With the Emmys being handed out on Sunday/Monday (depending on where you live), TV Scoop takes a look at some of the British shows looking to take home an award.

BBC’s sumptuous literary adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s classic Jane Eyre leads the pack with nine nominations. These sadly don’t include any acting nods for stars Ruth Wilson as our heroine or Toby Stephens as the broody Rochester. Instead they acknowledge the art direction, casting, cinematography, costumes, direction, sound mixing, writing and hairstyling. Yes, hairstyling. The prestigious Emmys are all about who has a nice fringe.

The landmark in nature programming that was Planet Earth enjoys seven nominations, including cinematography, picture editing, music, writing, sound editing and outstanding non-fiction series. Interestingly, the only non-fiction British show to get much of a look in.

Rome, the epic HBO/BBC collaboration has been awarded seven chances to win, yet like Jane Eyre the actors are over-looked, a particular shame for James Purefoy and Polly Walker who were fantastic as Mark Antony and Atia respectively. And so it’s left to the techie crew to bring home the spoils with Rome in contention in the categories for art direction, cinematography, costumes, make-up, titles music, special effects and again – hairstyling. What does this say about our programmes? That the actors are crap but at least their hair looks good?

HBO are not faithful and loyal to the Beeb though, having jumped into bed with Channel 4 for drama Longford. In this case, we do have some performers in the running with Oscar winner and general good-egg Jim Broadbent up for outstanding lead actor in a miniseries or movie and Samantha Morton honoured for her role as Myra Hindley. Other Longford nominations include costumes, music and outstanding made for TV movie.

Ricky Gervais might be suffering a slight backlash in Blighty, but in the US his popularity remains intact. The Reading funnyman is up for best comedy actor, while he and comedy partner Stephen Merchant are credited for their writing (Daniel Radcliffe) and directing (Orlando Bloom episode) of Extras. Their acclaim is so considerable that Sir Ian McKellen has been acknowledged for his guest turn on the sitcom. Even if they fail to win for Extras Merchant and Gervais can still benefit from the success of the US version of The Office. The two are executive producers for the Steve Carell show.

Dame Helen Mirren (pictured left) is the current winner of the best actress Academy Award and is now vying for an Emmy with her performance as Jane Tennison in Prime Suspect: The Final Act. She is nominated in the outstanding lead actress in a miniseries or movie category, while the last instalment of the crime drama is also up for directing, writing and outstanding mini-series.

The BBC’s joint production with HBO, Tsunami: The Aftermath might have been hard to watch for many, but the star-studded drama has earned three nominations including directing, sound-editing and best supporting actress for Aussie Toni Collette.

Hustle will be hoping to swindle some awards out of the ceremony with nominations for their opening titles (design and music.)

Solo performers itching to whip out their acceptance speeches include Hugh Laurie for best dramatic actor (House) and Minnie Driver for best comedy actress (The Riches). The Tudors also carries some local interest with producers and actors hailing from Britain while Krakatoa: Volcano Of Destruction is up for outstanding sound mixing.

Whether anyone in the UK manages to stay up and watch the ceremony live to see if any Brits win is another matter. It starts at 1am on Monday morning, so it’s going to be strong coffees and Red Bulls all the way!