BBC wins big at the International Emmy Awards

The BBC took three prizes at last night's International Emmy Awards: Hell Jumper for Documentary; Ludwig for Comedy and Lost Boys & Fairies for TV movie/mini series.

BBC Two's Hell Jumper, from Expectation, won the award for Best Documentary. It tells the story of the war in Ukraine captured through the eyes and the extraordinary first-person footage of a group of volunteers saving strangers’ lives in one of the most dangerous places on Earth.

At the heart of the film is 28-year-old Chris Parry from Cornwall who without telling his family, decided to head to Ukraine where he met other civilian ‘evacuators’ from all over the world. The so-called ‘Hell Jumpers’ crowdfunded vehicles and equipment to help people escape their homes.

Chris died alongside another volunteer Andrew Bagshaw, as they tried to help evacuate a woman from an area of heavy bombardment in eastern Ukraine. Hell Jumper remembers Chris’ extraordinary story and hears from his family and fellow evacuators.

Clare Sillery, Head of Commissioning, Documentaries, said: "It’s great that Chris Parry’s story has been acknowledged with an International Emmy. Documentaries like Hell Jumper offer an antidote to an increasingly polarised world, where our differences are amplified. By taking us inside the real human experience, they have the power to open our minds and our hearts."

The critically acclaimed BBC Comedy detective series, Ludwig, won Best Comedy Series. Ludwig is created and written by Mark Brotherhood and produced by Big Talk Studios (part of ITV Studios), in collaboration with That Mitchell and Webb Company. Series one of the binge-worthy comedy-drama was the BBC’s biggest scripted show of last year (2024), and the biggest launch for a comedy since at least 2018, with Episode One attracting over 11.4 million viewers according to the latest data.

Jon Petrie, BBC Director of Comedy, said: “Ludwig’s Best Comedy Series win at the International Emmy Awards is testament to the incredibly hard working team behind the show; including David Mitchell, Anna Maxwell Martin and all of the hugely talented cast. It's fantastic that the popularity and success of Ludwig here in the UK has been recognised at such a prestigious level internationally too. Audiences will soon be treated to more laughs, as clever puzzle solving and gripping murder mystery return with the second series shaping up to be just as stand out as the first.”

Lost Boys & Fairies is the fictional, tender, glittering story of singer and artiste-extraordinaire Gabriel, his partner Andy and their journey to adoption. Filmed and set in Cardiff, Lost Boys & Fairies is a ‘coming of middle-age’ story, both bold and deeply heart-wrenching, filled to the brim with humour, redemption, and love. The series was developed as part of BBC Writers TV Drama Writers’ Programme 2019 and made with support from Creative Wales.

Director of BBC Drama Lindsay Salt said: “Lost Boys & Fairies is a joyous and emotional story of adoption which won the hearts of BBC viewers. We are thrilled that it has won an International Emmy and want to thank writer Daf James, director James Kent, the team at Duck Soup Films and the cast and crew for making such a brilliant, meaningful show.”

GC2

Follow for more