As Mad Men draws to a close tonight on US television screens, it's hard to quantify just how much of an impact the show has had on both the television landscape and popular culture.

It's been a huge influence on fashion, advertising and revived everything from short-skirts and thin ties to obscure music acts from the time period.

All that said, it's also given us some truly memorable characters down through the years. Here's our ten favourite characters from Mad Men.

Spoilers ahead if you're not up to date!

 

10. LANE PRYCE

Yes, he was a bit of a git for stealing all that money and, sadly, he decided to take his own life in one of the most harrowing sequences of the entire series. Jared Harris' nuanced performance made it all the more riveting. Favourite scene? That time he and Don got drunk and watched Godzilla. Or when he beat the crap out of Pete Campbell.

 

 

9. STAN RIZZO

Although he started off as a bit of a chauvinist, Stan became cool around about the time he grew that awesome beard. He's sarcastic, sure, but aren't they all? Also, we're desperately hoping the final season will see Peggy and Stan finally get together. It's gotta happen, right? 

 

8. BERT COOPER

Bertram Cooper's role became more diminished as the series wore on, but he acted as the voice of calm logic in a business that was dominated by emotions and personalities. For our money, his final scene was one of the greatest endings we've ever seen in any TV series of the last ten years.

 

7. JIM CUTLER

If ever Mad Men had a villain, it was Jim Cutler. The slick, bespectacled head of Cutler, Gleason & Chaugh became a regular in the fifth and sixth season and was hell-bent on forcing Don out and bringing resident creep Harry Crane in. We loved to hate him, but damn did we love his suits.

 

6. JOAN HARRIS

She may have been the Office Sexpot, but Joan's role and character has shifted over the course of the season to become the real matriarch of Sterling Cooper. Self-possessed, intelligent, she's never been anything but endlessly entertaining to watch and was responsible for one of the most taboo subjects in the series when she was effectively prostituted in order to win a major account.

 

5. SALLY DRAPER

There's a theory that the show wasn't about Don, but in actuality, about Sally Draper. In any case, Sally's always been the most honest character in the series and that's saying something. A child, then a teenager - in a world full of adults who, at the time, were looked up to as role models.

 

4. BETTY FRANCIS

Betty Draper / Francis has been one of the key players in Mad Men from the very beginning. Through her prism, we've seen the rampant sexism that occurred through the 1960s, the liberalisation of women's role in society and the diminishing role of the housewife in modern times. She's been severe, brutal, but never boring.

 

3. DON DRAPER

Why isn't Don Draper at the top of our list, you ask? Look, it's like this. Draper's story, although the main arc of the entire series, fizzled out quite some time ago. He went off the rails, he got himself back on the rails, he started over, he fell apart. Now, in the final season, we're seeing him excising all that he was and is headed for some quasi-mystical finale where he becomes his true self. Really? OK, but what we really want to know is...

 

2. PEGGY OLSON

...what happens to Peggy Olson? She's consistently been the most interesting thing in Mad Men. Much like Betty and Joan, we've seen the sixties through their eyes and it's been an experience. Going from meek secretary to chain-smoking copy chief has been awesome. All hail Queen Peggy.

 

1. ROGER STERLING

It's reasonable to assume that Roger Sterling and the actor John Slattery at the same person. It's not just that he has the best lines in the series or the sharpest wit, it's that he's so damn talented at what he does. Yet, for whatever reason, he squanders it and roams the office, flirting with random secretaries and making quips here and there. Yes, he has the same existentialist problems that Draper has, his position in society is drastically changing and he is - deep down - unsure of himself, but he's so damn entertaining to watch.