Boudica, Boudicca, or Boadicea was a Celtic queen who ruled a portion of what would become Great Britain — specifically the Iceni kingdom in what was later Norfolk — in the 1st century AD.
Name
According to John Smith, her true name was "Boudicca". (PROSE: Human Nature) although everyone else in Farringham referred to her as "Boadicea". (PROSE: Prelude Human Nature, Human Nature)
The Tenth Doctor called her Boadicea (TV: The Infinite Quest) but was less certain when he met her. When asked if her name was Boudica or Boadicea, she indicated neither was correct. She tried to give him the correct name but Momus interrupted before she could say more than "Bo-". (PROSE: The Lonely Computer)
She told Leela that her name meant "she who is victorious." (AUDIO: The Wrath of the Iceni)
Biography
Unusually, she inherited essentially half the kingdom when her husband, Prasutagus, died. The other half was bequeathed to the Roman Empire, thus effectively making the Iceni have two sovereigns: Boudica and the Roman Emperor Nero. (AUDIO: The Wrath of the Iceni)
When some Romans later raped the Iceni women, Boudica's response was swift and bloody. She ordered that the agents be, according to the Seventh Doctor pretending to be John Smith, "skinned alive and impaled on posts with their intestines...in their mouths." (PROSE: Human Nature)
The Fourth Doctor and his companion Leela encountered Boudica in 60, during her revolt against the occupying Roman forces in Britannia. The Doctor recognised her on sight due to her "very, very red hair." In order to prevent Boudica from severing the Doctor's head, Leela told her that he was a prophet who foresaw her defeat at the hands of the Romans. The Doctor told her that the forces at the Roman capital Camulodunum were a decoy and Roman governor Suetonius Paulinus had stationed an army to the north and intended to attack Boudica's army while it was ransacking Camulodunum. However, this was not the case. There was no army to the north.
After the burning of Camolundunum, Boudica marched to Londinium and slaughtered almost everyone in the city including the old, the weak and the infirm. She was eventually defeated in a field in the middle of England. Her army may have numbered up to 80,000 by this time but the Doctor noted that this figure could have been exaggerated by later historians. There were no survivors. Instead of allowing the Romans to execute her, Boudica killed her daughters before killing herself. The Doctor told Leela that he had no desire to witness Boudica's defeat first hand. (AUDIO: The Wrath of the Iceni)
Iris Wildthyme also claimed to have met Boudicca at the siege of Colchester. She also appeared as an extra in a silent film about her. (AUDIO: The Elixir of Doom)
In actuality, two Time Lords posed as Boudica towards the end of her historical narrative. Shortly after the death of Prasutagas, Fimmilena, posing as Boudica, was badly injured. The Fourth Doctor had Romana I pose as Boudica until Fimmilena had finished healing in the TARDIS. Fimmilena disguised a corpse to make it look like she had died by a poisoned spear. (PROSE: Good Queen, Bad Queen, I Queen, You Queen)
At some point in her life, Boudica was pulled out of her own time by Momus, who wanted her to help lead Planet 12 of the Ridion Alliance into a new age of enlightenment. The Tenth Doctor convinced him to return her to her rightful place in Earth's history. (PROSE: The Lonely Computer)
Boudica was among the notable women of Earth's history who were invited by Missy to join MADAM. (PROSE: Girl Power!)
Legacy
According to Thalius Maximus, the Roman praefectus of Byzantium, Gaius Calaphilus had actually been in battle against "Boudica's wretched Iceni". (PROSE: Byzantium!)
Despite the tragic end history books told of her, she was a heroine of Queen Victoria. (PROSE: Human Nature)
The Tenth Doctor told Martha Jones that she could forget her Bonapartes, her Boadiceas, and her Blackbeards when introducing her to Baltazar. (TV: The Infinite Quest)
Ace called Listrelle Quallem "Boadicea." (PROSE: The Dimension Riders)
At an unknown time, an historical re-enactment of Boudica's London took place inside the mind of Sepulchre. This included the ceremonial burning of a wicker man. (AUDIO: Dead London)
Boudica had a biography that was kept inside the York Central Library. The Ninth Doctor defaced a copy with a "hand-held electronic 'eraser' device" prior to March 2005, along with the biographies of HG Wells, Tancred Norman, Xenocrates, Blaise Pascal and Margaret Thatcher. Senior librarian Ms Millicent Davies banned the Doctor from the York Central Library and then applied to get the Doctor an ASBO to ban him from all UK libraries. (PROSE: Have You Seen This Man?)
Behind the scenes
- Alex Kingston portrayed the title role in the 2003 film Boudica (aka Warrior Queen).
- Claire Davenport played Boudicca in "Pritan", the premiere episode of the BBC show Churchill's People.
- Seán Carlsen recently starred in Boudica: Rise of the Warrior Queen.