In 1999, the BBC launched a weekly television series called “Monarch of the Glen,” based very loosely on some novels written by Compton MacKenzie. The series was wildly successful, not only in Britain, but on the European continent, in Australia and New Zealand, and, via BBC-America and PBS, in the United States. It ran for seven seasons, has been rerun since, and the BBC does a brisk business in DVDs. It has also spawned a cult of Monarch followers, who call themselves “boglies” because the series takes place at a Scottish estate called Glenbogle.
Two old pros anchor the series: Richard Briers plays Hector MacDonald, the Laird of Glenbogle, and Susan Hampshire plays his wife Molly. As the series begins, their son, Archie, is preparing to open an upscale restaurant in London when he hears that his father, Hector, has had an accident “in the loch.” Archie drops everything to catch the sleeper to Scotland and Glenbogle. There he finds his father just fine after his dunking, and Hector and Mollie seize the moment to inform Archie that, for tax reasons, they have made him the new laird of the 40,000-acre, near-bankrupt estate.
Archie wants none of this, but events conspire to keep him at Glenbogle, where he tries to right the sinking ship while romancing the local teacher, his old girlfriend up from London, and Glenbogle’s chief cook and housekeeper (shown with Archie, above). The acting is superb, the writing even better, and the scenery spectacular. (The fictional Glenbogle is actually a highland estate called Ardverikie, to which boglies make regular pilgrimages.)
What accounts for the extraordinary worldwide response to “Monarch of the Glen”? First, there is that writing, always wise and witty. Second, Briers and Hampshire are joined by a flock of fine young actors from the BBC’s seemingly limitless pool. Third, it is clean as a daisy – no steamy sex, no four-letter words, no violence. (But the series is not “Mary Poppins,” and most of it would be over the heads of small children.)
Seven seasons is an eternity in television, and actors must be written out of the story line when their contracts expire or when better opportunities call them away. (Richard Briers, after three seasons, left to spend more time with his grandchildren.) The writers coped with these comings and goings fairly well, but whenever a central character is dropped from the story, there is a palpable feeling of loss, which says something about the program’s hold on its audience.
The first five of the seven series are now available on DVDs, which are rentable from Netflix. Many boglies have bought DVDs of the final series from the UK, sometimes buying multi-region DVD players expressly for the purpose. You will also find a bustling trade in “Monarch of the Glen” DVDs on eBay.
This is a gem of a television series, and it will make you want to hop on the next flight to Scotland. I wholeheartedly recommend it.
