# The Mayfair Set > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Mayfair_Set > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Mayfair_Set.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mayfair_Set > Source revision: 1345991443 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 1999 British TV series or programme The Mayfair Set Title screen Written by Adam Curtis Directed by Adam Curtis Annabel Hobley Theme music composer John Barry (theme from Vendetta, BBC 1966–68) Country of origin United Kingdom Original language English No. of series 1 No. of episodes 4 Production Executive producer Stephen Lambert Producers Adam Curtis Annabel Hobley Cinematography David Barker Michael Eley Running time 240 mins (in four parts) Production company BBC Original release Network BBC Two Release 18 July (1999-07-18) – 8 August 1999 (1999-08-08) Related The Living Dead (1995) The Century of the Self (2002) ***The Mayfair Set***, subtitled ***Four Stories about the Rise of Business and the Decline of Political Power***, is a [BBC](/source/BBC) television [documentary](/source/Documentary) series by filmmaker [Adam Curtis](/source/Adam_Curtis). It explores the decline of Britain as a world power, the proliferation of [asset stripping](/source/Asset_stripping) in the 1970s, and how buccaneer capitalists helped to shape the climate of the [Thatcher](/source/Margaret_Thatcher) years, by focusing on Colonel [David Stirling](/source/David_Stirling), [Jim Slater](/source/Jim_Slater_(accountant)), [Sir James Goldsmith](/source/James_Goldsmith) and [Tiny Rowland](/source/Tiny_Rowland)—members of London's elite [Clermont Club](/source/Clermont_Club) in the 1960s. It won a [BAFTA Award](/source/BAFTA_Award) for Best Factual Series or Strand in 2000.[1] Curtis wanted to engage with the [moral ambiguity](/source/Moral_ambiguity) of figures such as Goldsmith.[2] ## Episodes ### Part 1. 'Who Pays Wins' The opening episode focuses on Colonel [David Stirling](/source/David_Stirling) and the birth of the [global arms trade](/source/Arms_industry) in the 1960s. Originally broadcast on 18 July 1999.[3] #### Contributors - [Charles Gordon-Lennox, 10th Duke of Richmond](/source/Charles_Gordon-Lennox%2C_10th_Duke_of_Richmond), friend of David Stirling - [John Aspinall](/source/John_Aspinall_(zoo_owner)) (filmed 1971) - Maj. Bernard Mills, ex-SAS; commander in [Yemen Operation](/source/North_Yemen_Civil_War#British_involvement_1962.E2.80.931965) - Colin Campbell, friend and business partner of David Stirling - [Said Aburish](/source/Said_Aburish), Arab historian - Col. Johnny Cooper, ex-SAS; commander in Yemen Operation - [Lord Healey](/source/Denis_Healey), Minister of Defence 1964–70; Chancellor of the Exchequer 1974–79 - Geoffrey Edwards (archive), Saudi-based arms dealer - [Lord Caldecote](/source/Robin_Inskip%2C_2nd_Viscount_Caldecote), Director, [English Electric](/source/English_Electric) 1953–69 - [Sheikh Ahmed Yamani](/source/Ahmed_Zaki_Yamani), Saudi Energy Minister (interviewed 1974) - [Victor Lownes](/source/Victor_Lownes), head of British *[Playboy](/source/Playboy)* 1966–81 - [Marilyn Cole](/source/Marilyn_Cole), receptionist at Clermont Club 1974–77 - Mayfair resident (filmed 1974) - Col. [David Stirling](/source/David_Stirling) (filmed 1974) - [Kate Losinska](/source/Kate_Losinska), Head of [Civil and Public Services Association](/source/Civil_and_Public_Services_Association) 1979–82 - Dr Mohammed Abu Shadi, Head of [Arab Investment Bank](/source/Arab_International_Bank) (filmed 1976) - Ronald Ellis, Head of [Ministry of Defence Arms Sales](/source/Defence_Export_Services_Organisation) (filmed 1977) ### Part 2. 'Entrepreneur Spelt S.P.I.V.' The rise of accountant, game theorist and asset stripper [Jim Slater](/source/Jim_Slater_(accountant)), who became famous for writing an investment column in *[The Sunday Telegraph](/source/The_Sunday_Telegraph)* under the *nom de plume* of The Capitalist. Originally broadcast on 25 July 1999.[4] #### Contributors - [Sir Anthony Grant](/source/Anthony_Grant_(politician)), [Conservative](/source/Conservative_Party_(UK)) MP 1964–97 - [Jim Slater](/source/Jim_Slater_(accountant)) - Malcolm Horsman, executive, [Slater Walker](/source/Slater_Walker) 1965–71 - Andrew Coote, manager, Cork Manufacturing 1965; son of Colonel Coote - Christopher Fildes, financial journalist since 1963 - [Una-Mary Parker](/source/Una-Mary_Parker), [Mayfair](/source/Mayfair) [socialite](/source/Socialite), 1960s - [John Aspinall](/source/John_Aspinall_(zoo_owner)) - Brian Basham, financial journalist, 1960s - Eric Armitage, chief accountant, [Lonrho](/source/Lonmin) 1969–72 - [Tiny Rowland](/source/Tiny_Rowland) (interviewed 1973) - Col. A. J. Aylmer, nephew of [General Spears](/source/Edward_Spears) - Dr Mathias Mpande, Deputy Minister of Mines, [Zambia](/source/Zambia) - [Terry Smith](/source/Terry_Smith_(businessman)), City analyst - John Bentley, head of Slater Walker satellite 1970–75 (archive) - [Sir James Goldsmith](/source/Sir_James_Goldsmith) (archive) - Maj. Colin MacKenzie, member of Lonrho board 1961–73 - [Douglas Hurd](/source/Douglas_Hurd), political secretary to [Edward Heath](/source/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](/source/James_Goldsmith), through a series of [corporate raids](/source/Corporate_raid), became one of the world's richest men, and a victim of his own success. Originally broadcast on 1 August 1999.[5] #### Contributors - G. Christian Andersen, banker at [Drexel Burnham Lambert](/source/Drexel_Burnham_Lambert) 1978–89 - [Steve Wynn](/source/Steve_Wynn), Chief Executive, [The Golden Nugget](/source/Golden_Nugget_Las_Vegas) - Tim Metz, financial journalist, *[Wall Street Journal](/source/Wall_Street_Journal)* 1966–89 - Prof. [John Kenneth Galbraith](/source/John_Kenneth_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](/source/Albert_J._Dunlap) - [Tom Peters](/source/Tom_Peters), management theorist (speaking 1986) - Gordon Binns, Head of [Pension Fund](/source/Pension_Fund), [General Motors](/source/General_Motors) 1982–94 - [Ira Milstein](/source/Ira_Millstein), lawyer representing pension funds - Lord Spens, merchant banker, 1980s - Charles Woodward, Chief Executive of Pension Fund, [British Airways](/source/British_Airways) 1984–91 - Nick Fitzpatrick, Head of Pension Fund, [British Rail](/source/British_Rail) 1976–86 - Clive Gilchrist, deputy director of Pension Fund, [Post Office](/source/Post_Office_Ltd) 1978–87 - [Brian Crozier](/source/Brian_Crozier), private [counter-intelligence](/source/Counterintelligence) operation - [Roland Franklin](/source/Roland_Franklin), Finance Director; [strategist](/source/Strategist) to [James Goldsmith](/source/James_Goldsmith) - [Rudolph Giuliani](/source/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](/source/Tiny_Rowland), Sir [James Goldsmith](/source/James_Goldsmith) and [Mohamed Al-Fayed](/source/Mohamed_Al-Fayed) were the only ones left. Originally broadcast on 8 August 1999.[6] #### Contributors - Derek Brightwell, Director, [Bovril](/source/Bovril) 1968–74 - [Sir David Scholey](/source/David_Scholey), merchant banker, [S. G. Warburg & Co.](/source/S._G._Warburg_%26_Co.), 1960s - [Lord Tebbit](/source/Norman_Tebbit), Conservative government minister 1979–87 - Lord Spens, Director of [Morgan, Grenfell & Co.](/source/Morgan%2C_Grenfell_%26_Co.) 1972–82 - [Larry Elliott](/source/Larry_Elliott), Economics Editor, *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)* - Basil West, Finance Director, Lonrho 1973–79 - John Beveridge QC, barrister to Tiny Rowland - Rowan Bosworth-Davies, Detective, [Metropolitan Police](/source/Metropolitan_Police) [Fraud Squad](/source/Fraud_Squad_(UK)) 1980–85 - [Mohammed Al Fayed](/source/Mohammed_Al_Fayed) - [Anthony Howard](/source/Anthony_Howard_(journalist)), Deputy Editor, *[The Observer](/source/The_Observer)* 1981–88 - [Sir James Goldsmith](/source/Sir_James_Goldsmith) (filmed 1992) - [Edward Epstein](/source/Edward_Jay_Epstein), friend of James Goldsmith - Roger Seelig, merchant banker at Morgan, Grenfell & Co. 1978–87 - [Ian Greer](/source/Ian_Greer), British political lobbyist - [Andrew Roth](/source/Andrew_Roth), author: *Parliamentary Profiles* - Brian Basham, PR adviser to Mohammed Al Fayed - [George Soros](/source/George_Soros), [currency speculator](/source/Speculation) - [John Aspinall](/source/John_Aspinall_(zoo_owner)) ## See also - *[Let's Make Money](/source/Let's_Make_Money)* (2008) - [*Inside Job*](/source/Inside_Job_(2010_film)) (2010) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-bafta_1-0)** ["BAFTA Winners 2000"](https://web.archive.org/web/20041019021706/http://www.bafta.org/television/archive_2000.htm). [BAFTA](/source/BAFTA). Archived from [the original](http://www.bafta.org/television/archive_2000.htm) on 19 October 2004. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Can't Get You Out of My Head w/ Adam Curtis"](https://shanny.tools/api/hosted/red_scare/CantGetYouOutofMyHeadwAdamCurtis.mp3). *Red Scare Podcast* (Podcast). 16 February 2021. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["The Mayfair Set – BBC Two England – 18 July 1999"](http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/e4784fcba45643a0be081ddfddccac7b). [BBC Genome](/source/BBC_Genome). 18 July 1999. Retrieved 21 October 2015. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["The Mayfair Set – BBC Two England – 25 July 1999"](http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/9b499912027b45c399e7602b7a7c691e). BBC Genome. 25 July 1999. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["The Mayfair Set – BBC Two England – 1 August 1999"](http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/8ad0e5173dfd4fc6bf2fa01a61ab627c). BBC Genome. August 1999. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["The Mayfair Set – BBC Two England – 8 August 1999"](http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/dfa3f275baa849fdafa4a9af38931d25). BBC Genome. 8 August 1999. ## External links - [*The Mayfair Set*](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p073k9s0) at [BBC Online](/source/BBC_Online) - [*The Mayfair Set*](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283201/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier)) - [*The Mayfair Set*](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtPP_-rkrT3D-9HZkN0BAgMS1F1ODLQES) playlist on [YouTube](/source/YouTube_playlist_(identifier)) - [*Mayfair's Wheel of Fortune*](https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1999/jul/16/features11.g21) at *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)*, 16 July 1999 v t e Documentaries by Adam Curtis Films Inside Story: The Road to Terror (1989) £830,000,000 – Nick Leeson and the Fall of the House of Barings (1996) It Felt Like a Kiss (2009) Bitter Lake (2015) HyperNormalisation (2016) Series An Ocean Apart (1988) Pandora's Box (1992) The Living Dead (1995) Modern Times: The Way of All Flesh (1997) The Mayfair Set (1999) The Century of the Self (2002) The Power of Nightmares (2004) The Trap (2007) All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace (2011) Can't Get You Out of My Head (2021) Russia 1985–1999: TraumaZone (2022) Shifty (2025) v t e BAFTA TV Award for Best Factual Series The Death of Yugoslavia (1996) The House (1997) The Nazis: A Warning from History (1998) The Human Body (1999) The Mayfair Set (2000) Britain at War in Colour (2001) Horizon (2002) The Trust (2003) The National Trust (2004) The Power of Nightmares (2005) Jamie's School Dinners (2006) Ross Kemp on Gangs (2007) The Tower: A Tale of Two Cities (2008) Amazon with Bruce Parry (2009) One Born Every Minute (2010) Welcome to Lagos (2011) Our War (2012) Our War (2013) Bedlam (2014) Gogglebox (2015) The Murder Detectives (2016) Exodus: Our Journey to Europe (2017) Ambulance (2018) Louis Theroux's Altered States (2019) Leaving Neverland (2020) Once Upon a Time in Iraq (2021) Uprising (2022) Libby, Are You Home Yet? (2023) Lockerbie (2024) To Catch a Copper (2025) See No Evil (2026) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Mayfair Set](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mayfair_Set) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mayfair_Set?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.