The International Emmy Awards for 2025 were handed out on Monday night in a ceremony in New York City, and it was another big night for British television, with the U.K. picking up seven awards, including best drama, best comedy, best actress and best TV movie/mini series.
Elsewhere, at the 53rd edition of the awards, Spain won two awards and Japan, Germany, Australia, Qatar, Canada, Denmark and Türkiye won one each.
The best drama prize went to ITV Studios’ Disney+ 1980s-set dramedy Rivals that is based on Jilly Cooper’s raunchy books. The series stars David Tennant, Aidan Turner, Katherine Parkinson, Victoria Smurfit, Alex Hassell, Nafessa Williams, Bella Maclean, Emily Atack and Danny Dyer.
Best comedy was taken by the BBC comedy Ludwig, that stars David Mitchell playing a puzzle master whose identical twin brother, a police detective, goes missing, and so he pretends to be his brother to solve the case. Ludwig also stars Anna Maxwell Martin, who took the International Emmy for her performance in a different show, the harrowing ITV limited series Until I Kill You. In the latter drama, a true crime production based on the book Living with a Serial Killer by Delia Balmer, Martin plays a woman who is subjected to horrific abuse by her partner and how the system fails to protect her.
The U.K. picked up prizes for best kids live-action show (Fallen) and best TV movie/mini series (Lost Boys and Fairies). Fallen, a Silver Reel/Night Train Media production by Brazil’s Globoplay, is a romantic fantasy drama adaptation of Lauren Kate’s 2009 novel. Lost Boys and Fairies is a three-part BBC drama set in the Welsh capital Cardiff and tells the story of a gay couple going through the adoption process.
Also from the U.K., Channel 4’s Dispatches: Kill Zone: Inside Gaza won the Emmy for current affairs. The doc took a “raw and harrowing look at how the lives of Palestinians have been uprooted and destroyed,” following the Israeli military’s assault on Gaza,” as seen and told through the eyes of children, journalists and doctors.”
Gaza was also the subject of the best news Emmy winner, Al Jazeera’s Gaza, Search for Life. The Qatari production follows “the daily life of those who live in Gaza during the first two weeks of the war on Gaza” and “documents their struggle to stay alive during a relentless war.”
Spain’s two Emmy winners came from the Netflix sports documentary, It’s All Over: The Kiss That Changed Spanish Football and a best actor prize for Oriol Pla. It’s All Over chronicles the aftermath of the Rubiales scandal, which kicked off when the president of the Spanish soccer federation kissed one of the players after Spain won the 2023 Women’s World Cup Final. Catalan star Pla won his Emmy for his performance in the Disney+ drama I, Addict, about a man trying to get clean.
Also on the night, two special awards were given out. The Founders Emmy was presented to Dana Walden, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, to recognize her three-decade career in television that has included huge hits like 24, Glee, Grey’s Anatomy, Homeland and This Is Us. The Directorate Award was given to João Roberto Marinho, chairman and president of Brazil’s Grupo Globo, and honored his leadership in strengthening the group’s legacy of independent journalism and cultural impact.
The full list of International Emmys winners for 2025 is below.
Arts Programming
Ryuichi Sakamoto: Last Days – NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)
Japan
Best Performance by an Actor
Oriol Pla for Yo, Adicto (I, Addict) – Alea Media / Disney+
Spain
Best Performance by an Actress
Anna Maxwell Martin for Until I Kill You – World Productions
United Kingdom
Comedy
Ludwig – Big Talk Studios / That Mitchell & Webb Company
United Kingdom
Current Affairs
Dispatches: Kill Zone: Inside Gaza – Basement Films
United Kingdom
Documentary
Hell Jumper – Expectation TV
United Kingdom
Drama Series
Rivals – Happy Prince part of ITV Studios / Disney+
United Kingdom
Kids: Animation
Bluey – Ludo Studio
Australia
Kids: Factual & Entertainment
Auf Fritzis Spuren – Wie War Das So In Der Ddr? (On Fritzi’s Traces – What Was It Like In The GDR?) – Balance Film / MDR / WDR
Germany
Kids: Live-Action
Fallen – Night Train Media / Silver Reel / Hero Squared / UMedia
United Kingdom
News
Gaza, Search for Life – Al Jazeera Arabic Programs Directorate
Qatar
Non-Scripted Entertainment
Shaolin Heroes: Denmark – Metronome Productions / Banijay / TV 2 Danmark
Denmark
Short-Form Series
La Médiatrice (The Mediator) – KOTV
Canada
Sports Documentary
It’s All Over: The Kiss That Changed Spanish Football – Netflix Documentary / You First Originals Production
Spain
Telenovela
Deha (The Good & the Bad) – Ay Yapim
Türkiye
TV Movie/Mini-Series
Lost Boys and Fairies – Duck Soup Films
United Kingdom
