As the pencil skirts and sharp suits return to our screens, Keeley Bolger hunts for spoilers

YOU’D think the cast of Mad Men would have plenty to say about their roles in the seventh and final series of the glossy drama, but they’re all being rather quiet. Could it be that they’re afraid of facing the wrath of Matthew Weiner, the creator and writer of the award-winning show, set in the hubbub of the advertising world of 1960s New York?

“The hardest part is keeping the guest cast quiet,” Weiner says, laughing. “They want to tell everyone they’re on the show, so we have to say, ‘Wait, and we’ll help you when the show comes out’. I threaten them not with violence, but with the only leverage I have, which is being replaced.”

When asked, the cast trot out a vague “all good things must come to an end” and it’s evident that neat conclusions are not expected for their characters.

“I don’t know that Matt Weiner would ever write any character a, quote unquote, happy ending,” says January Jones, 36, who plays buttoned- up Betty Draper Francis. I think we’re just going to end it at one moment in time. I don’t think Matt’s going to wrap anyone’s story up in a neat little bow.”

The new series will be split over two years, with seven episodes shown this year and seven in 2015. The last series saw Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, the advertising company at the heart of the series, merge with rival agency Cutler, Gleason and Chaough. On the home front, enigmatic leading man Don (Jon Hamm) cheated on his young wife Megan (Jessica Pare) with their neighbour – and had the misfortune of his teenage daughter Sally (Kiernan Shipka) walking in on them during a romantic clinch.

During the series six finale, an erratic and unusually revelatory Don was ordered to take an extended leave of absence after revealing that he was raised in a brothel. One cast member is hankering for at least a splash of happiness for her character.

“I want Peggy to be working and I want her to be successful,” says Elisabeth Moss, who’s played advertising whiz Peggy Olson, since the show started back in 2007. And the Californiaborn actress has compelling reasons for her wish: “I identify with her and I want what she wants, and I hope she gets that.”

At 31, Moss, also known for her role in haunting BBC Two drama Top Of The Lake, spent the best part of her 20s in Mad Men.

“I think Peggy’s gone through all the changes that anyone goes through between 23 to 31, which is my age,” she says of her character, who has been involved in several romances, bought her first home and has had to prove herself at work.

“Everything I know has come from Peggy.”

Many of the changes Peggy has gone through at work have been with Don, who first employed her as a secretary and then pushed her to use her talents to become a copywriter. Like all of his colleagues, Hamm, 43, is sad at the thought of hanging up Don’s sharp suits for good.

“I feel that at this point I know Don fairly well,” explains Hamm. “I’ve been playing him for almost a decade of my life and I’ve gone through a lot with our guy. It will be hard to say goodbye, but it’s important to say goodbye.

Things come to an end, good things especially.

“Whether it’s sending your kid off to college or going to college yourself, moving on is part of life and I think it will be emotional, but it will be cathartic.”