Game of Thrones breaks Emmys record

Game of Thrones has broken the record for the highest number of Primetime Emmy Awards won by any show.

The HBO series triumphed in 12 of the 24 categories it was nominated in at Sunday night’s ceremony, including outstanding drama series.

The show has now surpassed Frasier’s all-time record of 37 Emmy wins.

This year’s British winners included Dame Maggie Smith, who won outstanding supporting actress in a drama series for her role in Downton Abbey.

Dame Maggie was not there in person to accept the award, so host Jimmy Kimmel joked: “We’re not mailing this to her. Maggie, if you want this, it will be in the lost and found.”

John Oliver won best variety talk series for his HBO series Last Week Tonight, beating fellow British nominee James Corden, who was nominated for The Late Late Show.

BBC One’s Sherlock was named best made for TV movie for its special episode The Abominable Bride. Susanne Bier, the Danish director of the BBC’s spy thriller The Night Manager, won for best directing in a limited series.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Julia Louis-Dreyfus won best comedy actress for the fifth time

In her acceptance speech, Louis-Dreyfus said: “Our show started out as political satire but now feels like a sobering documentary.” She dedicated her award to her father, who died on Friday.

Tony Hale, who plays the president’s personal aide Gary Walsh in Veep, triumphed in the outstanding supporting actor category.

The outstanding comedy actor gong went to Jeffrey Tambor, who plays a transgender woman in the Amazon series Transparent, for the second year in a row.

Accepting the award, Tambor encouraged the industry to offer more opportunities to the trans community.

“I would not be unhappy were I the last cisgender male to play a transgender female on television. We have work to do,” he said.

Rami Malek won outstanding lead actor in a drama series for his role in Mr Robot, while Tatiana Maslany from Orphan Black won outstanding leading actress.

Other big winners of the night included The People vs OJ Simpson – a dramatisation of the OJ Simpson trial of the 1990s, which was broadcast on BBC Two in the UK.

Courtney B Vance, Sarah Paulson and Sterling K BrownCourtney B Vance, Sarah Paulson and Sterling K Brown all won acting trophies

The show won five trophies including outstanding limited series plus acting gongs for Sarah Paulson, Sterling K Brown and Courtney B Vance.

Netflix series Master of None scored its first Emmy award, winning outstanding writing for a comedy series.

The show’s co-writer Alan Yang called for better Asian representation on screenin his acceptance speech.

Elsewhere, The Voice took home the award for outstanding reality competition series, beating Project Runway and Dancing With The Stars.

Last weekend, Game of Thrones dominated the Creative Emmy Awards, picking up nine prizes for technical achievement.

Source: BBC