Sherlock and Downton Abbey's Dame Maggie Smith fly the flag for Britain at the 2016 Emmy Awards
Dame Maggie won her third Emmy for her role as the Downton Dowager, while Sherlock's Steven Moffat threw another British institution - The Great Bake Off - into the mix during his acceptance speech
America's love of quintessential Britishness was very much in evidence at the Emmy awards on Sunday night, with multiple wins for two of our most popular exports, Sherlock Holmes and Downton Abbey.
Sherlock co-creator Steven Moffat and producer Sue Vertue picked up the gong for best TV movie for 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.
Accepting his award, Moffat couldn’t resist a joke about another British institution – the beleaguered Great British Bake Off – telling the largely American, largely puzzled, audience, "Thank you to the BBC who we love above all bakery," before adding "British people will get that!"
Meanwhile, along with hairstyling and production design awards, Downton Abbey saw Dame Maggie Smith named best supporting actress in a drama series for her performance as Dowager Countess Lady Violet, coming out top of a bunch of Brits also including Game of Thrones trio Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke and Maisie Williams.
It’s the third time 81-year-old Dame Maggie has won an Emmy for the role, and the third time she’s decided not to make the transatlantic flight to pick it up – a fact that wasn’t lost on Emmys host Jimmy Kimmel, who walked across the stage and grabbed 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.”
As if the Dowager would be caught dead rooting around in there.
See a full list of Emmy winners
