Monarch of the Glen is a British comedy drama television series produced by Ecosse Films for BBC Scotland and broadcast on BBC One for seven series between February 2000 and October 2005 with 64 episodes in total.

The first five series of Monarch of the Glen told the story of young restaurateur Archie MacDonald trying to restore his childhood home in the Scottish Highlands, starring Alastair Mackenzie, Richard Briers, Susan Hampshire and Dawn Steele. The final two series focused on new Laird Paul Bowman trying to modernise the estate, primarily starring Lloyd Owen, Tom Baker, Alexander Morton and Susan Hampshire.

The series is loosely based on Sir Compton Mackenzie's Highland Novels, which are set in the same location but in the 1930s and 1940s. The first book in that series is called The Monarch of the Glen, which was a reference to the famous painting of the same name by Landseer.

The series was created by Michael Chaplin and produced by Nick Pitt, Paddy Higson, Jeremy Gwilt, Stephen Garwood and Rob Bullock. The show saw many directors, most notably Edward Bennett, Richard Signy, Rick Stroud and Robert Knights; and many writers including Chaplin, Niall Leonard, John Martin Johnson, Leslie Stewart and Jeremy Front. Filming took between six and eight months per series in the Badenoch and Strathspey area of the Scottish Highlands, in particular at Ardverikie House, which was the location for the fictional "Glenbogle House".

In September 2023, the series was made permanently available on BBC iPlayer.

While trying to carve a living out of the London restaurant he runs with his girlfriend Justine, Archie MacDonald is called back to his Highland home, as his father Hector is dying. When he arrives, he finds that the news was a ploy by his mother, Molly, to get him to Scotland. He learns he has inherited his father's title and estate, Laird of Glenbogle. Archie faces a tough decision: whether to help the debt-ridden Glenbogle or to return to Justine in London. Archie meets the local school headteacher, Katrina Finlay, with whom he begins a complicated friendship. The feisty staff of Glenbogle—Lexie, Golly and Duncan—also prove hard to handle. Archie negotiates a deal with the bank and tries to find ways out of debt. Pressured by Justine to return to London, he decides to sell his share in the London restaurant and stay on at Glenbogle. Justine relents and decides to join Archie.

After his split with Justine, Archie finally knows where his future lies—at Glenbogle. developing a relationship with Katrina, Archie faces obstacles: with his new Head Ranger, Fergal MacClure who is also attracted to Katrina, and with Lexie, who has her eye on the Laird. Hector and Molly face problems as their daughter Lizzie comes, apparently pregnant, to Glenbogle with her healer boyfriend and his acolytes. Hector visits an old flame to try to get the trails on the estate approved by the local council. Golly faces a battle with Fergal to keep Duncan as his friend and assistant because Duncan is very taken with outward bounds activities over the fieldsport traditions of the estate and Fergal's charismatic enthusiasm. Fergal falls for Katrina but is offered a job in New Zealand when his work establishing the trails at Glenbogle ends. He asks Katrina to go with him, and she leaves because Archie will not state his love for her. Archie chases her train but discovers from Fergal that she has already disembarked. He finds her on the estate and they kiss.

Glenbogle's debts are mounting, and the bank, Lascelles, sends Stella Moon to take over the estate as financial controller. The hard and stubborn Stella proves difficult to handle, though she has her eye on Archie, now unattached again, as Katrina has taken up the offer of a career in national politics following her success on the local Council. Duncan also faces romantic problems. Molly is upset that Hector is spending more time with his chum Kilwillie than with her. Golly is reunited with his daughter after many years (he had wanted to marry her mother, but she had left him). Local entrepreneur Stuart McIntosh tries to take land from under the MacDonalds' feet. The estate is now turning a profit and Stella is offered a job in South America provided the estate passes inspection by the bank's chief at the Midsummer's Ball. Stella tries to sabotage the event in an attempt to stay at Glenbogle with Archie, but she fails. The bank's chair returns control of the estate to Archie, who realises he is in love with Lexie, and proposes to her in the kitchen. Initially, Lexie says no but then changes into a red ball dress and meets Archie on the terrace and says yes. The engagement causes friction between Archie and Hector, who disapproves of the match because he fears Lexie may feel trapped on the estate and leave Archie—as Molly once left him. This information is never relayed to Archie, because Hector dies suddenly. Lexie wants to delay the wedding as it is mere weeks after the funeral but Archie insists it go ahead. Lexie runs off. Archie and the estate team track her down and he agrees they should postpone their marriage.