Rose d'Or Awards: Cancelled comedy Raised By Wolves wins best sitcom

Raised by Wolves was produced by Big Talk Productions for Channel 4

A comedy series which was cancelled by Channel 4 has been named best sitcom at the prestigious Rose d'Or Awards.

Raised By Wolves, which was written by Caitlin Moran and her sister Caroline and based on their upbringing, was shelved by Channel 4 after two series.

It was one of a number of UK winners at the Berlin ceremony, which drew its nominees from across Europe.

BBC Two's Inside No 9, written by and starring Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, was named best comedy.

Caitlin Moran accepted the best sitcom prize for Raised By Wolves

In other categories:

• BBC One's River, a six-part detective series created and written by Abi Morgan, won the best drama prize

• ITV's Pick Me, presented by Stephen Mulhern and narrated by Roy Walker, won the game show award

• The Real Marigold Hotel, a BBC Two documentary starring Miriam Margolyes, Wayne Sleep and Jan Leeming, took home the reality and factual entertainment trophy

• BBC Radio 4's The Abuse Trial was honoured in the audio stories category

• Amazing Grace, a BBC 6 Music documentary about Grace Jones fronted by Gemma Cairney, won best music show

Gemma Cairney presented Amazing Grace, which won the music show prize

John Cleese was honoured with a lifetime achievement award for his outstanding contribution to the entertainment industry.

In his acceptance speech, Cleese said television executives and channel controllers should place more faith in writers and performers to deliver success.

He said: "When Monty Python was commissioned, we didn't really know what we were going to do but we were trusted. The talent has a better record than the suits, so why don't they bear that in mind?

"The trouble with executives isn't that they have no idea what they are doing, but that they have no idea that they have no idea."

John Cleese accepted the lifetime achievement award in person at the Berlin ceremony

Non-British winners included Swedish public service broadcaster SVT, which won the entertainment prize for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016.

The ceremony was hosted by BBC radio presenter Paddy O'Connell.

The Rose d'Or Awards were established in 1961, honour the best online content and radio and TV shows from the previous year. The awards are open to submissions from around the world.

The UK has triumphed in the best sitcom category every year since the awards began, with winners including Friday Night Dinner, Peep Show, Extras, The IT Crowd and The Inbetweeners.