StrangeSights

Move over James Bond, Indiana Jones and Jack Bauer of the TV show 24. It seems that Americans would rather have ingenious Eighties TV hero Angus MacGyver by our side in a tight spot.

A poll commissioned by the US-based McCormick Tribune Foundation has found that more than one in four Americans would most like the help of MacGyver, played by Richard Dean Anderson, when facing disaster.

After, this is a man whose exploits included stopping up a sulferic acid leak with chocolate, using a gelatin capsule to create a bomb capable of opening a door and using pine cones for hand grenades!

Given a choice of seven fictional characters to have by their side in a disaster, 16 per cent of the US respondants said they would like to have Indiana Jones (played by Harrison Ford) at their side, 14 per cent voted for Die Hard action hero John McClane, eight per cent for James Bond and a similar number for Jason Bourne, played by Matt Damon. Seven per cent voted for Jack Bauer (played by Keifer Sutherland) and seven per cent for Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft (played by Angelina Jolie).

Who would you rather have by your side in a tight spot and why?