Monarch of the Glen (TV)

It isn't very often that we get a chance to see a successful television series produced by BBC Scotland but 'Monarch of the Glen' is a clear winner. Monarch is a difficult show to categorize but for Americans who are familiar with our own 'Northern Exposure' from the early 1990's, we have a good starting point for understanding the premises of 'Monarch.' 'Monarch' takes place in the remote Scottish Highlands which smack of central Alaskan wilderness but with far better scenary. Both shows have a goofy cast of characters and involve a central player who is a successful, more or less, big city type who find himself thrust into wildnerness life. In the case of Exposure, a New York City doctor that must intern in the Alaskan wilderness to pay for school or in Monarch's case, a London restauranteur who must return to the highlands to rescue his family's estate.

However, before you connect the two shows too much, Exposure manage to ruin itself becoming lost in its obvious racial vendetta against all people native and by eventually becoming unable to maintain a coherent universe lost in all of the patently absurd characters that they were using. Monarch does not do these things. Monarch manages to bring the audience into a personal connection with the quirkly cast of highland characters. Don't be surpised if you find yourself planning a vacation to Scotland or even calling your handy UK real estate agent looking for a manor house of your own.

Monarch makes the most of the Scotish scenary, both the landscape and Dawn Steele who found fame through the show and is now considered Scotland's most beautiful native. The show is centered around the relationships of the people who live and work at Glenbogle and the show is an interesting, if unrealistic, look into Scotish life and entertainment. Not everything about the show is wonderful. Some of the characters are too over the top weird, obtuse and/or anoying and often act very unrealistically which can make any show hinting at drama lose a touch a respectability. But the show is immensley enjoyable none the less and well worth a time investment. But be sure to watch it on a good monitor - the show is shot in HDTV with a 16:9 ratio that is preserved on the DVD and it really matters for a show like this one.