

Results will be announced on September 9, everyone will argue about the winner, and only one question will remain: Why didn’t they call the show Panorama?

Britain’s Favourite View begins tonight at 8pm on ITV1. Visit Britain has set up an accompanying website: www.britainsviews.com

RORY BREMNER
Edinburgh from Calton Hill

“I always love going back to Edinburgh. I spent most of my childhood in the city, and I’d say there’s not just one great view, there are dozens. It was tough to choose.

“Up on Blackford Hill, for example, you could be in the Pennines or the Lake District, then you stumble over a grassy ridge, skirt a gorse bush – and there it is. The whole sweep of Edinburgh: over to Fife and the very first foot of the Highlands, along the estuary to Salisbury Crags, and Arthur’s Seat, the extinct volcano brooding over the city.

“I almost picked the fire escape at the Pleasance Theatre, where I did my first fringe show at the Festival, sometime back in the 19th century. When rehearsals finished, I’d go out the back, have a cigarette and enjoy the view – and what a view. That’s the thing about Edinburgh – you can always see out of the city, too.

“But the winner for me has to be Calton Hill, right in town. It is home to Edinburgh’s unfinished Napoleonic wars monument – and if you’re going to call yourself the Athens of the North, you might as well have your own Parthenon.