British talent commands at Emmys

British talent dominated at last night's 36th annual International Emmys in New York.

David Suchet described the event as "an unbelievable night for the Brits" after they scooped seven out of ten gongs on offer. Argentina and Jordan were also celebrating after sealing their first Emmy wins.

Britain's virtual sweep saw Suchet named best actor for his role as Robert Maxwell in the series about the media mogul's life, Maxwell, while the best actress award went to Lucy Cohu for her portrayal of a suburban housewife in the drama Forgiven.

Channel 4's The I.T. Crowd won the best comedy gong and best drama went to Life On Mars. Shaun The Sheep won for best children's and young people's programming, while Strictly Bolshoi took the award for best arts programming.

Entering the Emmy stage was Jordan, who won the telenovela Emmy for The Invasion Igtiyah, and Argentina, which took home the gong for best TV movie of mini-series for Television Por La Identidad. The Emmy for best non-scripted, or reality show, went to The Netherlands' controversial series The Big Donor Show.