We voted Mad Men in our TV Top 20 last year, and there was good reason. It looked fantastic, the world chisel-jawed Don Draper operated in was seductive and cool, it had rich, simmering drama by the bucket loads (save for one ludicrous episode where the action was transported out of the offices of Sterling Cooper’s advertising agency to the Korean war), and the female performances were uniformly fantastic. In fact, that’s why I really liked Mad Men – despite the alpha males prowling around the advertising agency office, it was the women (January Jones and Christina Hendricks in particular) who provided the real emotional meat. So hurrah for the return of Mad Men to our screen for its second series!

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When the opening of this second series featured amaznian redhead Joan (Christina Hendricks) – surely the sexiest female character on TV – zips up a red dress and clips on some fancy earrings, I was in. Massively, so in.

The reason for Joan getting dolled up? Because Sterling Cooper, on valentine’s Day, has got itself a brand-new gizmo – a photocopier. This futuristic piece of office equipment caused quite a consternation in the office, gathering quite a crowd (little do they know that 45 years into the future, photocopiers would still be rubbish and keep breaking down). But that wasn’t the only thing that was causing consternation in the office – the men, a bit threatened by the arrival of Peggy to their male-only club of creatives, are speculating wildly why she had a significant time off work and returned considerably lighter. Of course, we know that Stinky Pete got her up the duff and she decided to get rid of it to further her career.

Meanwhile, International Man Of Mystery Don Draper started the series in brooding fashion. He visited the doctors to get a check up and was told he had to cut down on the booze and start living better (only to go off and have a large whiskey, a couple of dozen smokes and a fry-up), he’s challenged by his boss to come up with campaigns that target a younger audience and he’s already striding into creative meetings showing his team where they went wrong and what the product is really about within a nanosecond. Don Draper is still good.

But sod the work stuff. What I really wanted to know was how and Beautiful Betty were getting along. At the end of last series, their relationship was in meltdown. But as Betty emerged from the bathroom wearing jaw-dropping lingerie during a Valentine’s night stay in a posh hotel, I had to assume that everything was pretty good between the Drapers.

But then again, that’s what this show is all about – everything is slick and stylish and perfect on the outside, but take a peek underneath and everything is shot to bits. Soon enough Don was struggling in the bedroom department and old insecurities bubbled up to the surface. “Don’t worry, we have all night”, “Actually, we did drink quite a lot” and “Can’t you just show me what to do?” opined Betty in sympathetic fashion, as her husband went all moody again.

In a lovely scene, a television programme featuring Jackie Kennedy showing viewers around the Whitehouse not only demonstrated how the Kennedys were the must-see and must-watch couple of the era, but also acted as a neat linking device between all the main characters and their Valentine’s day activities – Joan was getting off with her latest young buck on the couch, but couldn’t help peering at the telly; Sal and his wife were chowing down and watching it in delight; and Don and Betty, now sitting up in bed, were watching it too. It’s this nice period detail that gives Mad Men its rich context.

Back at Sterling Cooper, Don went along with Duck’s idea to bring new, young blood into the company to rejuvenate some of the campaigns, even though he thought it was a bad idea. The existing creatinves – Harry, Pete, Ken and Paul – weren’t happy about it either. Especially when the new recruits turned up in chunky woollen rollnecks.

Towards the end of the episode, it seemed Don was also a bit of changed man. In a sparky exhange with Peggy, who was keen to impress her new boss, was told in no uncertain terms that it wasn’t sex that sold, it was the feeling behind it. And, in a lift scene where two guys were chatting about ladies’ pants (standing next to a very uncomfortable woman), he objected to them.

So Mad Men started off as its first series finished – nicely bubbling along, with hints at marital and peer group unrest. Except it didn’t quite just bubble along… in the final scene Betty, having broken down late at night and Don at home looking after the kids, pushes the boundaries of flirting with the mechanic.

Is Betty starting to contemplate a double life, with an extra portion of philandering?