In 2007 a new TV series went to air – “Mad Men”. It was called Mad Men because it was about the, mostly, men in the advertising industry on Madison Avenue. The series was the creation of Matthew Weiner. He’d been one of the writers on the The Sopranos series. The other actors in the series were unknowns. Jon Hamm was the first amongst them.

Mad Men had a slow start. The first season wasn’t popular with the audiences. But importantly it was popular with the critics – who says critics never do anything good! It picked up the Golden Globes for the Best Drama Television Series, the Best Actor (Jon Hamm). That year it also picked up a total of six other awards. Those successes got the series into the public eye.

Springing from those successes the series went on to another 6 seasons. It’s success let AMC, the production company that made the series, produce other hugely popular series like “Breaking Bad”, “The Walking Dead” and “Better Call Saul”.

The advertising industry on Madison Avenue owes its existence to the maddest man of all. The maddest man in World War 2. A Scotsman by the name of David Ogilvy. His career came from the vital work he did as a spy for England in World War 2. He worked with Ian Fleming (the creator of James Bond), Roald Dahl (famous children’s author – think “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”) and a man called Intrepid (the code name for William Stephenson) – that’s who these Danger Zone programmes are all about.

Tag words: David Ogilvy; Confessions of an Advertising Man; Madison Avenue; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson; Lewis Carroll; Through the Looking Glass; Jennet Conant; The Irregulars; Oxford University; Fettes College; Keith Feiling; Great Depression; Aga stoves; C.F. Hathaway Company; Ellerton Jetté; Lewis Douglas; President Roosevelt; Baron George Wrangell; Dr Gallup; Arrow Shirts; Ethel Barrymore: Ruth Gordon; Harpo Marx; Katherine

Hepburn