Lloyd Owen plays Paul

Slowly but surely Paul is starting to feel at home in Glenbogle.

At first he seems to think that being laird is purely about managing the estate but as he learns to love the land, his heritage and the traditions of his new found Highland background, Paul understands that Glenbogle is his destiny and his calling.

"Yes, he is Monarch Of The Glen, but Paul is a working class lad from Yorkshire as opposed to a boy who is born and bred into it.

"He doesn't really know how to be laird and doesn't want to do it especially, so it's still very much about him trying to work it out and get his head round the whole situation," says Lloyd.

"As Hector's illegitimate child, Paul previously questioned his right to be there but now he feels that he has that right. The complication for him is - is he up to the job?

"Paul has a lack of confidence about being able to lead so as soon as something goes wrong, that feeds his insecurity about not being right for the job and I think that comes from not being born to it.

"He tries to change things to move with the times, but sometimes he goes about it in the wrong way.

"So with Golly's tuition, he has to accept Highland traditions and not just see it as chocolate box territory."

Emotionally speaking, a major turning point for Paul is the return of Lexie from New Zealand.

Until now he's managed to hide his growing feelings for her, but Lexie's unexpected reappearance forces him to face up to the fact that he's falling for his brother's wife.

"Paul and Lexie have an ease and familiarity with each other that I believe comes from their similar backgrounds, their humble beginnings," explains Lloyd.

"They both came to the estate from a different class so there's a natural affinity between them.

"She's back for a while and that causes problems for Paul who has clearly always held a torch for her. It was much easier when she was on the other side of the world and he tries desperately hard not to act on his feelings."

Meanwhile, there's another woman in Paul's life. The simmering attraction is undeniable in the love/hate relationship between the new laird and the new city girl in Glenbogle, Isobel Anderson (played by Simone Lahbib).

"They have a very sparky relationship. It's very witty and full of banter," says Lloyd.

"Isobel gives as good as she gets and there's a real Moonlighting style chemistry between them."

All Paul ever wanted was a family and a home and now he has both, albeit an unconventional aristocratic one, and his paternal instincts come out as he spends time with teenager Ewan (Martin Compston) and newcomer Donald (Tom Baker).

"Paul enjoys Donald's company, after all he is Hector's brother. I know if that was me I'd be sat there, looking at him thinking, 'I wonder if my father had any of the same mannerisms' and looking for similar characteristics to myself.

"They become close because Donald had a difficult relationship with Hector and Paul didn't know him at all.

"So Hector's a bit of a mystery to both of them which brings them together."

And for London born Lloyd - who trained at Rada - working with actor Tom Baker meant another family connection.

"I know Tom from old because my father worked with him on Dr Who and they were bad boys about London together in the Sixties and Seventies.

"Dad played some kind of sea monster and Tom told me they never stopped laughing for the whole time they were filming, because dad was always jumping out of some boggy trench with a green wig on, frightening people," remembers Lloyd, grinning.

"I remember watching that episode of Dr Who and even though Dad was sitting next to me on the sofa, I kept crying thinking he was going to get killed by the daleks or something.

"Obviously I had to spend years in therapy to get over that one…"

Now he's at the helm of Glenbogle, Lloyd is finding he is being recognised more than ever.

"But when people start talking to me it always throws them when I don't have a Yorkshire accent. They think that's really weird and they can't believe it. Which is a nice compliment as it means I have done the job reasonably well."

But even though he was recently voted one of TV's sexiest men by a TV listings magazine, Lloyd is very much in denial about his heartthrob status.

"I had all that years ago when I did a Catherine Cookson alongside Catherine Zeta Jones.

"I was 25 so I was a young guy heartthrob or TV hunk - I think that's what they used to call me. But you know, I'm a lot older now and without make up and the right lighting I wonder if anyone would want to call me a hunk."

In between series Lloyd shot Get The Picture, a short film with Brian Cox, and the day he finished filming on Monarch he began rehearsals for the Michael Frayn play Clouds starring alongside Tara Fitzgerald.

It's the story of three journalists sent on a press junket to Cuba and about the relationships between them.

Not that Lloyd is a total workaholic, the actor - who travelled the world with Cheek By Jowl theatre company - also managed to squeeze in a family holiday:

"I went surfing in California with my 13-year-old son. We were there for three weeks but I was so rubbish at surfing.

"At his age you can do all the moves, but if you start as an old man - forget it. It's a nightmare, I was so stiff afterwards I could barely walk. I was like, 'Please, someone, hand me my zimmer frame…'"