Golden Globe awards get under way

The Golden Globe awards ceremony has begun in Beverly Hills, the first major ceremony in the awards calendar, the BBC reports. 

Whiplash star JK Simmons won the first award of the night, for best supporting actor in a motion picture.

Downton Abbey star Joanne Froggatt was the first British winner, collecting the prize for best supporting actress in a TV series.

You can follow our live coverage throughout the ceremony here and on the @BBCNewsEnts twitter account.

British stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne are going head-to-head for the best movie actor prize for their roles in The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything.

Rosamund Pike and Felicity Jones also compete in the best actress category.

Both are newcomers to the ceremony, with Pike shortlisted for the thriller Gone Girl, and Jones for The Theory of Everything.

Most observers agree that two films stand to share the majority of the awards: Boyhood, which was filmed by Richard Linklater over 12 years to capture the growing pains of a young American boy; and Birdman, the tale of a washed up movie star, shot by director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu in what appears to be a single continuous take.

The TV categories also see Downton Abbey challenge big-budget US shows like Game of Thrones and The Good Wife for the title of best TV drama.

But, to the shock of many observers, the critically-lauded advertising drama Mad Men failed to receive any nominations for its seventh, and final series.

Organized by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the Golden Globes recognize both film and television.

It is the first major show of an awards season that culminates in the Oscars next month.

The show is being hosted for the third consecutive year by comedians Amy Poehler (Parks and Rec) and Tina Fey (30 Rock).

According to the latest information, Richard Linklater film Boyhood has taken top honours at the Golden Globe awards.

The movie, which took 12 years to make, won best film drama, with Linklater named best director and Patricia Arquette best supporting actress.

British actor Eddie Redmayne won best actor in a drama for his role as physicist Professor Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything.

British actresses Joanne Froggatt and Ruth Wilson also collected prizes.

The awards, which honour both film and TV, saw Froggatt win best supporting actress in a TV series for her role in Downton Abbey.

Wilson was named best actress in a TV drama for The Affair.