Warrior Queen

- Season 1

(1978)

In 61, Prasutagus, the dying King of the Iceni tribe, has left one half of his kingdom to his two daughters; the other half to Emperor, Nero. His widow, Queen Boudicca, invites the Roman Procurator, Catus Decianus, to attend his burial. Catus, however, has no intention of attending the funeral; he arrives when it is over.

Catus Decianus and his soldiers attack the Iceni village. Boudicca is flogged, her daughters assaulted, their village burned to the ground. The Iceni queen swears revenge. Volthan, her Druid priest, unites five British tribes to form an army. However, Boudicca finds she is not their undisputed leader. Morticcus, Cheif of the Catauvellauni, wants to lead the first British rebellion.

Catus Decianus, now comfortably installed in his villa at Camulodunum, is overjoyed when Boudicca's daughter, Tasca, is taken prisoner. And she is followed by an Iceni traitor. Meanwhile, alarm is being spread in the Roman-occupied town: Calga, a prophetess, warns that the Statue of Victory will fall and the river will turn to blood. Above all, she warns Decianus of a severed head.

After a long and bloody battle in North Wales, Britain is in Roman hands - until Queen Boudicca leads her Celts in an attack on the city of Camulodunum. They break through the thinly armed garrison and the city falls.

Suetonius Paulinus, the Roman Governor, travels with his cavalry from Wales to Londinium in record time. He has ordered reinforcements to join him, and is certain that under his leadership, his army will defeat Boudicca and the rebelling Celts. But disaster follows; it seems the gods are against him.

The Celts celebrate victory even before battle has commenced. Boudicca's army of one hundred thousand outnumbers the Romans by ten to one, and in their optimism they even bring their families to watch. However, by the time the battle begins, the Celts are disorganised, over-confident and half-drunk. They have little chance against Suetonius Paulinus' disciplined men.