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 February 2000 and October 2005 with 64 episodes in total. 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. The series 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 that series is called The Monarch of the Glen, which was a reference to the famous painting of the same name by Landseer. 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. Filming took between six and eight months per series in the Badenoch and Strathspey area of the Scottish Highlands, in particular at Ardverikie House, which was the location for the fictional "Glenbogle House". Series synopses Series 1 While trying to carve a living out of the London restaurant he runs with his girlfriend Justine, Archie MacDonald is called back to his Highland home, as his father Hector is dying. When he arrives, he finds that the news was a ploy by his mother, Molly, to get him to Scotland. He learns he has inherited his father's title and estate, Glenbogle. Archie faces a tough decision: whether to help the debt-ridden Glenbogle or to return to Justine in London. Archie meets the local school headteacher, Katrina Finlay, with whom he begins a complicated friendship. The feisty staff of Glenbogle — Lexie, Golly, and Duncan — also prove hard to handle. Archie negotiates a deal with the bank and tries to find ways out of debt. Pressured by Justine to return to London, he decides to sell his share in the London restaurant and stay on at Glenbogle. Justine relents and decides to join Archie. Series