MOTG Synopsis
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MOTG Synopsis |
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Monarch of the Glen takes place in the Scottish Highlands and the show was filmed on location amid the picturesque scenery. It is about the aristocratic MacDonald family that lives in a castle on a 42,000 acre estate. The patriarch of the family and Laird of Glenbogle, the somewhat anachronistic Hector, will not sully himself with trade, and consequently is greatly in debt to the bank and facing eviction. His wife, Molly, only a little more practical than her husband, has the sense to call home their only surviving son, Archie, to save them from disaster. Archie reluctantly returns to find to find that the estate has been deeded to him, and he is now the monarch of the glen.
For 3 seasons Archie fends off his antiquated father with one hand while holding his creditors at bay with the other. With the help and occasional hindrance of the estates 3 workers: Golly (head ghillie), Duncan (assistant ghillie) and Lexie (cook and maid) he is able to put the estate back in the black. During this time he also woos and loses two girlfriends (Justine and Katrina) before proposing to and being accepted by Lexie. Their joy is marred by Hector's death in an explosive fishing accident.
In season 4, Archie and Lexie marry, Molly is wooed by and rejects Hector's best friend, Lord Kilwillie, and she becomes friendly with new neighbor Andrew. Most significantly, Paul, another son of Hector's that nobody knew about, shows up looking for his father. After his initial shock, Archie guardedly accepts his new brother, but Molly does not. Paul returns to his post in the army.
In season 5, Paul has left the army and returned to Glenbogle. Archie allows him to work and live on the estate and eventually takes him in as a partner. This is a mistake as the two can never agree on anything. Meanwhile Golly's daughter, Jess, has just finished University and has taken up permanent residence with her dad. Archie's eccentric sister Lizzie comes for a visit and convinces Archie that he should climb a mountain in the Himalayas with her in honor of their deceased father. Archie uses this as an excuse to leave the job he never really wanted to the brother he couldn't get along with. Although Lexie was originally going to join them, she decides to stay behind, and for awhile, becomes the lady laird.
By season 6, both Archie and Lexie have left to start a new life in New Zealand. Now laird, Paul allows Hector's fast-living brother, Donald, to be placed under house arrest on the estate for his numerous speeding tickets. Donald and the teenage cook, Ewan, become fast friends and make no end of trouble for Paul. Jess is now working on the estate and coupled with Duncan. Meanwhile, Golly is seeing a younger woman, the dance instructor, Meg, who becomes pregnant by him. Paul embarks on a rocky relationship with his feisty tenant, Isobel.
By season 7, Isobel has returned to Edinburgh, where she came from and Meg has died while giving birth to baby Cameron. Jess helps her father in his role as single parent and Molly helps by falling in love with Golly. Ewan has fallen for Paul's god-daughter, Amy, and Paul nearly lets his new attraction, Iona, slip away before he tells her that he loves her. By the last episode even Donald and Kilwillie have girlfriends and Hector returns one more time, as a ghost, to give his blessing to Molly and Golly's engagement. Sadly, Archie and Lexie do not return for one more appearance, as many fans had hoped.