British television hits will get an American makeover after sweeping the board at the International Emmy Awards. Little Britain, Life on Mars and Ray Winstone took the top prizes at the New York ceremony.
Life on Mars, the BBC time-travel drama starring John Simm about a Manchester detective who is catapulted back to the 1970s, won the best drama award. David E. Kelley, the producer behind Ally McBeal, is now writing an American version for ABC, owned by Disney, in a partnership with Fox television.
The series, made by Kudos, a London independent company, has been sold to 13 countries. Its second series, soon to air on BBC One, will be the last.
Little Britain is now taking over the world. Matt Lucas’s and David Walliams’s anarchic creation won a best comedy Emmy award. An American version of the sketch show is in production at HBO, the cable channel. BBC Worldwide has now sold Little Britain to 20 countries; Germany is the latest to come on board. The sell-out live stage show will tour Australia next year.
Advertisement
Winstone, who appeared recently in Martin Scorsese’s film The Departed, took best actor for his role as an ex-cop turned private investigator in the ITV series Vincent.
The choice of Graham Norton as the Emmy award presenter reflected the dominance of British programme-making at the awards.
Gordon Ramsay, who is already a star in America through his Hell’s Kitchen series, won the non-scripted entertainment prize for his Channel 4 show Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares.
Sugar Rush, the Channel 4 drama inspired by a Julie Burchill novel about a 15-year-old lesbian, won in the children and young people category.
The documentary award went to Hiroshima, a BBC co-production with partners in Japan and other countries, that looks at the events leading to the first use of an atomic bomb from both the American and Japanese perspectives.
Advertisement
British formats have come to the rescue of American network television. Strictly Come Dancing has been a ratings winner for ABC, and the US version of The Office has become the first new hit comedy for NBC, once the home of Frasier, in several years.
American remakes are also planned for The Thick of It, the Whitehall comedy, Steve Coogan’s Saxondale, Footballers’ Wives and Blackpool, the BBC One musical drama.
However, there was a warning for the industry from Steven Spielberg, who was presented with a special award recognising his small-screen achievements. The producer of Band of Brothers cautioned against excessive violence in drama. He said: “We need to be responsible and careful about what we put into that box because what comes out the other end truly has changed the world.”
The Thick of It is to return to British screens, but with a Shadow minister replacing the lead character played by Chris Langham. A BBC Four Christmas special will introduce Peter Mannion, an opposition spokesman given the task of dreaming up manifesto schemes. Producers have decided to continue without Langham, who is facing internet pornography charges. Roger Allam, who played Sir Robin Janvrin in The Queen, takes the role of Mannion. The episode is a highlight of the BBC Christmas schedules, announced today.
Catherine Tate stars in a Doctor Who special, and Billie Piper joins Julie Walters in an adaptation of Philip Pullman’s The Ruby in the Smoke. The biggest Christmas audience is likely to be for Pauline Fowler’s departure from EastEnders.
Advertisement
And the award goes to . . .
Arts programme - Knowledge is the Beginning
ZDF/ARTE — Germany
Conductor Daniel Barenboim brings Arabs and Jews together through his West-Eastern Divan Orchestra
Best Actor - Ray Winstone
Vincent Granada/ITV
Winstone is the tough-talking private investigator who often forgets that he is running a business and not a crusade
Advertisement
Best Actress - Maryam Hassouni
Offers VARA Broadcasting Organisation — The Netherlands
A Palestinian suspected of planning a suicide attack discovers the truth about her brother
Children & Young People - Sugar Rush
A Shine Production for Channel 4
Adaptation of Julie Burchill’s novel about a 15-year-old lesbian who is infatuated with the most popular girl in her school
Comedy - Little Britain
BBC Comedy
Another gong to add to three Baftas, three British Comedy and eight Royal Television Society awards
Documentary - Hiroshima
A BBC/TFI/ZDF/Discovery Channel co-production in association with the Tokyo Broadcasting System
Mixes drama, computer graphics and special effects with testimonies from witnesses to the first use of the atomic bomb
Drama Series - Life on Mars
Kudos Film for BBC Wales
Detective Sam Tyler awakens realising that he’s gone back to 1973. Can he adapt to his new life, solve crimes and find a way back home?
Advertisement
Non-scripted entertainment - Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares
An Optomen Television Production for Channel 4
The UK’s most abrasive chef transforms failing eateries
TV Movie/mini-series - Nuit Noire, October 17, 1961
Cipango — France
Reveals the savagery meted out to Algerian protesters