British talent sweeps the International Emmys

New York, November 25: The Brits dominated the International Emmys at the awards night held on Monday, bagging seven out of the ten awards.

David Suchet won the best actor award for his portrayal of Robert Maxwell in the 2007 BBC biography series titled “Maxwell.” He played the role of the British media tycoon who encounters scandals every other day in his life throughout his lifetime.

Backstage, Suchet said, "It's been an unbelievable night for the Brits. I'm absolutely thrilled to bits, I can't believe it's really true. This is my first Emmy ever, and I can't tell you what it feels like to win for England because it's international, and to represent my acting community as well."

The best actress award was given to Lucy Cohu for her role in Channel 4’s real-life drama titled “Forgiven”. Here she plays a housewife who tells police officials that her husband is sexually abusing their daughter and then later on tries to rebuild their family.

Cohu was very happy to receive her first award. She said regarding her win, "It was absolutely fantastic. I can't believe it. This is the first award I've won. You don't do this for awards, but they do open doors."

BBC’s “Life On Mars” won its second Emmy for the best drama series for its second and last season. This show tells the story of Sam Tyler, played by actor John Simm, as he goes through time and ends up trapped in the year 1973 after a car crash.

Channel 4’s “The IT Crowd”, which portrays the life of information technology geeks working for a British company, won the award for best comedy.

BBC’s show about a naughty sheep who drives the sheepdog mad titled “Shaun the Sheep” won the award for the children and young people category.

The other British winners were “Strictly Bolshoi” for arts programming and “The Beckoning Silence” for documentary.

For the remaining categories, the Dutch reality show titled “The Big Donor Show” won the award for non-scripted entertainment. This controversial show sparked controversy when they showed on television how a terminally ill woman decides among three patients whom to give her kidney. Later on, it was revealed that this was only a hoax aimed to reform the organ donation laws in their country.

Jordan’s “Al-Igtiyah - The Invasion” won in the telenovela category while Argentina’s “Television por la identidad” won in the TV movie/mini-series category.

Sam Waterston presented the International Emmy Founders award to producer Dick Wolf, whose shows are seen in almost every country in the world.

There were forty nominees coming from 16 countries who competed for the international Emmy awards given to those who show exemplary performance in television programs outside of the united States.