The Mayfair Set

The Mayfair Set

Title screen of The Mayfair Set
Format Documentary series
Directed by Adam Curtis
Produced by Adam Curtis
Written by Adam Curtis
Music by John Barry (theme from Vendetta, BBC 1966-68)
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Original channel BBC Two
Release date 18 July 1999
Original airing 18 July 1999
Running time 180 min (in four parts)
No. of episodes 4
Followed by

The Mayfair Set is a series of programmes produced by Adam Curtis for the BBC, first broadcast in four parts from 18 July 1999.

The programme looked at how buccaneer capitalists of hot money were allowed to shape the climate of the Thatcher years, focusing on the rise of Colonel David Stirling, Jim Slater, James Goldsmith, and Tiny Rowland, all members of London's Clermont Club in the 1960s. It received the BAFTA Award for Best Factual Series or Strand in 2000.[1]

Episodes

Part 1: Who Pays Wins

The opening episode, Who Pays Wins, focuses on Colonel David Stirling.

Part 2: Entrepreneur Spelt S.P.I.V.

The rise of Jim Slater who became famous for writing an investment column in The Sunday Telegraph under the nom de plume of The Capitalist.

Part 3: Destroy the Technostructure

This episode recounts the story of how James Goldsmith became one of the richest men in the world.

Part 4: Twilight of the Dogs

By the 1980s, the day of the buccaneering tycoons was over. Tiny Rowland, James Goldsmith, and Mohamed Al-Fayed were the only ones who were not finished.

References

External links