Christopher Eccleston and Julie Walters garnered* the main acting awards as British TV productions won five International Emmys on Monday, including two for the BBC crime drama “Accused.”

    “Accused,” written and created by Jimmy McGovern, received the Emmy for best drama series at the 39th Annual International Emmy Awards ceremony at the Hilton New York Hotel.

    The ceremony kicked off with a surprise appearance by Lady Gaga, wearing a floor-length black gown and oversized sunglasses, who presented the honorary International Emmy Founders Award to Britain’s Nigel Lythgoe, executive producer of “American Idol” and “So You Think You Can Dance?”

    “Accused” originally wasn’t even among the nominees in the drama category. But it ended up replacing another British crime show “Sherlock” after it was determined that the updated version of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries had also been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in the United States. The rules bar* a program from being entered into the two Emmy competitions in the same year.

    Eccleston, the former “Doctor Who” star, won the best actor award for his role in “Accused.”

    Walters, who earlier won a British BAFTA TV award for the same role, was chosen as best actress for the TV film “Mo.”

    Forty nominees from a record 20 countries were competing in 10 categories for International Emmys, honoring excellence in television programming outside the United States.

    The award in the TV Movie/Mini-Series category went to Sweden’s “Millennium,” based on the late Stieg Larsson’s best-selling trilogy*.

    A real-life family drama, Canada’s “Life With Murder,” about parents struggling to decide how to relate to their son after he’s accused of killing his younger sister, was chosen as best documentary.(SD-Agencies)