Programme 1: Boudica: Victorious Queen

Programme Outline

The programme introduces Boudica as she urges on her troops to do battle with the Romans. The narrator invites the children to travel back in time to the early first century when the Romans had invaded Britain. Boudica’s story begins. Boudica was married to the King of the Iceni tribe. When he died, he left a will giving half of his kingdom to the Romans, but they wanted all of it. Boudica protested, but to no avail, and she and her two daughters were cruelly punished. Boudica vowed revenge. She gathered an army of disenchanted Britons and sacked and burned first Colchester, then London and finally, St Albans. This was too much for the Romans who chose a battle site where their well-drilled army would have every chance of defeating the Britons. And so they did. Boudica and her daughters escaped to an unknown fate. However, her rebellion made the Romans adopt a more conciliatory approach to living with the Britons.