Derry Girls wins International Emmy for Best Comedy Programme

The Channel 4's international smash-hit comedy show Derry Girls, picked up the coveted best International Emmy for Best Comedy alongside Netflix Special Vir Das: Landing.

Derry Girls, follows the antics of a group of teenagers growing up in the city in 90s, before the Good Friday Agreement.

The hit comedy show was written and created by Derry woman Lisa McGee and starred Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Nicola Coughlan, Jamie-Lee O'Donnell, Louisa Harland and Dylan Llewellyn.

It was awarded the honour alongside Indian comedian Vir Das' fourth stand-up special for Netflix, Vir Das: Landing.

McGee, who wrote and created the show, uploaded an Instagram post of her accepting the award, and reading a speech she had typed up on the notes app of her phone:

 

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A post shared by Lisa McGee (@lisafromderry)

The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences presented Emmys to television creators and performers from ten countries at the 51st International Emmy Awards last night in the New York City and was hosted by Kiwi actor & comedian Rhys Darby.

Other winners from the awards night were Martin Freeman who bagged a Best performance award for his for his work in the BBC series The Responder. A Liverpool-set thriller, The Responder follows Freeman's character Chris across six night shifts as an urgent response police officer.

Both Jesse Armstrong(creator of Succession, Peep Show and The Thick of It), and Hindi Soap Opera director Etkaa R. Kapoor were presented with Special Awards.

Armstrong received the special Founders Emmy for his work as creator of the hit HBO show Succession. The award was presented to the writer by Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO, HBO and Max Content.

Succession is a satirical comedy drama series allegedly based loosely on the Murdoch Family. The series centres on the Roy family, the owners of global media and entertainment conglomerate Waystar RoyCo, and their fight for control of the company amidst uncertainty about the health of the family's patriarch.

The Directorate Award was presented to Ektaa R. Kapoor, Co-Founder of Balaji Telefilms by Dr. Deepak Chopra.

Excluding the the 2 Special Awards, 15 Emmy statues were presented by the International Academy during the evening.

The 15 winning International Emmy programs and performances are:

Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On (Arts Programming),

Martin Freeman (Best Performance by an Actor),

Karla Souza (Best Performance by an Actress),

TIE Derry Girls – Season 3 and Vir Das: Landing (Comedy),

Mariupol: The People’s Story (Documentary), The Empress (Drama Series),

The Smeds and The Smoos (Kids: Animation),

Built To Survive (Kids: Factual & Entertainment),

Heartbreak High (Kids: Live Action),

Harley & Katya (Sports Documentary),

A Ponte – The Bridge Brasil (Non-Scripted Entertainment),

Des Gens Bien Ordinaires [A Very Ordinary World] (Short-Form Series),

Yargi (Telenovela) and La Caida [Dive] (TV Movie/Mini-Series).