BRITISH actors Damien Lewis and Dame Maggie Smith both saw off the cream of US television talent at the Emmy Awards.
Lewis was named outstanding actor in a drama series for his portrayal as US marine Nicholas Brody in espionage thriller Homeland, while Dame Maggie was hailed as the outstanding supporting actress for her portrayal of grand Dowager Countess of Grantham in Downton Abbey. Both shows have proved hugely popular on both sides of the Atlantic.
On collecting his award, Lewis, said: "I'm one of those pesky Brits, I apologise, I don't really believe in judging art, but I thought I'd show up just in case."
He said the award was "an extraordinary honour" and called his fellow nominees in the category "golden actors ... in a golden age of TV".
Lewis beat Downton's Hugh Bonneville, Mad Men's Jon Hamm and Boardwalk Empire's Steve Buscemi to claim his award.
He paid tribute to the two "ladies who've suffered me the most, Claire Danes and Morena Baccarin" (Jessica Brody) and to his actress wife, Helen McCrory.
Homeland also trumped Downton, Mad Men and others to be named best drama series with Danes (CIA agent Carrie Mathison), named best actress.
Homeland's writing team of Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon, Gideon Raff won best writing in a drama series
Julian Fellowes's Downton Abbey had been up for 16 nominations, the most a British drama has received at the Emmys.
Dame Maggie, who did not attend the ceremony, ousted her co-star Joanne Froggatt, Christina Hendricks from Mad Men and The Good Wife star Christine Baranski to claim her award.
Armando Iannucci's new US show Veep missed out on the award for Outstanding Comedy Series but its star Julia Louis-Dreyfus took home the gong for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series.
BBC's Sherlock nominees Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman lost out on an Emmy, while Hollywood actress Julianne Moore won Outstanding Lead Actress In A Mini-series Or A Movie for her role as Sarah Palin in Game Change, beating Emma Thompson (The Song of Lunch) and Nicole Kidman (Hemingway and Gellhorn).
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