Princess Diana's 1995 interview with Martin Bashir, in which she admitted to an adulterous affair, has been voted the most memorable of all time.
The princess said her marriage was 'a bit crowded'
The Panorama interview saw the princess say she would never be Queen, but would like to be "queen of people's hearts".
It topped a poll of 3,000 TV viewers conducted for UKTV Gold.
David Frost's post-Watergate interview with President Nixon took second place, followed by George Best's inebriated appearance on Terry Wogan's chat show.
"When it comes to TV interviews you can always expect the unexpected - that's why some of these gems are still remembered decades after broadcast," said James Newton, head of UKTV Gold.
The interview with Princess Diana was watched by an estimated 15 million people - a record for Panorama and one of the BBC's highest-ever audience figures.
MOST MEMORABLE INTERVIEWS
1. Princess of Wales on Panorama (1995)
2. Richard Nixon and David Frost (1977)
3. George Best on Wogan (1990)
4. Michael Howard and Jeremy Paxman (1997)
5. The Sex Pistols on the Today show (1976)
6. Michael Hutchence and Paula Yates on The Big Breakfast (1994)
7. Hugh Grant on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1995)
8. Oliver Reed on After Dark (1991)
9. David Icke on Wogan (1991)
10. David Cameron on Jonathan Ross, pictured (2006)
She spoke frankly about her depression and bulimia, her children, the media and the future of the monarchy.
She admitted to having an affair with her riding instructor, James Hewitt, and spoke of the hurt caused by Prince Charles' relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles.
"There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded," she said.
Veteran broadcaster Sir David Frost's interviews with former US president, Richard Nixon, in 1977 achieved the largest audience for a news interview in television history.
The broadcaster's hard-hitting conversations with the disgraced leader have been immortalised in a West End stage play, Frost/Nixon.
Other interviews in the viewers' top 10 included The Sex Pistols expletive-fuelled appearance on the Today show with Bill Grundy and David Icke's appearance on Wogan, where he claimed to be a "son of Godhead".
The most recent interview in the list is Conservative leader David Cameron's visit to Friday Night With Jonathan Ross last year, which came at number 10.
Ross caused outrage when he asked the Tory leader whether he had ever had schoolboy sexual fantasies about Margaret Thatcher.
The poll was commissioned to mark the return of Terry Wogan's chat show Wogan: Now and Then.
Grace Jones slapping Russell Harty live on air in 1981 was named the most shocking TV chat show moment when UKTV Gold carried out a similar poll last year.