Mad Men: Trailer, certificate and where to watch
Glamorous series set in the world of 1960s advertising in Manhattan
Year: 2007-2015
Certificate: 15
Mad Men is set in a fictional New York advertising agency between 1960 and 1970. Its central character is Don Draper (Jon Hamm), a hard-drinking philanderer with a mysterious past and a lovely young wife, Betty (January Jones), and family. Draper's days are spent wooing new clients, devising cunning ad campaigns and bedding anything with a pulse and perfume.
The subject matter shouldn't really be this engrossing, but the 1960s is an era in which the sexism and racism were casual, a shot of whisky before noon acceptable, and everyone was permanently wreathed in cigarette smoke, like Dot Cotton in EastEnders. That description makes it all sound less than glamorous, but the opposite is true when you actually watch Mad Men, from the glorious wardrobe and the detail on the sets to the look of the stars themselves. Suave but rough-edged Don had women goggle-eyed, while Christina Hendricks's voluptuous secretary Joan also set pulses racing.
That all leaves aside the real story of this show - because Mad Men isn't really about Don, as fascinating as he is. It's the story of Peggy, the woman who starts as his secretary but goes on to become an ad woman in her own right. Peggy is played by Elisabeth Moss, who went onto greater success of her own in The Handmaid's Tale. (Seven series)
