Pan Am: swish drama from the BBC

Move over Mad Men, this one’s for the girls.

The BBC is sticking firmly in the fifties and sixties, offering another slice of retro-cool drama, perfect for fans of Mad Men and The Hour.

Pan Am, a glossy new series for BBC 2, will fly viewers back to 1963 and the dawn of a glamorous new era of luxury air travel. The series follows the lives of a group of Pan Am pilots and air hostesses as they take to the skies, crossing the globe in a jet-powered, seductive age, shaped by romance, shifting social values and international espionage.

Starring Christina Ricci as Maggie, a rebellious Beatnik, she is accompanied by a glamorous cohort of feisty flying females, including French stewardess Colette (Karine Vanasse), who has a penchant for unavailable men;  the spirited Kate (Kelli Garner) and her beauty queen younger sister, Laura (Margot Robbie).

These pre-feminist women form a powerful sisterhood, while enjoying the rare opportunity to travel outside of the country – something most women in this era can only aspire to – and one of the few career options that offers them freedom, empowerment and respect.

In this modern world, air travel represents the height of luxury, and Pan Am is the biggest name in the business. The planes are sleek and glamorous, the pilots are heroic and the stewardesses are the most desirable women in the world.

Not only are they young and good-looking but representing Pan Am means they also have to be educated, cultured and refined. They're trained to handle everything from in-air emergencies to unwanted advances – all without rumpling their pristine uniforms or mussing their hair.

Welcome aboard and fasten your seat belts... Adventure awaits!

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