VENGEANCE UNLIMITED. 'STAR TREK' GOES 'INTO DARKNESS'

From the fires of hell he came. The mysterious John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) threatens our STAR TREK heroes in INTO DARKNESS. Images: PARAMOUNT.

The majestic benevolence of the United Federation of Planets is threatened by one of their own-a deranged madman and an ex-Star Fleet officer with a thirst for bloody vengeance. John Harrison is his name, and death and destruction incarnate are his weapons of choice against them. London, England has already fallen victim to his first vicious, totally unexpected attack, and now a greater threat looms against the men and women in the upper echelons of Federation power whom he feels has betrayed him. Cunning, clever and resourceful, there is surely only one man capable of stopping him-the equally formidable, risk-taking firebrand that is the newly promoted Captain James T. Kirk, and his not quite legendary yet crew of the starship Enterprise, still getting used to each other as a team and eventual family unit, after their first perilous but successful mission against the time altering Romulan baddie, Nero. At first in this complex and evolving battle of wits - a chess game with the universe at stake- Kirk underestimates Harrison, and doesn't quite realise just how dangerous and merciless he will be, but as a cataclysmic series of events and the bodies of innocent lives and friends/members of the Enterprise crew pile up, might our intergalactic icon finally be out of his depths against an adversary so powerful?

No room with a view. Kirk (Chris Pine) confronts Harrison in the Enterprise brig.

Star Trek Into Darkness - International Trailer (HD) - YouTube
Star Trek FIRST LOOK: New Star Trek Into Darkness Trailer
Star Trek Into Darkness Official Teaser Trailer + Trailer Review : HD PLUS - YouTube
Star Trek Into Darkness Official New Look - YouTube

A fiery fate awaits Spock (Zachary Quinto) in the film's exciting 3D opening.

Re-introducing our classic STAR TREK heroes, and reinvigorating them and their adventures to a wider audience had been the primary goal for director J.J.Abrams in his first box office breaking 2008 foray playing within the vast universe created by the late Gene Roddenberry. Now the filmmakers want to build on that previous success, to keep that fanbase growing further in popularity more than ever before, developing the epic adventure and storytelling sophistication with bigger, bolder action and adventuresome events that will test and shape our heroes lives (from the trailers alone there are so many soon-to-be classic moments: THE GODFATHER PART III- esque shuttle attack on the Star Fleet Commanders (including new to the film series actor Peter Weller as Admiral Marcus, and the return of Bruce Greenwood as Kirk's mentor and friend, Captain Christopher Pike), speeding battles in and out of futuristic skyscrapers, and the breathtaking shots of the damaged Enterprise, after fierce battle against an overwhelming enemy cruiser, literally cashing into the San Francisco harbour, in a moment of pure Irwin Allen seventies disaster movie bravura), plus their further character inter-action/ development, notably the continued relationship between the often impetuous and spirited Kirk (Chris Pine, brilliantly cast in the role, and a fine successor to William Shatner) and the more rational but not totally logical Spock (a subtly intense Zachary Quinto). As icons return, new ones come along to keep the relationship sparks flying (Alice Eve brings her shapely form to bear, definitely setting male phasers to stunned, as Kirk's new romantic interest, Dr. Carol Marcus (who, in classic TREK history, will go on to bear his son, David)), daughter to Peter Weller's character. Above all else, though, Abrams and writers importantly bring in a unique new villain truly capable of testing good guy mettle, likely to be the best since Ricardo Montalban's Khan Noonian Singh, in the intriguing casting of Brit star Benedict Cumberbatch-Harrison's deadly agenda an example of the kind of dark and weighty issues plucked from today's news headlines that form such a vital part of the STAR TREK morality play mantra that Roddenberry and his writing team previously dedicated themselves to in the sixties. The idea of a Federation officer or Star Fleet Captain gone rogue has been done before in the series many incarnations, but this looks set to open things up with a fresh new perspective, adding deeper shades of grey and harder edging to the unfolding story and its settings.

Hello boys! Carol Marcus (Alice Eve) undresses to impress in the latest film trailer!

How many redshirts will survive this encounter?

Also featuring a much anticipated appearance from the new-look alien warriors, the fierce Klingons (whose scenes in the previous TREK movie were sadly cut for time and pacing), and delivering an emotional ending where you'll really need to clutch a hankie to wipe the tears away, it certainly looks like they'll be something for everybody when INTO DARKNESS makes its stunning 3D realisation this May. It should prove an intriguing scene-setter for fans anticipating Abrams boldly taking the reins of the STAR WARS universe, too, what with the director now whisked off into the spacial lands of George Lucas's fairytale for its next epic instalment, due for release in 2015/2016. Though have no fear, modern TREK lovers: Abrams will be back to control the destiny of TREK's third, likely final adventure, even if its from the producers officer rather than being directly behind the camera lens...

Star Trek Into Darkness - Official Trailer #3 (HD) Benedict Cumberbatch - YouTube

Check out the latest issue of EMPIRE magazine for their great INTO DARKNESS special material.

OFFICIAL FACEBOOK PAGE: Star Trek

KOOL TV CLASSIC IMAGE: THE DARK SIDE OF PARADISE - 'LOST'

Another side of hell? The survivors of LOST. Image: ABC TV.

It may have sharply divided fans and critics alike with its wrap up finale episode, but the fantasy/drama of the stranded survivors of the doomed Oceanic Flight 815 - LOST - remains one of US TV's greatest achievements-exceptionally well cast (so few modern series ensembles get this crucial factor so right) and inspirationally written (kudos to Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse for surviving the long haul and taking so many spot-on story-telling risks), beautifully made by a dedicated team within the stunning vistas of Hawaii (putting the holiday hotspot back on the map as a place to make Hollywood entertainment). The opening episode's spectacular and frightening plane crash alone remains one of the best and most exciting, edge-of-your-seat sequences achieved in television ever.

And with polar bears, "The Others", the Dharma Initiative, submarines, time-warps, flashbacks and flash forwards, the mysterious Jacob and "Old Smokey" soon becoming a compulsive part of the shows rich tapestry (and a firm fixture capturing modern pop culture), within a place where anything could and did happen-forcing our heroic and vulnerable characters to undergo many critical life-altering decisions, LOST proved itself far and above any previous Robinson Crusoe-ish ideas seen on the big or small screen...

Catch the epic series now, on the UK incarnation of NETFLIX: Watch Lost Online | Netflix

REMEMBERING JIMMY BOND. INTO THE 50's TV WORLD OF 'CASINO ROYALE'...

They call him "Jimmy"! James Bond (Barry Nelson) makes his first TV appearance in Casino Royale. Images: MGM/SONY TV.

Sixty years ago this April, way back in 1953, Ian Fleming's quest to write the ultimate spy novel, originally springing from his imagination in order to quell the depression of his impending marriage,  had become a popular success with the reading public, as James Bond, working ever bravely on behalf of Her Majesty's Secret Service, arrived at the Casino Royale in France to do battle over the venue's legendary gambling tables against his cold-hearted, cash needing enemy Le Chiffre (the pattern of events loosely based on some of Fleming's own experiences in and outside Word War II). But the travel writer turned author's desire to make more lucrative financial stability for himself and see his determined fictional hero of soon iconic proportions- his mirror image in so many ways- make it to the silver screen would ultimately prove less than successful and not the sure-fire thing he'd hoped it would, and should, have been. Despite all the great ingredients, the sex and violence mixed with the international jet setting locations of the time that had been so prevalent in that terrific and thrilling premier novel, Casino Royale, no one in the less ambitious early post war era of film-making land wanted to take the risk with the exciting adventure- thinking that its final realisation could so easily end up as being potentially sub B-movie-esqe material.

The stakes are high for Bond against the villainous Le Chiffre.

So desperate would Fleming be to get his super cool, supercharged character into live action reality, he decided that television was the only other avenue open to him: notably on the transatlantic side- American television being the most dominant and commercially viable, so when the chance became available for Casino Royale to be made into a one-off production (with the possible option of further adventures should it take off), within the anthology play strand of what could now be considered the rather fruitily titled Climax! Theatre, on the CBS television channel, he decided to let them do it (for the then purchasing sum of $1,000!), though just how aware Fleming would be of the changes that would be made to his hero and parts of the overall story, in the lead-up to its overall production, are unknown.

Unwilling to then have a British actor/character as their main star on an American series (attitudes that would thankfully change and become more common place from the eighties onwards),  CBS chiefs unfortunately demanded James Bond change his nationality and bring his patriotism to Uncle Sam instead. He was now "Jimmy" Bond, working for the shadowy Combined Intelligence organisation, played with cautious heroism by amiable actor Barry Nelson, then one of US television's most familiar faces. Though hardly in the Connery/Craig tradition of beefcake attitude and sly humour we've all become accustomed to over the years, Nelson, despite the unfortunate Jimmy moniker, isn't bad in the starring role, often handling the material well, playing it for real and knowing when to be serious and dangerous. Like the Dalton and Craig eras to come, he also brings some vulnerability and rawness to Bond at times and is much underrated- better than you think as the story enters its violent finale. On of cinema noir's greatest supporting actors, big-eyed, egg shaped Peter Lorre, well known for playing great villains and creepy anti-heroes of the time (especially against Humphrey Bogart), is well cast as Bond's opponent, Le Chiffre-desperate and dominant in his efforts to win his money and take out the enemy American agent at all costs. Its a real shame that Lorre couldn't have been a villain in one of the sixties Connery movies- he would've fitted it into all magnificently. Linda Christian provides the essential 50's glamour-all flowing dresses, cigarettes and immaculate hair (like one of those icy cool blonde's who could have walked out of a Hitchcock thriller) as Bond's former love, and French based policewoman/agent, Valerie Mathis (her name changed from the books Vesper Lynd-the first true Bond woman, though she remains an agent ultimately captured in order to make Bond vulnerable). Fleming originally had the character of Rene Mathis acting as Bond's go-between during the high-stakes mission- in the TV adaption, however, he is no longer present, instead replaced by a kind of not quite, but almost there, cliched British version of what would later become CIA agent Felix Leiter - Clarence Leiter, confidently played with a stiff-upper lip quality by Michael Pate - the very way that American audiences expect British characters to be played-even in todays TV environment!

Helped by Valerie Mathis (Linda Christian), Bond keeps his gun skills ready...

Overall, this first adaptation, competently handled by Charles Bennett and Anthony Ellis, has no location filming, its 48 minute duration realised in an entirely all-studio bound setting which actually proves quite atmospheric in its smoky B/W way. Many key sequences of Fleming's tale are preserved and the gambling table scenes are well done. The book's dark finale, featuring the then controversial testicles beating/torture of Bond is obviously excised-way too much for any faint-hearted TV audiences of that time to watch on screen, instead replaced with an effective and intimidating sequence where Bond is tortured in a hotel room bath, his feet damaged by Le Chiffre and his goon squad bodyguards. Thankfully, despite his injuries, Bond gets the edge and takes revenge, finally killing Le Chiffre. Gripped in Valerie's arms, a drained Bond has won the day, as the end titles abruptly cut in.

Airing live on October 21st 1954, with a pre-credits introduction hosted by William Lundigan, Casino Royale's first TV production is, I feel, genuinely under-rated, better than a lot of the soapbox selling TV of that point, briskly handled by director William H. Brown Jr. It proved a moderate success with American audiences apparently, but didn't garner enough enthusiasm from the network to want to commission a full series order for Bond's subsequent adventures (despite Fleming being asked a few years later to come up with some further potential story ideas for a series). Failing to launch 007 into new heights of international popularity, it was ultimately back to the drawing board for Bond and his first exciting adventure, its rights later sold to producer Charles K. Feldman, who turned it into a popular and wildly colourful comic book spoof in 1967, before today's iconic producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, who had been steering Bond into a successful movie-making period of modern box office dominance in the 2000's, finally got their hands on the rights to the title, hurtling  the at first controversially chosen Daniel Craig into a spectacular new era for the character and the film franchise- Bond's license to kill had now never been more bloody and exciting, and a true testament to Fleming's imagination and thrill-seeking craftsmanship...

But before Craig, before Brosnan, before Moore, before them all, there was Barry Nelson-the first James Bond. Lost in time for the most part of its life (its not quite complete film print missing in television limbo, eventually recovered in the nineties), and either largely forgotten or deliberately ignored by die-hard fans worldwide, this original version of Casino Royale, regardless of how it looks in today's fast-paced, more sophisticated storytelling, shows the potential of things to come with Fleming's spy, in an interesting, if not classic, curiosity...

casino royale 1954 full film - YouTube

KOOL TV REVIEW: 'A LIFE IN FILM - PETER CUSHING'

The celluloid legend of film and TV great Peter Cushing lives on....

A LIFE IN FILM - PETER CUSHING

Written and compiled by David Miller

Published by TITAN BOOKS


Reviewed by Scott Weller


One of Britain, and the worlds, greatest screen icons in portraying villainy and heroism, the late, great actor Peter Cushing finally gets the definitive film and TV biography celebration to be savoured, in David Miller's fully revised, nicely compiled release from TITAN BOOKS: A Life in Film - Peter Cushing.

Richly comprehensive (some of his lesser known films very well researched by the author), layered in an easy prose style, accompanied by a veritable wealth of fascinating behind the scenes material (featuring anecdotes from many of the actor's friends in front of and behind the camera, as well as previously unpublished correspondence from Cushing himself), rare colour and B/W photographs, poster art, magazine covers and behind the scenes material from far and wide, this fine, talented man, so loved by audiences, never got the true recognition and appreciation by the industry which I've always felt he deserved, though this book goes a long way in compensation-specially released to coincide with the centenary of his birth.

Cushing as Van Helsing, bringing light to the darkness of DRACULA. Image: HAMMER.

As the eccentric scientist Doctor Who in DOCTOR WHO AND THE DALEKS. Image: STUDIOCANAL.

Over thirty very special years from the fifties to the seventies, so many of us had gotten used to him playing ambitious, devious, sinister and sometimes cruel people in many of his star roles in age defying classics from the HAMMER and AMICUS horror stables, and for his thoroughly nasty and uncompromising role, brief but so effective, as STAR WARS world destroying Grand Moff Tarkin, but, in actuality, the real-life individual that was Peter Cushing was one of the nicest, friendliest, most thoughtful and charming of people you could ever meet, respecting of his co-stars and the behind the scenes teams around him. At home in the studio or the theatre, loving and enjoying of his craft. Indeed, beyond the villains, let's not forget the many kind and sympathetic heroes he played on screen, too, including highly successful film and TV turns as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's great detective Sherlock Holmes, the definitve version of vampire Count Dracula's very human, often quick thinking nemesis, Doctor Van Helsing, and as the warm and eccentric grandfatherly interpretation of a more Earthbound DOCTOR WHO, for two very popular and colourful big screen adaptations of mid-sixties Dalekmania, now a firm fixture of our summer holiday weekend TV reruns for families of all ages to enjoy.

On television as Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles. Image: BBC.

As the cruel Grand Moff Tarkin in STAR WARS. Image: LUCASFILM LIMITED.

Everything you could ever want to know about Cushing is here, especially a fine section on his early career as an actor (and the many incredible rising stars he would be working with), his well-received stage work, entering the production mill of the British film industry at its peak, whilst alternating TV work, including many fine BBC dramas (especially Nigel Neale's and Rudolph Cartier's prestigious and chilling adaptation of George Orwell's terrifying vision of Earth's future: 1984), and his arrival into the gothic masterpieces of sex and violence, very strong for their day, that were the HAMMER HORROR films, followed by the more sublime but no less intriuging AMICUS films, many of which were anthology tales and saw Cushing playing an even more diverse range of roles. Into the mid-seventies and up to his death, he'd also enter the worlds of science fiction and fantasy, what with his aforementioned role in the world box office busting sci-fi/fantasy fable that was STAR WARS, and joining Doug McClure in an incredible journey fighting the underground monsters and villains that lay AT THE EARTH'S CORE. Busy right up to his sad passing in 1994, Cushing's work, never out of vogue and always finding new audiences and admirers, was the subject of many documentaries and interviews, whilst he himself continued being a true humanitarian, bringing his talents to numerous worthwhile efforts within his home grounds of Whitstable, Kent.

In between this fine and memorable body of work, we discover a lot more about Cushing beyond his acting, especially his devotion for his late wife, Helen, whose death in 1971 he never really recovered from. There are some very touching moments recalled here- theirs is one of the truest and most genuinely heart-breaking love stories you will ever find, adding further to our appreciation of the man-his mystique and his all-round genuine human decency.

Featuring an affectionate foreword from Cushing's HAMMER co-star Veronica Carlson, A Life in Film is a very worthy book that all fans of the actor will thoroughly enjoy, especially horror fans, who'll have plenty to get their teeth sunk into here.

KOOL TV RATING: 4.5 out of 5

Get hold of the book here: Peter Cushing: A Life in Film: Amazon.co.uk: David Miller: Books

UNFINISHED BUSINESS. 'STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS' - THE FINAL SEASON ON UK TV

An uncertain future for our Jedi heroes, and the animated saga that is STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS. Images: LUCASFILM ANIMATION.

Sadly cut off in its creative prime-the result of LUCASFILM now under ownership to a scythe swinging Mickey Mouse at DISNEY- and abruptly three seasons short of bringing its full story and evolving character arcs to a close in the build-up to the defining live-action events of EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH, STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS final twenty episode fifth season (reduced from the normal twenty-two) makes its eventual debut on UK shores via the CARTOON NETWORK, starting in daily weekday strips from Monday 8th April.

Artoo Detoo and co. go out on a bold new adventure.

Lightsaber clashes galore in the season opener, Revival.

With more complex and involving multi-episode length adventures than ever before, this last bow mostly focuses on the popular character created specifically for the animated series, Ahsoka Tano-Padawan Jedi in training to the universe known Anakin Skywalker, as we see her personal arc come to an overall satisfying ending, but with the door far from fully closed. Against her partaking in the rebellion of the popular STAR WARS Expanded Universe realm of Onderon against the evil Separatist threat- its world full of colourful flying dragons capable of giving GAME OF THRONES Daenerys Targaryen's little pups a flying run for their money- there's also growing resentment building towards the Jedi Knights in their forced participation of the long waging conflict, leading to sabotage and murder, of which our plucky heroine is soon caught up in its complications as an investigator. Meanwhile, venerable Obi-Wan Kenobi faces off against the evil Sith renegades Darth Maul and Savage Opress for control of the important neutral world of Mandalore (leading to the first proper appearance of the evil Sith Lord mastermind Darth Sidious, wielding his lightsabers in spectacular style for one exhilarating action set piece), and, for the prime benefit of younger viewers, two lengthy arcs which see diminutive frog alien Yoda and Ahsoka training a group of various species Padawans into a destiny that soon has them partaking in a dangerous mission beyond the safety confines of the Jedi Temple, whilst heroic Astro Droid and all-round favourite of the entire STAR WARS saga, Artoo Detoo, becomes part of an elite cadre going into enemy territory in order to retrieve a vitally needed piece of code encryption technology.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 5 Trailer - YouTube

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Season 5 Finale Trailer - IGN Video

Out of the shadows, Darth Sidious emerges. Fight!

Filled to a Gundark's nest with epic battles, old and new characters galore (including the first on-screen appearance of the reptilian space Cosa Nostra- The Black Sun crime cartel), spectacular planetary vistas and fun for all the family, though younger viewers may find things getting a little intense towards the end of the run (especially with the demise of certain characters), THE CLONE WARS ends on a generally strong and successful note, well handled by the series overall animation supervisor Dave Filoni, but its axing-to make way for all-new animated and live-action STAR WARS content, some of it non George Lucas created (starting up in a few years time)- has left a decidedly, and understandably sour and frustrated taste in the mouths of many die-hard fans who have loved this supreme space saga for so long... 

Plans to release the remaining completed but unaired episodes of THE CLONE WARS Season Six will be announced shortly. In the meantime, there is a loyal fan campaign beginning its sterling action in trying to persuade DISNEY to change their mind about the hit series. Check it out here: Save The Clone Wars

Get hold of the complete Seasons One to Four of THE CLONE WARS, here: Star Wars: The Clone Wars - The Complete Seasons 1-4 Blu-ray Region Free: Amazon.co.uk: Film & TV

A UNIFYING FORCE. 'ANDROMEDA' ARRIVES ON UK DVD AND BLU-RAY!

Into the fray: Kevin Sorbo as Captain Dylan Hunt and Lisa Ryder as Beka Valentine, in Gene Roddenberry's sci-fi epic: ANDROMEDA. Images: Revelation Films.

Despite the eventual incredible success of his sci-fi brainchild, the original, classic STAR TREK, once it finally became a bona fide worldwide hit in daily TV syndication, the early to mid-seventies would prove to be a time of personal frustration and overall disappointment for Gene Roddenberry, as his attempts to carve out new success beyond the adventures of Captain Kirk and crew met many hurdles within Hollywood. Several sci-fi series ideas made it to television pilot form but sadly never became full series orders, whilst other fascinating series concepts fell into limbo until after the time of his sad passing in 1991, when Hollywood finally realised, with the emergent success of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION on the goggle box from the late eighties, how the overall genre he had helped to revolutionize had now come back into viewing success. One such late project, the intriguingly named ANDROMEDA, would finally make it to the light of reality in October 2000, made by the Canadian Tribune Entertainment company after the previous success their rival, Alliance: Atlantis, had bringing another one of Roddenberry's "forgotten" series outlines, Battleground: Earth, to the screen in 1997- as the memorable EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT.

Beyond the futuristic environs of Earth and its peoples relationship with the newly arrived Taelons, ANDROMEDA had the overall potential to be a bigger, bolder beast than EARTH, and more in the best STAR WARS tradition, mixed with the humanity and excitement that had previously made Classic TREK such a success back in the day. There was no United Federation of Planets about in this new series, but rather a spacially vast Commonwealth, now fallen into chaos and destruction after a once prosperous start. From its ashes comes the starship Andromeda, its crew once suspended in galactic hibernation thanks to the effects of a black hole, and its reawakened legendary commander, Dylan Hunt, determined to bring peace and stability back to the cosmos with his ideals of bravery, brotherhood and working together for the common good. All leading to lots of opportunities for action, weird and wonderful aliens and civilisations, and CGI pyrotechnics along the way...

Andromeda (2000) - TV series - YouTube

Swapping his HERCULES leathers of old time Earth history for a brave new future beyond the final frontier, Kevin Sorbo gives the launched series the commanding presence it needs: his dedicated fan base helping to propel the shows popularity across five seasons up to 2005. Amongst his crew are a worthy bunch of well known Canadian acting faces, including Lisa Ryder, Laura Bertram, Keith Hamilton Cobb and the very sexy Lexa Doig, playing the ships holographic computer/crew liaison avatar, Rommie.

The first series, developed by modern STAR TREK series veteran Robert Hewitt Wolfe, finally arrives on UK DVD, and, even better, in glistening picture-perfect Blu-ray from next month, courtesy of Revelation Films, where I'm sure it'll be a big hit for them. Let's hope that ANDROMEDA's success also secures the way for them to release the entire five season run run of EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT, too-something yet to happen in the UK.

Get hold of ANDROMEDA Season One here: Andromeda - Season 1 [UK BD] [Blu-ray]: Amazon.co.uk: Kevin Sorbo, Marion Elfman, Paul Johansson, Lisa Ryder, Bill Croft, Malcolm Stewart, Keith Hamilton Cobb, Gordon Woolvett, Lexa Doig, Laura Bertram, Brent Stait, Nels Lennarson, Gerard Plunkett, Steve Bacic, Linnea Sharples, Allan Kroeker, Allan Eastman, David Warry-Smith, Richard Flower, Michael Robinson, Brad Tuner, Brenton Spencer: Film & TV

THE GREAT PERSUADERS! 'MAD MEN' SEASON SIX.

The world according to Don Draper (Jon Hamm). MAD MEN returns. Image: AMC.

"Are you alone?"

Three little enticing words spoken from the lips of an inquisitive and beautiful single woman which act like the ultimate red rag to a bull. The "bull" in this case being the enigmatic, just can't help himself playboy that is sixties ad-man supreme, the cool demeanoured Don Draper-back on his sublime self-annihilistic course of self-distraction and pleasure, played once again to perfection by Jon Hamm, in the new sixth season of Matthew Weiner's critically acclaimed MAD MEN, back on SKY ATLANTIC HD from Wednesday 10th April, transporting us with ease to the dying world that is the stylish and evocative late sixties: a heady brew of neon, nicotine and nylons.

Draper's supposed to be a renewed man- seemingly happily married to a younger woman, Megan (Jessica Paré), herself on the eve of her own career, but the burnt out ashes of past mistakes in his life and career continue to haunt his self obsessed frame. His work at Sterling Cooper Draper proves more intense than ever, the competition both internally and externally closing in like a pack of tigers (his once secretary/protege, Peggy (Elisabeth Moss), now in a league of her own), whilst the suicide of his former colleague, Lane Pryce (Jared Harris), continues to exert a hefty toll of guilt on his mind and spirit.

Just where will the ever-changing and evolving march of time into the dreary early seventies send our chain-smoking, chain-drinking anti-hero? And as the series weaves itself towards its finale years, will he soon be on the endangered species list like so many of the once distinctive brands he helped to create?

Stylish, provocative and an intriguing time capsule of the men and women who made the world to their own image, MAD MEN continues to strike a chord with viewers, whom love their quality television sharply cut.

Mad Men Season 6 Sneak Peek [EXTENDED] - YouTube

Official AMC FACEBOOK page for the series: Mad Men