Monarch of The Glen (TV Series)

Monarch Of The Glen (TV series)

Monarch of the Glen is a British drama television series produced by Ecosse Films for BBC Scotland and broadcast on BBC One for seven series between 2000 and 2005.

Monarch of the Glen is loosely based on Sir Compton Mackenzie's Highland Novels, which are set in the same location but in the 1930s and 1940s. The first book in the series is called The Monarch of the Glen (with a conscious reference to the famous Landseer stag painting). The television drama has been heavily criticised for its "liberty-taking", particularly as Mackenzie, a co-founder of the Scottish National Party, was satirising the pretences of Scotland's thoroughly anglicised nobility. The first five series of Monarch of the Glen told the story of young restaurateur, Archie MacDonald, trying to restore his childhood home in the Scottish Highlands, starring Alastair Mackenzie, Richard Briers, Susan Hampshire and Dawn Steele, whilst the final two series of the show focused on new Laird Paul Bowman trying to modernise the estate, primarily starring Lloyd Owen, Tom Baker, Alexander Morton and Susan Hampshire.

Several storylines were inspired by, and closely resemble {{Original research}}, three series of a reality television programme called Country House by Tiger Aspect Productions for BBC Two, featuring the 14th Duke of Bedford and his family's daily life at Woburn Abbey.

The series was created by Michael Chaplin and produced by Nick Pitt, Paddy Higson, Jeremy Gwilt, Stephen Garwood and Rob Bullock. The show saw many directors, most notably Edward Bennett, Richard Signy, Rick Stroud and Robert Knights; and many writers including Chaplin, Niall Leonard, John Martin Johnson, Leslie Stewart and Jeremy Front. The series premiered in February 2000, and its seventh and final series was broadcast from September 2005 until October 2005—with 64 episodes in total.

The series is currently repeated on British digital channel ITV3.