Emmy Award
An Emmy Award is the highest competitive, juried award given for televisual excellence in the United States. Though it is uncommon for people related to Doctor Who to win an Emmy, a few have, mainly for behind-the-scenes or "craft" work.
It is most often considered an "American BAFTA", but in truth, Emmy Awards have something in common with both BAFTAs and Royal Television Society Awards. Unlike both major British awards, however, Emmys are presented by three different organisations, who all share in the copyright of the statuette's design. Each of the three organisations focuses on different aspects of television excellence.
Primetime[[edit] | [edit source]]
What many people mean when they say "Emmy" is technically the oldest type of Emmy, now known as the "Primetime Emmy". Awarded since 1949 by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, it's the award given to fictional and — to use a British phrase —"light entertainment" programming which is aired in the evenings.
Amongst the Doctor Who-related personnel to have won a Primetime Emmy are costume designer Barbara Kidd and hairstylist Julie McHaffie.
Daytime, news, sports, documentaries[[edit] | [edit source]]
Because America has never developed enduring primetime soap operas with a format similar to EastEnders, the Emmy Award is quite unlike the BAFTA, in that there is almost never direct competition between soap and non-soap drama. The presence of the Daytime Emmy — awarded by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, has ensured that soap operas, game shows, and children's programming are considered against each other, rather than against other types of drama. NATAS also awards Emmys to celebrate excellence in sports, news and documentary programming. To date, no one involved in the DWU programming has ever been awarded a Daytime Emmy.
International[[edit] | [edit source]]
Also, the development of the International Emmy, awarded by the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, has allowed the wide and multi-categoried consideration of non-American works. A practical result of separating non-American work from the Primetime Emmys is that there are far more British Emmy nominees than there are American BAFTA or RTS Award nominees. However, unlike the British awards, American and British productions almost never compete against each other. Thus when an American show wins a BAFTA, it has done so at the expense of British nominees. A British Emmy winner, by contrast, has defeated productions from outside the United States.
No Doctor Who universe show or performance has ever been awarded an International Emmy. However, there are people and shows related to Doctor Who that have. Jim Broadbent won for "Best Actor" in 2007. Life on Mars won an International Emmy for each of its two series, thus validating the executive producership of Matthew Graham and the acting of John Simm. (The statuette itself seems to have gone to the production company, however.)
Regional[[edit] | [edit source]]
Like the BAFTAs and the RTS Awards, Emmy Awards are also given out at the regional level, with more than a dozen chapters handing out Regional Emmys across the United States. No one involved in the production of Doctor Who or her sister shows are known to have been awarded a Regional Emmy.
