Kellyanne Farquhar plays Amy McDougal
When Paul's goddaughter Amy arrives in Glenbogle after running away
from boarding school, she immediately finds a kindred spirit in fellow
mischief-maker Ewan (Martin Compston).
听
And as Monarch newcomer Kellyanne Farquhar explains,
Amy isn't slow in making a big impression on Glenbogle.
听
"Amy is a feisty wee thing and she's always up to something a little
bit naughty," says Kellyanne.
听
"In her own way she's trying to help, but she never quite succeeds
and usually just ends up making the situation much worse than it was
before."
听
Not surprisingly, Glenbogle's fun-loving chef, Ewan, finds Amy fascinating,
fun and a real breath of fresh air, even although she does seem to drop
him in it at every possible turn.
听
However, while Ewan finds Amy intriguing, his girlfriend Zoe (Kari
Corbett) is less impressed with the sparky newcomer.
听
"She gets away with murder and leaves poor Ewan to take the blame,
even though it tends to be all her fault. But there is a bond between
them from the word go and eventually, although they don't necessarily
fall head over heels for each other straight away, they do end up kissing,"
adds the Livingston-born actress, giggling at the mere thought of it.
听
"It's the first time I have ever filmed anything like that so it was
quite nerve-wracking beforehand. I remember coming on set that day thinking:
'Oh my God, I've got to snog Martin Compston in a minute.'
听
"But thankfully Martin's a really down-to-earth guy and turned
it into a very light-hearted situation. It didn't become a big deal
at all."
听
When Amy turns up on the doorstep it's a shock for the MacDonald family
and she brings with her a catalogue of surprises and more mayhem than
they could ever have thought possible.
听
The child of Paul's former army friend, she's lonely at boarding school
and misses her family - her father is posted abroad and her mother died
a couple of years ago.
听
Amy craves a normal family life and with Paul (played by Lloyd
Owen) happy to see her, she instantly finds a sense of belonging
at Glenbogle.
听
For Kellyanne, 22, appearing in Monarch Of The Glen marks her TV acting
debut. After three years in the Scottish Youth Theatre playing lead
roles such as Dorothy in The Wizard Of Oz, and with a low-budget feature
film Night People under her belt, she excitedly admits this is her big
break.
听
But noone is more chuffed about it than her family, who are all major
Monarch fans.
听
"They've seen every episode and are thrilled to bits. When I phoned
to tell them I'd got the part my aunt just screamed down the phone.
She was so excited she couldn't actually form any words.
听
"As far as she is concerned, I've hit the big time, I'm famous
and nothing else I ever do will mean as much to her as this," laughs
the young actress.
听
While Kellyanne has thoroughly enjoyed her time in Glenbogle, for her
next job she'd like to try something completely different.
听
She says: "I'd love to be in a gangster film playing a gangster girl
who gets to do lots of action scenes and fights - you know, loads of
rolling over car bonnets and Kung Fu kicks and stuff. Now that's something
you'd never get to do in Monarch Of The Glen."