Customer Reviews

Monarch of the Glen: The Complete Collection

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is addictive stuff. My social life has suffered for the last 2 weekends and my house is reaching the level of candidacy for "Clean House".

I had seen a jumble of episodes on tv, but between PBS begathons when the show was pre-empted and business committments I wasn't able to see the entire series and get the full flavor of it.

I love the series, the characters,and the scenery. I want to live in Glenbogle! The characters and story lines sort of suck you in.

If you buy the complete series be prepared. Don't make any unbreakable appointments or committments. It's hard to "put down"

Monarch of the Glen is an entertaining mix of comedy and drama with a contemporary, rural Scottish flavor. It is a little slow to hit its stride in the first season, but if you are patient, the characters will draw you in and keep you coming back for more. The gorgeous highland scenery is an added bonus. I highly recommend purchasing and watching it!

Finally - the entire series! Been catching random seasons, or portions of seasons on local PBS station - having the complete set is heaven. Beautiful scenery and settings, humor and drama. Wonderful to have the full story and character backgrounds. Sit down with a cup of tea and immerse yourself!

Those who like Ballykissangel will enjoy this series. We have not viewed the entire series yet, but it is very well written, acted and the scenery is spectacular. Quirky like Northern Exposure! Enjoy!!

I have watched five of the seven seasons of this series (there is a change of cast in the last two).

The cast is a first rate collection of characters: feisty lord of the manor Hector; charming upper crust wife Molly; rebellious son Archie whose title is thrust upon him; a castle full of eccentric family retainers. For the first two seasons, the stories mainly involve their day-to-day fights and resolutions. Outside visitors rarely come off well. The 'city dwellers', such as Archie's girl-friend and business partner from London, are invariably selfish, conniving, scheming social climbers who are soon defeated by the 'honest values' of the country.

By the third season -- after Hector's death at the hands (or should I say paws) of his dog -- the series becomes a caricature of itself, not to mention cloying, contrived, and without the easy humor which characterized the first two. At first, Archie (good-looking Alastair Mackenzie) flirts with all the girls and they fight over him. In the third season, he marries exuberant housekeeper Lexie, who was delightfully confrontational and fun for two seasons, teasing all the boys and bringing them down a peg or two. She becomes a shrewish, over-protective, jealous ball-and-chain. Similarly, inexperienced houseman (with double-digit IQ) Duncan is cute and cuddly at first, but becomes simply foolish and annoyingly inept -- even dangerous. In one episode he manages to get the castle bombed and its contents burgled. In another he backs into a public van, drives off while it rolls down the hill and crashes into a tree, then blithely wanders off to let everyone else take the blame. When he finds himself in a gay bar in Glasgow, his behavior -- no matter what the producers may think -- is offensive and stupid rather than humorous.

As far as the Laird of the manor is concerned, Archie rejects his role to begin with, charmingly so, but learns to love the broken-down old estate and gets the place back on its feet. After marriage, he becomes stubborn, patronizing, snobbish, secretive, uber-macho, and deaf to anyone's problems but his own. He unceremoniously evicts the estate's fifth-generation ghillie from his cottage to make way for a paying tenant, then lets him walk away when the poor man reveals that he has a debilitating eye disease. Archie relents in the end, of course, but only after way too much unnecessary anguish and condescension. Maybe there is something in the water, because even Archie's initially self-effacing half-brother becomes a pompous, overbearing know-it-all as soon as he sets foot on the estate.

The ghillie (wonderful Alexander Morton) is not only the sexiest sexagenarian on television, but the only character in this series with any real integrity or consistency. The other characters only display those qualities by default, or when forced into it.

There are several important things wrong with Monarch. First: way too many class snobs and far too much 'noblesse oblige'. Second, too many plots involving the 'education' of the upper classes, and lessons in humility taught by 'wiser' underlings. Third: too many episodes in which an injured party sulks and walks off in a snit, making everyone's life miserable in the meantime. Four: too many episodes in which Molly saves the day through some inadvertent knowledge of an evil-doer and a little blackmail. Five: WAY too many episodes when a character deceives everyone for his own purposes, only to be discovered in the deception at the last minute and learning an 'important lesson'. Suffice it to say, there is a fine line between farcical situations played for humor and cloying incompetence. All too often, this series does not know the difference.

The finale of the fourth season is a real corker, but it comes only after 18 of the most tedious, morally questionable, and predictable episodes of the series. The finale of the fifth series just fizzles out, and all relationships ring hollow. There is something decidedly not funny about three clan clowns replacing a father's ashes (in what is meant to be, I suppose, a merry little mix-up) with those from a barbecue pit.

The series did suffer a bit in the last 2 seasons, which is why I did not give it 5 stars.

Basically, it is a series about an eclectic group of scottish highlanders doing odd things. The central character is the relatively normal son who moves back to the family estate to save it from financial ruin. You will be rolling on the floor laughing!

Being a Gael the series was sweet and sour to me. The program itself is wonderful. Those who enjoy the good times and the bad in this glen full of many "characters" will appreciate this grand collection. The sour is that this scene is too real for many of us, with our own Clan Chiefs being raised in areas outside the West Highlands and Islands and not fully caring about those locals who choose a life in their family's home areas. The wonderful thing for me is that the "big house" is still a part of this non existent MacDonald family and Clan, and that poor Archie, with all his faults truly cares...the only soil my own Chiefs own today in Appin is the soil they are buried in and I think of it often. Cheers to you Archie.

I really enjoyed the show! It has something in it for everyone. A good family show. Some of the characters reminded me of my relatives when I was young and out on the farm.
Its just to expensive to buy :{

This complete collection offers 64 episodes of the best writing, fantastic stars, & the most beautiful scenic country imaginable. It's all in a small package of "ONLY" 18 DVDs. Why only? After 58 hours of feature followed by great bonus material, you will want MORE. Do the math. Cost divided by length, it's the best bargain for peak perfection of British Drama/Comedy available.

Archie, the inheriting Laird, decides to save the Glenbogle estate. Throughout the 7 years of episodes (you'll be glad you now don't have to wait a week between episodes), he finds help and enemies aplenty. He finds anguish and love. Some of the stars will die within the script, others will move on, and new characters will replace the void. It is never static, never boring, always lush for the eyes, and filled throughout will drama, laughs, and the feeling that you have been accepted into this MacDonald family of the Highlands.

Golly Mackenzie (Alexander Morton) is the gillie, and the anchor to Glenbogle land. He remains through all 7 years of production. Susan Hampshire (Lady Glencora in "The Pallisers"; also in "The Grand") plays Molly, wife of the original Laird, Hector. She also lives with the program from beginning to end. She is dynamic. She is the queen of Glenbogle. Her costumes go from riches to rags depending upon her activity, but is always powerful and lovely.

Duncan and Lexie are two of the estate's hired help that become huge in the story as well as delightful characters played so well that they sometimes upstage even the scenery. Due to their performances, certain episodes were written around their character, and Lexie eventually _____________ even. There are other important characters that are removed from the story and you wonder how the series will survive without them. But it does, and seems to better itself with the aging process, like all good Scotch.

This DVD set is an investment, one you'll never regret, even after the second and third viewing. This seduction of cinematography was based upon Highland novels by Compton MacKenzie. And it is Alastair Mackenzie (Archie) that leads the cast during the first five years of glorious fame. It is British family television at its finest. Scotland at it's most beautiful. Acting to perfection. Fun as a Celtic pub visit. As magical as a wee fairy dance. 6 stars if it were possible.

This BBC series has warmth, humor, well developed characters, and an engaging story line. The Scottish scenery is magnificent. It's lovely to have the complete series to enjoy, and though the earlier seasons seem better written, the concluding episode did a satisfying job of gathering loose ends. The last disk of Season 5 contains a Special Feature, which is actually an episode, so taking the time to watch it before beginning the 6th season will keep the story coherent.