At Christmas I was given the first series of the American hit – Mad Men. I have to confess, at first I found it a bit slow. But as I watched more episodes it has grown on me. I have just finished the boxed set.

The show is about a bygone era. An era where smoking in offices was perfectly normal (I remember that!) and where men ruled the roost and the women-folk typed. Mad men may have some characters whose traits are pushed for TV, but there is an authenticity to it which shows just how much the world has moved on. I’m not sure I have seen a drinks cabinet in an office for many years!

The series has really captured the imagination – you can imagine that a New York ad agency was really like the show it portrays. The excesses and laddish behaviour are a stark contrast to the office of today. There were characters which I am not sure we see so much of now. Our world is sometimes rather sanitised by rules and regulations, of things that you can’t say or do. I’m not advocating that we return to this sort of world!

So, I now need to get onto Series 2,3,4 and 5…