British Talent Scoop Up Over 100 Emmy Nominations for 2025

One of the inevitable consequences of the streaming wars and the initial decimation of cable and broadcast networks in service thereof was the reteat of representation during awards season. PBS fans were accustomed to it, since Downton Abbey left the airwaves, public broadcasting has been all but invisible to the Primetime Emmys, relegated to competing in the regional and local versions of the event. But, with the single exception of Abbott Elementary on ABC, the 2020s editions of the ceremony have been dominated by high-end streaming service shows, many of which are British co-productions, star British and European talent, or both.

The unconscious bias towards British talent as somehow "superior" because the Royal Shakespeare Academy is a thing that exists is a phenomenon that has been widespread for multiple decades at this point. It has been more prevalent in the feature film awards race, partly because movies are less inclined to cast British actors as Americans; however, in television, especially television aimed for American audiences, there's a lot more transatlantic casting, forcing U.K. talent to conceal their nationality behind perfect American accents.

As we cross the middle of the decade, that trend does not look like it'll be reversing anytime soon, especially with Netflix producing critically adored dramas like Adolescence, Peacock successfully nailing the reality formula for The Traitors in the U.S., and Apple TV+ exhuming the corpse of its beloved comedy Ted Lasso for a Season 4 no one asked for.