BBC series Monarch of the Glen is officially being revived with a brand-new cast – and female lead – 21 years after coming to an end.
Channel 5 is behind the reboot and is hoping the show will follow in the footsteps of All Creatures Great and Small, which was successfully relaunched in 2020. It’ll be produced by PBS Masterpiece as well as Ecosse Films, the production company behind the original series, which ran from 2000 to 2005.
Monarch of the Glen will switch the gender of the lead character played by Alastair Mackenzie in the BBC edition.
Instead of city restaurateur Archie MacDonald, this new iteration will focus on lawyer Isla Campbell, played by Julia Brown (Karen Pirie), who, upon returning to the Scottish Highlands for her father’s funeral, discovers she’s inherited his debt worth £1m, putting the family estate at risk.
Bridgerton actor Chris Fulton and Downton Abbey’s Phyllis Logan have also joined the cast alongside Ewan Miller, Rishi Nair, John Gordon Sinclair and Gordon Kennedy.
Brown said she is “so excited to be stepping into the world of Monarch of the Glen and bringing Isla Campbell to life”. She called the character “ambitious, sharp and fiercely independent”, adding: “Returning home to Scotland forces her to confront her past, her family and a future she never expected.”
Logan described starring in the new series as “a real privilege”, because the show “holds such a special place in people’s hearts”.
She hailed the show’s scripts as being “full of wit, warmth and wonderful characters”, stating: “I’m delighted to be working alongside this brilliant cast and crew. It will be great fun to welcome audiences back to Scotland.”
A Very Royal Scandal’s Jeremy Brock is the creator of the reboot, writing alongside Stephen Greenhorn, who recently worked on Netflix series Dept Q. Episodes will be directed by Tom Vaughan.
Monarch of the Glen is loosely based on Compton Mackenzie’s Highland Novels, which are set in the 1930s and 1940s, with the series serving as a contemporary version of the story.
The show was a Sunday night staple for six years, but was axed soon after ratings hit an all-time low in 2004. Several cast members who had left during the run – including Richard Briers, Hamish Clark and Downton Abbey and Gilded Age creator Julian Fellowes – returned for the final episode.
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