It's such a gift that Tom Baker ultimately came around on Big Finish, because he's totally brilliant on audio. His voice barely carries any of his age and still has its great, big quality that serves his stories quite well. That said, I've never exactly heard any of his audios counted among Big Finish's "classics", which is a little confusing when the inverse is true of Tom's TV outings.
I obviously haven't listened to enough of his audios to speculate about this (I've only listened to three) but I did enjoy The Wrath of the Iceni a lot. This is one of those pure historicals that Big Finish likes to make for TV eras which didn't have them. Positioned between Seasons Fourteen and Fifteen, we have a Leela with the Doctor who has been on a few adventures with him already, but is still quite fresh and getting used to the issues inherent in time travel.
In this story, Leela gets landed in a historical period of Earth which she finds easier to relate to than 19th century London, in the Britain of classical antiquity. This is interesting because it actually succeeds in pulling Leela away from the Doctor by making his decision not to intervene in these people's history seem all the more strange and alien to her.
This is the time of Boudica, the famous warrior queen of the Iceni. It's a series of incidents about which our historical knowledge is very incomplete, passed down to us only by the victorious Romans and full of holes besides. We actually know very little of what Boudica was actually like, although the story of what happened to her daughters is tragically true. This audio fills in the gaps by painting a prideful and ruthless character who is really quite nasty when it comes down to it.
Although Leela at first finds a lot relatable about this warrior queen, that ruthlessness is so at odds with the kindness the Doctor has taught her that Leela begins to realize her mistake in siding with Boudica against the Doctor. This makes for some really compelling character drama, and it's lovely how the Doctor never loses faith in Leela even when she's working against him.
Further, the incompleteness and relative obscurity of this historical incident is used to play with the expectations of the listener. Only a dedicated student of ancient British history will realize that the Doctor is lying when he says that Boudica is fated to be defeated at Camulodunum, since the battle where she was actually defeated is a matter of historical record. For those (like me) who didn't know this offhand, it comes as a surprise twist.
Overall, this is a very fine audio for the Fourth Doctor range, and I'd recommend it for anyone who's a fan of this period of the show. For now, it's back to television for me as I watch and review The Horror of Fang Rock next.
(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 30 May 2021.)
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