The BBC's Dickensian adaptation Little Dorrit has outshone the best of US broadcasting to pick up seven Emmy awards, beating the advertising drama Mad Men and the sitcom 30 Rock to win more gongs than any other television series.
Little Dorrit, starring Matthew Macfadyen, Pam Ferris and Sir Tom Courtenay, was the surprise star of a glitzy show at Hollywood's Nokia Theatre, named as best mini-series and snapping up a brace of awards including outstanding writing, directing, art direction, costumes and cinematography.
Regarded as a neglected Charles Dickens work, Little Dorrit aired last year in Britain, recounting the changing fortunes of the Dorrit family, who emerge from Marshelsea prison for debtors to discover that they are heirs to a great deal of money. Executive producer Anne Pivcevic said: "We're thrilled that Little Dorrit has gone down so well this side of the Atlantic."
The costume drama's victories were not the BBC's only successes. The broadcaster won an Emmy for its Iraq war drama House of Saddam, which was a co-production with HBO, while the Irish actor Brendan Gleeson took home an Emmy as best lead actor in a miniseries for his role as Winston Churchill in Into The Storm.
In an emotional speech, Gleeson thanked Into The Storm's producers for allowing his mother to see a first cut of his performance before her recent death: "It meant a huge amount to me."
The BBC's awards were bright spots in a ceremony where many of the headline-grabbing top categories went to the same winners as last year.
The antics of an office full of chain-smoking 1960s advertising executives proved successful as Mad Men was named best drama for the second consecutive year, seeing off Hugh Laurie's portrayal as an eccentric doctor in House, the plane crash survivors of Lost and the polygamy chronicles of Big Love. Although critically acclaimed in the US, Mad Men has struggled to command an audience in Britain and has been tipped as a possible candidate for the axe as BBC4 cuts costs.
In the comedy stakes, 30 Rock, the sitcom starring Alec Baldwin as a spectacularly arrogant television executive, topped the charts with five Emmys, having chalked up a total of 30 nominations.
There were frequent references during the show to Kanye West's bizarre interruption of proceedings at last week's MTV Video Awards. Accepting an award for his role in the aristocratic drama Grey Gardens, actor Ken Howard also referenced President Obama's recent healthcare address to Congress: "I'll make my speech as brief as possible in the hope it won't be interrupted by a congressman or a rapper."
Other winners included Glenn Close for her role as a ruthless lawyer in the drama Damages and the Australian actress Toni Collette, who was rewarded for her performances as a housewife with an identity disorder in the comedy The United States of Tara.
American actress Kirsten Chenoweth provided the obligatory weepy speech as she struggled to articulate herself after winning an Emmy for Pushing Daisies. The Amazing Race was named best reality show and the satirical news program The Daily Show took an award as best variety program.
Presenting the Daily Show's award to host Jon Stewart, the comedian Ricky Gervais declared the audience to be a motley crowd.
"The thing about the Golden Globes and the Oscars is that they have film stars with their jaw lines and chiseled looks," said Gervais. "But in this room, I'm probably above average."
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