Now THIS is what I'm talking about. A pure historical banger and the first real hit in the 4DAs thus far. Leela and 4 have their first real moral disagreement that nearly ends in disaster. The audience finds themself sympathising with Boudicca with Leela before it's revealed that she was tortured, yes, but took that pain out on others just as much herself. 4 screaming "LEEEEEELAAAA" in the second half got a bit stale but hey, if Tomb bloody Baker not being on his A Game at all times is the worst that can be said about a story, that's generally a good sign.

I was surprised when I realised that it was a pure historical.

Tom Baker does not do well in this story. The tone is extremely dark and savage, and his funny, childish character really ruins this tone. What is especially disappointing is that Leela's conflict with the Doctor is not held with such gravitas as a division between a great team. I also found it annoying how many times the Doctor calls Leela "Savage" throughout this story. I think he calls her Leela twice? Louise Jameson does a stellar job, however. It's great that this story focuses on Leela's character, as this story is really tailored to her. What a fantastic idea that this was, for Leela to meet Boudica. Her disloyalty to the Doctor and siding with Boudica was a fascinating concept, and Dorney plays this off astonishingly well, leading to her downfall and a shocking ending.

Boudica's story has some great ideas - Her revenge on the Romans for what happened to her daughters, her reflection in Leela, the way that she ends up going too far and twisting Leela's perspective of war and fighting was a marvellous idea - but the actor seems very dry and not very interesting to listen to. However, Dorney does a fantastic job at using her ruthless methods to keep the listener hooked in, and I had no idea how the Doctor would get out of this situation. Unfortunately, the climax to his escape was a bit rubbish. Oh look, a knife. Job done. However, her relationship with Leela is played beautifully, and it's great to see her character built up as a hero and a side character, but she slowly gets worse and worse until we realise she's the enemy of the story (Honestly, I'm embarrassed on how long it took me to work out that it was a pure historical...)

Nothing much to say about the side characters. Bragnar's alright, but nothing special.

A really strong story for most of it, but it's unfortunately let down by the Fourth Doctor - and that's not something I'd be expecting to say in his series.

HONEY WAKE LEELA BANGER ENTERED THE ROOM

I was largely impressed by The Wrath of the Iceni. I think it was a refreshing take on a historical stories. Whether Boudica deserves the treatment any more than any number of historical figures covered in past Doctor Who stories is irrelevant to me - it's more of the thoughtful take on the history itself and the futility of warfare against the heartbreaking effects of colonialism really works in this audio's favour. It's an interesting companion to the short story Good Queen, Bad Queen, I Queen, You Queen - and they still kind of work together in an intriguing way, at least in my opinion.

I really like the writing around this audio. It feels thoughtful and pronounced in its execution and really left an impression on me. The only thing I found a little underwhelming, surprisingly, was Tom Baker, who feels relegated to largely just shouting Leela's name over and over again over some battle sound effects (however impressive those effects may have been). All told this was fun and quite impressive even if it wasn't perfect.