Cruel Britannia!
The Ancient Britons face a deadly new foe in the third series of the epic drama
Ancient Britain, in the middle of the 1st Century AD, and a war of unimaginable savagery is being fought between the native people and the emissaries of imperial Rome who have come to subjugate them.
Presiding over the invaders in recent years has been General Aulus Plautius (David Morrissey, above left), an insatiably ambitious man who will stop at nothing in his bid to bring the Britons to heel.
But now he is set to be overshadowed by the latest arrival from Rome – his own wife, Hemple (Sophie Okonedo, above centre), who has come to find out why her husband has yet to subdue the natives, and is poised to outdo even his brutal reign.
So begins the new, third series of the epic saga. Created by Olivier- and Tony-award-winning playwright Jez Butterworth,
Britannia has been delivering swords, scandals, sorcery and any number of eye-watering sex scenes to become one of the most distinctive British shows of recent years.
Butterworth has let his imagination run riot, bringing the past to life in the most lively and accessible way, lacing the show with a mischievous, dark sense of humour, and allowing his characters to use contemporary phrases and slang.
Butterworth’s reputation has drawn a terrific cast of British actors (including Annabel Scholey as Amena, above right), led by
Morrissey tucking in with gleeful relish to his role as the villainous Aulus. Still, for the legions of true devoted fans, the star of the show must surely be Mackenzie Crook, with the Detectorists and The Office actor almost unrecognisable as the shaven-headed, cadaverous druid Veran, an unsettlingly disturbing presence.
As the story gets under way, an apocalyptic showdown looms in which the might of Rome will surely prevail. But while Cait (Eleanor Worthington-Cox), the young Celtic girl who is prophesied to be the ‘Chosen One’, eludes Aulus’s soldiers, hope still survives…
Brace yourself for enough deadly scheming and blood spilled to more than match Game Of Thrones and orgy scenes that leave little to the imagination, all spiced up with Butterworth’s memorable exchanges of bitter, barbed wit.
What have the Romans ever done for us? Plenty – at least when it comes to enlivening the summer schedules with a welcome injection of captivating, action-packed and intelligent drama.