British talent dominates International Emmys

David Suchet won best actor for his portrayal of scandal-plagued media tycoon Robert Maxwell in the BBC series Maxwell.

Time-travelling detective show Life On Mars picked up its second International Emmy for best drama series and lovable Shaun the Sheep dominated the children and young people category.

Best actress went to Lucy Cohu for her role as a suburban housewife who reports her husband for sexually abusing their daughter, then tries to salvage their marriage in true-life drama Forgiven.

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Suchet, 62, 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 IT Crowd, which centres on the world of socially-awkward computer geeks working for a British corporation, received the comedy gong at the 36th International Emmy awards.

The other British winners included Strictly Bolshoi, for arts programming and documentary The Beckoning Silence, which depicts a mountaineer’s tragic battle for survival in the Swiss Alps.

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Controversial Dutch hoax-reality programme, The Big Donor Show, won the award for non-scripted entertainment.

The programme sparked an outrage when the producers announced a terminally ill woman would decide on television which one of three patients in need of a transplant would receive her kidney.

But it later emerged the woman was not dying and the show was a stunt designed to pressure the Dutch government into reforming organ donation laws.

The International Emmys, which honour excellence in TV programming produced outside the United States, picked the winners from 40 nominees in 16 countries.