This scene from the 1960s Batman TV series is a piece of comedy genius

If you are of a certain age, you might think that Batman can only be a gritty, dark and brooding superhero, who can't crack jokes and never has any fun.

Yeah, thanks, Christopher Nolan. And you, Zack Snyder. You didn't help either, Joel Schumacher. Or, Christian Bale. Or, Ben Affleck.

Allow us to introduce to you the best actor to ever play Batman, Mr Adam West.

You might only be aware of West, who died last in 217 aged 88, as the mayor of Quahog, Rhode Island, in Family Guy.

Before that, he played the Caped Crusader in the first TV adaptation of Batman which ran for three seasons between 1966 and 1968, and to call it hilarious would be an understatement.

It was bright, witty, bizarre, camp, psychedelic, choc-full of side-splitting one-liners and above all was always entertaining and much of that was a credit to West, whose dry delivery and comedy timing was untouchable.

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This was none more evident in a scene shared by Twitter user @YUXLOA where Batman has to talk over the phone to his alter-ego Bruce Wayne, in order to fool Commissioner Gordon and Chief O'Hara.

Everything from this scene from West subtle voice change to the way he alters his expression when talking as Wayne or Batman is pure gold.

This scene comes from a 1967 episode named 'Ice Spy' where the villain Mr Freeze sends his specially trained seal, Isolde, to Gotham City police headquarters with a note demanding that Batman deliver a ransom for a professor he has kidnapped.

It's unlikely that many people have seen this full episode but that hasn't stopped the clip from winning the hearts of the internet, where it has been viewed more than 900,000 views.

Let's not forget about this genius scene from the 1966 Batman movie.

God bless Adam West.