In celebration of its 20th anniversary, Drama airs the first series of Monarch of the Glen. The magnificent Cairngorms are the beautiful backdrop as Archie MacDonald (Alastair Mackenzie) tries to get to grips with being the new laird of a huge decaying family estate in the Highlands of Scotland.
Glenbogle is one of the largest sporting estates in the Highlands. Archie will be the feudal landlord over 40,000 acres, 200 tenants, a house that makes Balmoral look like a cottage, and with an overdraft to match. To make matters worse, his aged eccentric parents, Hector (Richard Briers) and Molly MacDonald (Susan Hampshire), come as part of the furniture, and feisty local schoolteacher Katrina Finlay (Lorraine Pilkington) is determined to make things as difficult as possible for Archie.
As the series opens, for tax reasons, Hector and Molly hand over ownership of the rundown Glenbogle estate to their 28-year-old son Archie. And Molly has also rigged things so that escape back to his London bistro is not on the menu. So Archie must stay to solve two crises: a crooked estate-manager, and the rustling of valuable osprey eggs.
Airdate: Thursday 20 February 2020 at 3.20pm on Drama.
Season 1 Episode 1