The Return of Mad Men

I've barely been able to pick up a newspaper or magazine in the last week, which hasn't featured an article on the return of the US Drama Mad Men.

There's been a huge amount of coverage mainly because it's been almost 18 months since Season 4 ended. The wait for season 5 has created a huge wave of anticipation.



My highlight of Tuesday's episode. Don's new wife Megan singing Zou Bisou Bisou

I got into Mad Men a few years after it first aired in 2007. The reason for that was that my attention had been taken up watching the Sopranos and then The Wire. You can only watch one critically acclaimed US drama at a time.

I always knew I'd love Mad Men. It's a slow burner of a drama, where nothing overly spectacular ever seems to happen, but things are always happening in a quiet understated way.

Shows like Mad Men are like telly novels, which appeals to me. Unlike in films you've got so much time in which to explore characters and storylines, there's a real sense of depth to the show.

Although the show is set in the advertising world of the 1960's - at times it feels like that's just a backdrop.

Sometimes I wonder what the show is really all about, but then I think it's just about people. Different people and their lives and characters and at the centre of it all is the enigmatic Don Draper.

It's an incredibly stylish looking programme and it's set at an interesting time. The 1960s is now an era that's still close enough for many people to remember and identify with; but at the same time it's becoming quite distant.

Watching the show, you're reminded that political correctness didn't exist, there's the rampant sexism, and the endless smoking and drinking. It's like looking at an old version of our selfs and seeing just how much we've changed.

After such a long wait, I will eagerly be tuning into Sky Atlantic every Tuesday night at 9:00.