It has been a triumph for British period drama at the Emmy award nominations as both Downton Abbey and Wolf Hall picked up multiple nods in categories such as outstanding drama series and outstanding actor.
British talent triumphed throughout, with nominations for the actors Ricky Gervais, David Oyelowo and Mark Rylance, while the BBC’s political drama The Honourable Woman was also among the nominees on Thursday.
However, the biggest winner of the night was the fantasy blockbuster Game of Thrones, which bagged an impressive 24 nominations across all the major drama categories, including best drama series.
Once again, Downton Abbey received the most nominations of any British drama, continuing the series’ long-running awards success in the US. The fourth series saw nominations for Jim Carter for best supporting actor and Joanne Froggatt for best supporting actress.
The ITV show, which has earned the most Emmy nominations of any non-US show in history, will again compete against glossy American dramas such as House of Cards, Game of Thrones and Mad Men for the accolade of outstanding drama series.
It was also a night of success for the BBC, which outperformed all its British rivals mainly thanks to their celebrated adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, which was nominated for outstanding limited series. Rylance will also compete against fellow Brits Oyelowo and Gervais to win best actor in a mini-series or movie for his role as Thomas Cromwell.
The Honourable Woman, BBC 2’s one-off series addressing the Israel-Palestine conflict, also picked up four nominations, including outstanding actress in a mini-series for Maggie Gyllenhaal, best writer and director for Hugo Blick and outstanding limited series.
Greg Brenman, the executive producer of Drama Republic, which made The Honourable Woman for the BBC, said: “I’m absolutely delighted that Hugo Blick’s writing and his direction have been nominated – a resounding testament to his vision and to the enormous accomplishment of this series.”
Blick said: “I will definitely be putting two lumps of sugar in my cocoa this evening.”
Other British talent celebrated at this year’s Emmys included Emma Thompson, who earned a nomination for outstanding actress in a mini-series or film for the live broadcast of Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and the Scottish actor Alan Cumming who picked up his third Emmy nomination for his role as political spin doctor Eli Gold in the American drama The Good Wife.
The success of British actors at this year’s Emmys could be seen as reflective of the overall American television and film landscape, where British talent from Dominic West and Hayley Atwell to Damian Lewis and Michael Sheen are increasingly dominating the lead roles.
Speaking to the Guardian earlier this year, Paul Lee, boss of the US television network ABC, said: “Thanks to the increasing popularity of UK shows and actors in the US, doors have been thrown wide open. If [House star] Hugh Laurie was cast again, I doubt he’d be given an American accent”.
However, the international success of these British series also comes at a time when the four public-service broadcasters – the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 – have reduced the amount they spend on drama by 44% since 2008.
The seventh and final season of Mad Men also proved unsurprisingly popular with the Emmy Academy this year, with 11 nods for the show. It will be hoping to repeat the success of its first four seasons and earn a gold-plated goodbye with the award for best drama series.
This year also marks Jon Hamm’s final chance to win the award for best actor for his portrayal of the enigmatic Don Draper. Since he began on the show, Hamm has received eight nominations but has yet to win.
However, the awards were not without their annual controversy over the inclusion and exclusion of certain shows. The decision to nominate Gervais as outstanding actor in a mini-series for the one-off special of his comedy series Derek was the cause of much outrage on social media. Undeterred, the actor tweeted a picture of himself next to the caption: “No to fox hunting and yes to Emmy nomination. My bestest week ever.”
Other less successful shows included Empire, which has enjoyed enormous popularity in the US, with audiences averaging 23 million, but only received three nominations, while the comedy Broad City and drama The Americans were both left without any nominations at all.
The Emmy nominations also highlighted the growing influence of high-quality web-based shows. Netflix scooped 34 nominations overall for series such as Orange Is the New Black, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and House of Cards, and it was also the first year that Amazon’s Instant Video picked up Emmy nominations. Their Golden Globe-winning show Transparent was a hit in the comedy section, earning 11 nominations, including nominations for outstanding comedy series and lead actor in a comedy series for Jeffrey Tambor as a transgender parent.
The award winners will be announced at a ceremony on 20 September and broadcast on Fox in the US. Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Andy Samberg is set to host.
