The Mayfair Set

The Mayfair Set, subtitled Four Stories about the Rise of Business and the Decline of Political Power, is a BBC television documentary series by filmmaker Adam Curtis. It looks at Britain's decline as a world power, the invention of asset stripping in the 1970s, and how buccaneer capitalists shaped the climate of the Thatcher years, focusing on the rise of Colonel David Stirling, Jim Slater, Sir James Goldsmith and Tiny Rowland—members of London's elite Clermont Club in the 1960s. It won a BAFTA Award for Best Factual Series or Strand in 2000.[1]

The Mayfair Set
Title screen
Written byAdam Curtis
Directed byAdam Curtis
Annabel Hobley
Theme music composerJohn Barry (theme from Vendetta, BBC 1966–68)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original language(s)English
No. of series1
No. of episodes4
Production
Executive producer(s)Stephen Lambert
Producer(s)Adam Curtis
Annabel Hobley
CinematographyDavid Barker
Michael Eley
Running time240 mins (in four parts)
Production company(s)BBC
Release
Original networkBBC Two
Original release18 July (1999-07-18) –
8 August 1999 (1999-08-08)
Chronology
Preceded byThe Living Dead (1995)
Followed byThe Century of the Self (2002)

Episodes

Part 1. 'Who Pays Wins'

The opening episode focuses on Colonel David Stirling and the birth of the global arms trade in the 1960s.

Originally broadcast on 18 July 1999.[2]

Contributors

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

The rise of accountant, game theorist and asset stripper Jim Slater, who became famous for writing an investment column in The Sunday Telegraph under the nom de plume of The Capitalist.

Originally broadcast on 25 July 1999.[3]

Contributors
  • Sir Anthony Grant, Conservative MP 1964–97
  • Jim Slater
  • Malcolm Horsman, Executive, Slater Walker 1965–71
  • Andrew Coote, Manager, Cork Manufacturing 1965; son of Colonel Coote
  • Christopher Fildes, financial journalist since 1963
  • Una Mary Parker, Mayfair socialite, 1960s
  • John Aspinall
  • Brian Basham, financial journalist, 1960s
  • Eric Armitage, Chief Accountant, Lonrho 1969–72
  • Tiny Rowland (interviewed 1973)
  • Col. A. J. Aylmer, nephew of General Spears
  • Dr Mathias Mpande, Deputy Minister of Mines, Zambia
  • Terry Smith, City analyst
  • John Bentley, Head of Slater Walker satellite 1970–75 (archive)
  • James Goldsmith (archive)
  • Maj. Colin MacKenzie, member of Lonrho board 1961–73
  • Douglas Hurd, political secretary to Edward Heath 1968–75
  • Capt. Bill Wilming, Tiny Rowland's pilot 1968–91

Part 3. 'Destroy the Technostructure'

This episode tells the story of how Sir James Goldsmith, through a series of corporate raids, became one of the world's richest men, and a victim of his own success.

Originally broadcast on 1 August 1999.[4]

Contributors
  • G. Christian Andersen, banker at Drexel Burnham Lambert 1978–89
  • Steve Wynn, Chief Executive, The Golden Nugget
  • Tim Metz, financial journalist, Wall Street Journal 1966–89
  • Prof. J. K. Galbraith, economist
  • Ian Wilsdon, Executive, Crown-Zellerbach 1975–84
  • Scott Weldon, Executive, Crown-Zellerbach 1978–85
  • Don Engel, banker at Drexel Burnham Lambert, 1981–90
  • Al Dunlap
  • Tom Peters, management theorist (speaking 1986)
  • Gordon Binns, Head of Pension Fund, General Motors 1982–94
  • Ira Milstein, lawyer representing pension funds
  • Lord Spens, merchant banker, 1980s
  • Charles Woodward, Chief Executive of Pension Fund, British Airways 1984–91
  • Nick Fitzpatrick, Head of Pension Fund, British Rail 1976–86
  • Clive Gilchrist, Deputy Director of Pension Fund, Post Office 1978–87
  • Brian Crozier, private counter-intelligence operation
  • Roland Franklin, Finance Director; strategist to James Goldsmith
  • Rudolph Giuliani New York District Attorney 1986 (archive)

Part 4. 'Twilight of the Dogs'

By the late 1980s, the day of the buccaneering tycoon was over. Tiny Rowland, Sir James Goldsmith and Mohamed Al-Fayed were the only ones left.

Originally broadcast on 8 August 1999.[5]

Contributors
  • Derek Brightwell, Director, Bovril 1968–74
  • Sir David Scholey, merchant banker, S. G. Warburg & Co., 1960s
  • Lord Tebbit, Conservative government minister 1979–87
  • Lord Spens, Director of Morgan, Grenfell & Co. 1972–82
  • Larry Elliott, Economics Editor, The Guardian
  • Basil West, Finance Director, Lonrho 1973–79
  • John Beveridge QC, barrister to Tiny Rowland
  • Rowan Bosworth-Davies, Detective, Metropolitan Police Fraud Squad 1980–85
  • Mohammed Al Fayed
  • Anthony Howard, Deputy Editor, The Observer 1981–88
  • James Goldsmith (filmed 1992)
  • Edward Epstein, friend of James Goldsmith
  • Roger Seelig, merchant banker at Morgan, Grenfell & Co. 1978–87
  • Ian Greer
  • Andrew Roth, author: Parliamentary Profiles
  • Brian Basham, PR adviser to Mohammed Al Fayed
  • George Soros, currency speculator
  • John Aspinall

See also

References
  1. "BAFTA Winners 2000". BAFTA. Archived from the original on 19 October 2004.
  2. "The Mayfair Set - BBC Two England - 18 July 1999". BBC Genome. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  3. "The Mayfair Set - BBC Two England - 25 July 1999". BBC Genome.
  4. "The Mayfair Set - BBC Two England - 1 August 1999". BBC Genome.
  5. "The Mayfair Set - BBC Two England - 8 August 1999". BBC Genome.
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