Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Cult small screen icon MacGyver has beaten fellow TV characters Jack Bauer and Magnum PI to be named television’s toughest action hero in a new poll.

MacGyver was played by Richard Dean Anderson for seven seasons between 1985 and 1992. He was known for cheating death by regularly escaping out of seemingly impossible situations.

In one episode, MacGyver was dumped in the ocean in a wooden coffin by baddies, only to escape when the coffin turned into a jet ski.

Surprisingly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, came second in the poll, beating 24’s Jack Bauer (Keifer Sutherland), who was third.

Alias’ Sydney Bristow, played by Jennifer Garner, came fourth, and Tom Selleck’s Magnum PI was fifth.

Xena: Warrior Princess, played by New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless, was also included in the top 10.

TV Guide’s top five TV action heroes:

1. MacGyver
2. Buffy The Vampire Slayer
3. Jack Bauer (24)
4. Sydney Bristow (Alias)
5. Magnum PI