It was a night of firsts as the best of Hollywood came out to celebrate the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards, with HBO claiming the honours in all three series categories.

On the drama front, Game of Thrones landed four major wins including a long overdue first victory in the Outstanding Drama Series line-up where it overcame the likes of Better Call Saul, House of Cards and the final series of Mad Men.

The fifth series of the fantasy epic also scored key successes for its directing and writing, while Peter Dinklage clinched his second Supporting Actor gong for his popular role as Tyrion Lannister.

Having already won eight creative Emmys a week earlier, Thrones sets a new Emmy record for the most awards for a programme in a single year with twelve overall.

History was also made in the acting categories, as Viola Davis became the first African-American woman to win Lead Actress for her performance as law professor Annalise Keating in ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder. During her rousing speech, Davis said:

“‘In my mind, I see a line. And over that line, I see green fields and lovely flowers and beautiful white women with their arms stretched out to me over that line. But I can’t seem to get there no how. I can’t seem to get over that line.’

That was Harriet Tubman in the 1800s. And let me tell you something: The only thing that separates women of colour from anyone else is opportunity. You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.”

After multiple defeats in recent years, Jon Hamm finally landed his first Lead Actor Emmy for his swansong turn as womanising businessman Don Draper in the final series of AMC’s Mad Men.

His victory came at the expense of versatile nominees like Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul) and Kevin Spacey (House of Cards).

In the Supporting Actress category, Uzo Aduba took home Supporting Actress for her role as prison inmate Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren in Netflix’s comedic drama Orange is the New Black. Her success came a year after winning for the same role in the Guest Actress in a Comedy field.

On the subject of humour, HBO’s Veep prevailed in the Outstanding Comedy Series category and by doing so, broke Modern Family’s five-year hold on the award.

For the fourth year in a row, central star Julia Louis-Dreyfus was the recipient of the Lead Actress gong for her lauded performance as US President Selina Meyer, while co-star Tony Hale took home his second Supporting Actor Emmy for his returning role as ‘bagman’ Gary Walsh.

Elsewhere, Jeffrey Tambor overcame the likes of Anthony Anderson (Black-ish), Don Cheadle (House of Lies), and William H. Macy (Shameless) to win the Lead Actor prize for his performance as trans woman Maura in Prime Video’s Transparent, while Allison Janney enjoyed her second successive Supporting Actress victory for her reprised role as Bonnie Plunkett in CBS’s Mom.

The limited series field was also dominated by HBO, as the period miniseries Olive Kitteridge swept its way to five major wins, including the Outstanding Limited Series prize.

Additionally, the television adaptation of Elizabeth Strout’s novel scored three acting wins, with seasoned stars Frances McDormand and Richard Jenkins the recipients of Lead Actress and Lead Actor for their respective performances as couple Olive and Henry Kitteridge.

Absent co-star Bill Murray was honoured with Supporting Actor for his turn as Jack Kennison, though Zoe Kazan failed to make it a quartet of acting wins for the series after she lost Supporting Actress to Regina King for her role in the ABC anthology series American Crime.

Once again, a variety of multi-nominated programmes all went home empty-handed, including American Horror Story: Hotel, Bessie, Better Call Saul, Downton Abbey, Homeland, The Honourable Woman, House of Cards, Louie, Modern Family, and Wolf Hall.

The full list of major Emmy winners are…

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
GAME OF THRONES

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Viola Davis, HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Jon Hamm, MAD MEN

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Uzo Aduba, ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Peter Dinklage, GAME OF THRONES

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
David Nutter, GAME OF THRONES

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
GAME OF THRONES (David Benioff & D. B. Weiss)

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
VEEP

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, VEEP

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Jeffrey Tambor, TRANSPARENT

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Allison Janney, MOM

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Tony Hale, VEEP

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
Joey Soloway, TRANSPARENT

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
VEEP (Simon Blackwell & Tony Roche)

OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES
OLIVE KITTERIDGE

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE
Frances McDormand, OLIVE KITTERRIDGE

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Richard Jenkins, OLIVE KITTERIDGE

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Regina King, AMERICAN CRIME

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Bill Murray, OLIVE KITTERIDGE

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A LIMITED SERIES, TV MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL
Lisa Cholodenko, OLIVE KITTERIDGE

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A LIMITED SERIES, TV MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL
OLIVE KITTERIDGE (Jane Anderson)

OUTSTANDING VARIETY TALK SERIES
THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART

OUTSTANDING VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
INSIDE AMY SCHUMER

OUTSTANDING REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM
THE VOICE

The rest of this year’s Emmy winners can be found in the following link: https://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/2015