Check Out the UK Contenders at This Year’s Emmy Awards 

It's something of a tradition by now for Slow Horses to appear among the most-nominated shows of the year. The show is based on Mick Herron’s Slough House novels, about a motley collection of spies exiled to a remote MI5 office and nicknamed the “Slow Horses” for the failures that led them there. Its underdog spies may be down-and-out, but the stars will be dressing like James Bond for another night this month. For its 5th short but perfectly formed season, the show has once again landed among the nominees for Outstanding Drama Series, and among its nine total nominations are nods for Lead Actor for Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour, Mank, Nil By Mouth) and his co-star Jack Lowden (Benediction, Tornado, Dunkirk) as Supporting Actor. There are nods for writing, by Will Smith (The Thick Of it) and directing by Saul Metzstein (Brassic) among the rest too. Oh and take note, fans: season six starts on 16 September , so watch out for it to get ahead of next year’s Emmys. 

Another heavily nominated show is The Diplomat, which is also up for Outstanding Drama Series and also considers the pitfalls of international affairs and limited intelligence resources. That’s the story of a US ambassador to the UK, played by Keri Russell – who’s also nominated as Outstanding Leading Actress – and her struggles to manage huge international incidents. Her mission was complicated, as the most recent season began, by her onscreen husband, played by Rufus Sewell (The Man In The High Castle, Scoop), being nominated as Vice-President to Allison Janney’s President Penn. Oh, and she gets involved with a spy played by Aiden Turner (Rivals, Poldark) this season, so things are getting even trickier to manage. No wonder the show was also nominated for its writing.

In the Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, there’s a nomination for All Her Fault, the gripping thriller starring Sarah Snook (Steve Jobs, Succession) as a mother trying to solve the disappearance of her son, and finding herself under suspicion. Snook is also nominated as Outstanding Leading Actress for the role, among the show’s seven nominations across the Primetime and Creative Arts Emmy ceremonies. 

Two years ago, stalker drama Baby Reindeer took three of the top prizes at the Primetime Emmys, and now writer and star Richard Gadd (A Bear Named Wotjek, Outlander) is nominated again for his follow-up, Half Man. It’s the story of two near-brothers, reunited after years apart, and the ways that male violence divides them. Gadd is up for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie this time, and will be hoping to make that a double win.  

Another perennial awards contender is Riz Ahmed (Relay, Encounter). He was first nominated for a Primetime Emmy for a guest role in Girls, and won for The Night Of, and now he has landed a third nomination for Bait. That’s the film about a Riz Ahmed-like British actor who finds himself the subject of rumours that he’s about to be cast as the next James Bond, following in the footsteps of Daniel Craig in No Time to Die – but it throws the unassuming actor into a chaotic mix of hype, insecurity and racist backlash. Ahmed won’t have an easy run of it though: he has competition from Charlie Hunnam (Queer as Folk, The Gentleman), who’s nominated for Monster: The Ed Gein Story.

They’re both up against another Brit in that category. One of Wales’ favourite exports, Matthew Rhys (Hallow Road, Death Comes to Pemberly), has had a banner year. He’s competing against Ahmed and Hunnam for his role in the crime thriller The Beast in Me, but if he loses out there he can take comfort in a second nomination for cult supernatural show Widow’s Bay. 

Other UK acting talent with nominations includes Kate O’Flynn (My Lady Jane, Death in Paradise), who’s also nominated for a breakout turn in Widow’s Bay, and Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman, Never Let Me Go), who’s up for her turn in Beef – one of the most heavily nominated shows of the year, with 16 total nominations. And one of the leading documentary candidates is Ocean with David Attenborough, which has a whopping six nominations across the Creative Arts categories. 

It’s going to be a packed night – or nights more accurately, since the Emmys are spread across two star-studded weekends. As this golden age of television rolls on, the one certain thing is that we’ll all get to celebrate the very best in small-screen entertainment, and that there’ll be UK shows and talent right there at the heart of it.