The gritty cable drama Durham County and the CBC miniseries The Englishman's Boy" ruled over the sexy historical series The Tudors at the Gemini Awards last night, picking up multiple trophies at a glitzy televised event recognizing the most high-profile categories of the TV awards.

Durham County, which airs on the Movie Network and Movie Central, earned three awards, including best actor for Justin Louis, best actress for Helene Joy and best direction for Holly Dale.

CBC's The Englishman's Boy was named best dramatic miniseries, while its star Nicholas Campbell took the best actor title. Those wins were in addition to four Geminis it picked up at a ceremony last month.

Former 90210 hunk Jason Priestley hosted last night's star-studded party, while current 90210 star Shenae Grimes was among the homegrown luminaries that appeared as presenters.

The best drama series was the Vancouver-based Intelligence, a CBC crime show that was cancelled earlier this year despite being embraced by critics.

Meanwhile, the rock 'n' roll mockumentary Cock'd Gunns, an IFC show, won for best writing in a comedy series and best ensemble performance in a comedy.

The glamorous night put the spotlight on the industry's most coveted awards, but most Geminis were handed out last month at a series of non-televised ceremonies.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers' King Henry VIII drama The Tudors on CBC was among the big winners in those categories, netting four trophies. Other early winners included the CBC's The National, The Fifth Estate and Hockey Night in Canada, which each snagged three trophies.

Yesterday, CBC's news parody This Hour Has 22 Minutes beat out CTV's ratings giant Corner Gas for best comedy, while George Stroumboulopoulos was named best talk show host for his night-time chatfest, The Hour With George Stroumboulopoulos, also on CBC.

The best actress trophy for work in a dramatic program or miniseries went to Natasha Henstridge, who appeared in CTV's Would Be Kings.

CBC's Ron MacLean was named best sports host for his duties on Hockey Day in Canada, while Ian Hanomansing won the trophy for best anchor for CBC's supper-hour newscast in Vancouver. Project Runway Canada on Slice was named best reality program or series.

Citytv's 19th century detective series Murdoch Mysteries had led the pack with 14 nominations overall but walked away with just two wins in the non-broadcast portion of the awards.