More guards than glitz at Emmys

It looked more like a gathering of civil servants or a convention of chartered accountants. On closer inspection, the guests in Los Angeles last night turned out to be some of the biggest names in entertainment.

They were at the Emmy awards for television, postponed in September after the attack on the World Trade Center and again last month after the start of the air war in Afghanistan.

Men were asked to exchange tuxedos for suits, with women abandoning the usual designer excess. Organisers had done their best to reassure nervous stars, with a security blitz that included a "no-fly zone" over the theatre for the threehour ceremony, metal detectors at every entrance, stretch limos searched and police lining the red carpet.

Ally McBeal actress Calista Flockhart and Friends star Jennifer Aniston were among the big names kept waiting for up to an hour by security guards before being let into the Hollywood ceremony. Former Ally McBeal star Robert Downey Jnr, who was sacked from the show after being arrested for drug possession, joked: "It was nice to have some pleasant police contact this year".

The evening was billed as a showdown between The Sopranos and political drama The West Wing which between them had collected more than a dozen nominations. In the end, it was a triumph of the White House over the Mob with The West Wing taking four awards, including best drama. Allison Janney won best supporting actress, her co-star Bradley Whitford won best supporting actor and Thomas Schlamme won the directing gong. Later, Miss Janney, who plays the White House press secretary, said: "It occurs to me at this time how proud I am to be on a show that celebrates the process of freedom that makes this country great." Edie Falco was best drama actress for her role as Carmela Soprano and James Gandolfini was best actor. Sex in the City took the Emmy for best comedy series. James Gandolfini was British actor and director Kenneth Branagh's portrayal of Nazi general Reinhard Heydrich, the architect of the final solution, in Conspiracy, won him an Emmy for lead actor in a mini-series or movie.

Cadfael star Sir Derek Jacobi also won an award for his guest role in American sitcom Frasier. A tribute was read out to Frasier creator David Angell, who was on board one of the planes which hit the World Trade Center.

Another British actor, Brian Cox, won an Emmy for supporting actor in the mini-series or movie category for his role in Nuremberg.

For the finale, Hollywood showed it still has the knack of pushing sentiment to the point of bad taste with a closing performance of You'll Never Walk Alone by Barbra Streisand in front of a swaying choir and a candlelit wall covered in the names of victims of the 11 September attacks.