International Emmys: Britannia rules the airwaves

AWARD-WINNING actor David Suchet hailed an "unbelievable night for the Brits" as UK programming swept the board at the International Emmys in New York on Monday.

With Channel 4 leading the charge, British dramas, documentaries and comedies set the gold standard for countries around the world.

In a star-studded ceremony in New York, Suchet won best actor for Maxwell, the BBC's take on the charismatic, tyrannical newspaper baron Robert Maxwell, who raided his companies' pension funds as his business empire crumbled.

British programmes won seven out of the ten awards, four of them for Channel 4 programmes.

Best actress honours went to Lucy Cohu for the gritty, true-life drama Forgiven, commissioned by the station and filmed over two weeks on a minuscule budget. It told the story of Liz, a suburban housewife, who reported her husband for sexually abusing their daughter and saw him convicted, and then, years later, set out to rebuild their lives together.

Cohu dedicated her award "to the family who were brave enough to tell their story".

British programmes have always done well at the International Emmys. Their near-monopoly this year was broken in the non-script entertainment category, taken by The Big Donor Show from the Netherlands.

It made international headlines when producers said three transplant patients would compete on air for the kidney of a dying woman. They then revealed it as a hoax.

The awards are handed out by members of the US-based International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, with broadcasters from nearly 70 countries and more than 400 companies.

"The UK has traditionally been a strong provider of everything from drama to comedy to documentary," said Michael Rosser of Broadcast magazine. "The world looks to the UK to see what the next trend is going to be in all of those areas."

Channel 4's showing was the pay-off for strong investment in content, Mr Rosser said.

The biggest shows in the United States have British roots – such as Dancing with the Stars, the answer to Strictly Come Dancing, and The Office: An American Workplace.

Channel 4 won again with its comedy The IT Crowd, set among the socially awkward, geeky technology team of a London corporation. Shot in a studio, with an old-fashioned laughter track, it is seen as a return to more conventional comedy from edgier, more realistic fare such as The Office.

Strictly Bolshoi, another Channel 4 show, won for arts programming, following choreographer Christopher Wheeldon as he became the first Briton to create an original work for the Bolshoi Ballet.

Another documentary commissioned by the station, The Beckoning Silence, told the story of a doomed climber's attempt to conquer the deadly north face of the Eiger.

The BBC's children's show Shaun the Sheep and time-travel drama Life on Mars – collecting its second International Emmy – completed the British line-up. Its US version premiered on the ABC network this autumn.

Suchet told how, when director Colin Barr called him to offer the role, he read a quote describing Maxwell as "a lifelong bully, a thief who ultimately becomes a monster, a complex man of… capricious behaviour, mood swings and dark corners of the mind". The director told him: "You're perfect."


THE WINNERS

Best Actor: David Suchet, in Maxwell, story of newspaper baron Robert Maxwell. BBC

Best Actress: Lucy Cohu, as Liz, in Forgiven, a mother faces her husband's abuse of their daughter. Betty TV for Channel 4

Arts Programming: Strictly Bolshoi, an English choreographer in Moscow. Ballet Boyz Productions for Channel 4

Children and Young People: Shaun the Sheep, a mischievous sheep from Wallace and Gromit's creators. Aardman Animations for CBBC.

Comedy: The IT Crowd, set among IT department geeks, Talkback Thames Production for Channel 4

Documentary: The Beckoning Silence, climbing tragedy on the Eiger. Darlow Smithson Productions for Channel 4

Drama Series: Life on Mars, time-change cop series. Kudos Film and Television for BBC Wales

Non-Scripted Entertainment: The Big Donor Show, outrageous hoax reality show. Endemol for BNN, the Netherlands

Telenovela: Al-Igtiyah (The Invasion), the daily struggle of a Palestinian man as Israeli tanks move in. Arab Telemedia Productions, Jordan.

TV Movie/Mini-series: Television por la Identidad, the story of children stolen during the "Dirty Wars" in Argentina and recovered by their grandmothers. Telefe Contenidos, Argentina.