British flag flies high, once again, at the Emmys


While a majority of Planet Earth is still saddened by the fact that Downton Abbey closed its doors after six brilliant series this past year, one has to wonder if much of the television industry is secretly a bit happier to see it shutter, especially after last night’s Emmy Awards. In addition to receiving awards for hair styling and production design, Dame Maggie Smith took home top honors for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her never to be forgotten portrayal of the Dowager Countess. Smith topped several other ‘Brits’ in the category including the Game of Thrones trio of Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke and Maisie Williams.

Dowager Countess

While it was Dame Maggie’s third Emmy for her role as Violet Crawley in Downton, she has yet to make the trek to pick up the award in person, prompting Emmy host, Jimmy Kimmel, to walk across the stage and grab the statue out of presenter Minnie Driver’s hands, telling the audience “No, no, no… We’re not mailing this to her. Maggie, if you want this, it will be in the lost and found.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, the industry is just going to have to deal with the fact that another British institution, Sherlock, will be back for, hopefully, several more Emmy Awards ceremonies. The Steven Moffat/Mark Gatiss creation took home the Emmy for Best TV movie for last year’s Christmas special “The Abominable Bride”, beating out fellow UK show Luther, along with Confirmation, All the Way and A Very Murray Christmas. The one-off ‘Victorian’ special also landed a visual effects award.

Just a personal aside to last nights awards, while not British, it was really cool to see Rami Malek grab his first Emmy as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Emmy for his performance in Mr. Robot and Canadian born Tatiana Maslany finally win the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Emmy for her role in Orphan Black. Both over the top performances where the Emmy judges finally got it right.


In: Drama