Damian Lewis is named best actor, while Dame Maggie Smith and Adele are also honoured at the first major film awards of the year.

Homeland star Lewis dedicated his win for best television actor to his mother.

“I’d like to dedicate this to my mum, looking down on me bursting with pride telling everyone around her how well her son is doing in acting,” he said.

The hit US series later won best drama.

Dame Maggie was the first Briton of the night to win, as she took best supporting actress in a TV miniseries for her role as Violet Crawley in ITV’s Downton Abbey.

But the veteran actress, who did not attend the ceremony in Los Angeles, missed out on a second gong for best actress in a comedy or musical in her latest film Quartet.

Adele gushed “oh my God” repeatedly as she took to the stage with co-writer Paul Epworth to collect her award for best original song for a motion picture for their theme tune to the James Bond adventure Skyfall.

She then offered her gratitude to the group that presents the Globes, saying: “I’d like to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press. I never thought I’d say that.”

Two favourites won the top actor honours – Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln and Hugh Jackman for Les Miserables.

Lincoln  – which led the nominations with seven – failed to pick up any other awards.

Iran hostage drama Argo picked up Globes in two prestigious categories with best picture and best director for Ben Affleck, who was overlooked in the Oscar nominations.

Jessica Chastain won, as expected, best actress in a drama for her role as a young female CIA agent who tracks down Osama bin Laden in thriller Zero Dark Thirty.

The Golden Globes gives a separate accolade for best musical or comedy film, which was won by Tom Hooper’s film of stage hit Les Miserables.

Jackman’s co-star Anne Hathaway was named best supporting actress.

Quentin Tarantino took best screenplay for his film Django Unchained, while Christoph Waltz took best supporting actor for his role in the film.

Amour, directed by Austria’s Michael Haneke, won best foreign film.

Jodie Foster, a seven-times Globe nominee and two-times Oscar winner, received the Cecil B DeMille Award for lifetime achievement.

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