The Monarch of the Glen cast is a list of actors who portrayed characters in the BBC Scotland comedy drama, Monarch of the Glen. The show began in 2000 with Alastair Mackenzie as the lead character portraying Archie MacDonald, a young restaurateur who returns to his Highland home of Glenbogle to discover that he is the new Laird. Along with Mackenzie, television veterans Richard Briers and Susan Hampshire received star billing as Archie's eccentric parents, Hector and Molly. Lorraine Pilkington portrayed Archie's love interest, Katrina, who was the only other actor to receive star billing in season one. In season two, Dawn Steele, Alexander Morton and Hamish Clark were bumped up to star status having been supporting regulars in the first season. Briers and Pilkington left the show in season three, prompting Julian Fellowes to receive star billing having appeared as recurring guest in seasons one to four. In season five, Fellowes and Mackenzie left the show, with Lloyd Owen filling the void as Archie's estranged half-brother, Paul. Season six saw a big change in the cast with Steele and Clark leaving and season five regulars, Rae Hendrie and Martin Compston being promoted to star status. Simone Lahbib and Tom Baker also joined the series six cast as Paul's love interest and Hector's younger brother, respectively. Lahbib left the show the following season due to pregnancy and Kirsty Mitchell was brought in as Paul's new love interest. Kellyanne Farquhar was the final actor to gain star billing, joining the cast as Paul's wayward god-daughter. The show ended in 2005 with special guest appearances by Briers, Clark and Fellowes. Morton was the only cast member to appear in every episode, with Hampshire and Clark the only other two actors to appear in every season.
Key
- Only characters who appeared in three episodes or more are listed.
- Characters are ordered in each section by first appearance in the show.
- The Hogmanay Special in December 2003 is counted as a series five episode.
- A white cell (such as the one for the character Molly MacDonald) indicates the character was given a star status in the relevant season(s).
- A light grey cell (such as the one for the character Hector MacDonald in the Season 7 column) indicates that the character did not receive star billing that season(s).
- A dark grey cell (such as the one for the character Archie MacDonald in the season 6-7 column) indicates the character did not appear in the relevant season(s) at all.
Season Status:
If a character has more than one season status in one cell, then the status appears in the following format: (season,status/season,status), for example: (1,s/2,r)
- (g) indicates that the character was a guest in the relevant season having appeared in just one or two episodes that relevant season.
- (r) indicates that the character was a regular in the relevant season (appearing in over 70% of the season), but did not have a star status.
- (e) indicates that the character is classed as neither a guest nor a regular having appeared in over 2 episodes and less than 75% of the episodes in that season.
| Character | Season | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 (2000) | Season 2 (2001) | Season 3 (2001–02) | Season 4 (2002) | Season 5 (2003) | Season 6 (2004) | Season 7 (2005) | ||
MacDonald family | ||||||||
| Hector MacDonald | Richard Briers | Richard Briers (g) | ||||||
| Lexie MacDonald | Dawn Steele (r) | Dawn Steele (6,e) | ||||||
| Molly MacDonald | Susan Hampshire (6, e) | |||||||
| Archie MacDonald | Alastair Mackenzie (5, e) | |||||||
| Lizzie MacDonald | Abigail Cruttenden (g) | Hilary Maclean (g) | Saskia Wickham (g) | |||||
| Paul Bowman-MacDonald | Lloyd Owen (g) | Lloyd Owen | ||||||
| Donald MacDonald | Tom Baker (7,e) | |||||||
Glenbogle Estate staff | ||||||||
| Golly MacKenzie | Alexander Morton (r) | Alexander Morton | ||||||
| Duncan McKay | Hamish Clark (r) | Hamish Clark (6,e) | Hamish Clark (g) | |||||
| Fergal MacClure | Jason O'Mara (r) | |||||||
| Stella Moon | Alexandra Gilbreath (r) | |||||||
| Jess MacKenzie | Rae Hendrie (g) | Rae Hendrie (r) | Rae Hendrie | |||||
| Irene Stuart | Rebecca Lacey (r) | |||||||
| Ewan Brodie | Martin Compston (e) | Martin Compston | ||||||
Kilwillie House residents | ||||||||
| Lord Kilwillie | Julian Fellowes (e) | Julian Fellowes (5,g) | Julian Fellowes (g) | |||||
| Badger | George Carson [A] | Angus Lennie (e) [B] | ||||||
| Lady Dorothy Trumpington-Bonnet | Richenda Carey (e) | |||||||
| Hermione Trumpington-Bonnet | Hermione Gulliford (e) | |||||||
Other Glenbogle residents | ||||||||
| Katrina Finlay | Lorraine Pilkington (3,g) | Lorraine Pilkington (g) | ||||||
| Maureen MacLean | Carole Cassidy (g) | |||||||
| Liz Logan | Jenny Lee (g) | |||||||
| PC Callum McLean | Gavin Mitchell (g) | Gavin Mitchell (g) | ||||||
| Andrew Booth | Paul Freeman (e) | |||||||
| Dougal | John Yule (g) [C] | |||||||
| Amanda McLeish | Sara Stewart (e) | |||||||
| Isobel Anderson | Simone Lahbib | |||||||
| Dr. Gordon McKendrick | Donald Douglas (g) | |||||||
| Zoë | Kari Corbett (e) | |||||||
| Meg Paterson | Karen Westwood (e) | |||||||
| Cameron MacKenzie | Katelyn & Rhianna Duff (e) [D] | |||||||
| Iona McLean | Kirsty Mitchell | |||||||
| Frank | Antony Strachan (e) | |||||||
| Amy McDougal | Kellyanne Farquhar | |||||||
Miscellaneous | ||||||||
| Justine | Anna Wilson-Jones (1,e/2,g) | |||||||
| Lancelot Fleming | Simon Slater (g) | |||||||
| Alan Smythe | Paul Goodwin (e) | |||||||
| Lucy Ford | Lucy Akhurst (e) | |||||||
| Chester Grant | Anthony Head (e) | |||||||
Notes
- A A character called "Badger" appeared with no lines in seasons 2-3. The actor's name is George Carson, not Angus Lennie who portrayed the character in seasons 4-5. In season 5, it was mentioned that Lennie's character had the real name of Hamish, therefore the name 'Badger' may be a nickname for the butler at Kilwillie Castle and could mean that the character that appeared in seasons 2-3 is different from the character in seasons 4-5. George Carson's grandson, Creag Carson also had a role in Monarch of the Glen, but his scene was deleted before airing.
- B In season 5, Badger made one uncredited appearance with no lines.
- C In season 6, the character was credited as "Derek", despite being credited as "Dougal" in season 5 and being called Dougal by the characters in all three of his episodes through the show.
- D Often, minor child parts – in this case, Cameron – are played by twins to avoid overworking the children. Although the character appeared in five episodes, the character had no lines.