Original producer Ecosse Films to resurrect BBC Scottish Highlands drama

5 is rebooting classic BBC drama Monarch of the Glen by reimagining it as a female-led story.  

The six-part series is being made by Ecosse Films, the production company behind the original show, which ran for seven series in the early 2000s.

The show is being co-produced by Masterpiece PBS in association with Northern Ireland Screen and distribution partner Banijay Rights.  

The drama will return to the Scottish Highlands as high-flying London lawyer Isla Campbell finds herself back at her family’s crumbling Highland estate for her estranged father’s funeral.  

Her planned short trip is derailed when she discovers she has inherited a million-pound debt with the bank closing in, and a brother who refuses to let go of their ancestral home.  

The siblings have to find a way to save the struggling estate before time runs out and they lose it for good. 

The series was ordered by 5 deputy chief content officer and head of scripted for Paramount UK Sebastian Cardwell and commissioning editor Paul Testar.  

“Monarch of the Glen is a much‑loved series, and this reimagining brings it back to life for a new generation,” said Cardwell.  

The series is created by, written and executive produced by Jeremy Brock alongside writer Stephen Greenhorn. Tom Vaughan will serve as director and executive producer.  

The producers are Alex Boyd, Robert Bernstein and Douglas Rae with executive producers Rob Darnell and Adam Duncan for Ecosse Films. Susanne Simpson is the executive producer for Masterpiece.  

Producing and filming for Monarch of the Glen will take place in Scotland and Northern Ireland later this year, with casting announced at a later date.