Crime drama Breaking Bad beat out Denmark's Borgen, Netflix's political drama House of Cards and French supernatural drama The Returned to win this year's Arqiva British Academy Television Award for best international program, The Hollywood Reporter said.

This year’s awards, dished out by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and regarded by the industry as the blue label TV nods, marked the first time web-based broadcasters were eligible to enter the race to the podium.

But despite Netflix's Kevin Spacey starrer House of Cards garnering a tilt at the international category, it was the Netflix-aired season finale of the Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul starrer Breaking Bad that secured the vote and got the accolade.

BAFTA’s TV awards aim to reward "the very best in television broadcast on British screens over the past year."

The ceremony was held at the Theater Royal Drury Lane in the British capital Sunday night. Channel 4's drama Southcliffe and the broadcaster's comedy The IT Crowd turned nominations into prizes.

The BAFTA for leading actor went to first-time nominee Sean Harris for his performance as Stephen Morton in Southcliffe, the drama about a small town’s shootings.

And The IT Crowd was rewarded in the both comedy performance categories, with Richard Ayoade and Katherine Parkinson winning their first BAFTAs for male and female performance in a comedy program respectively.

The BBC’s Broadchurch was the big winner as it picked up three BAFTAs, including the leading actress award for Olivia Colman for her turn in the cop drama.

The evening also saw the special award presented to Cilla Black, the entertainer, actress and singer, for her 50-year contribution to British television entertainment.

And the Fellowship, the highest accolade the academy dishes out, was presented to actress Julie Walters “in recognition of an exceptional contribution to television over 30 years and her ground-breaking work across a range of genres, from serious drama to comedy.”