BBC Radio 4, August 19, 2021

Boudica will triumph – because victory means… citizenship.

Alex Straker pens the penultimate instalment in this series of Angst! (which I seriously hope gets picked up for a further run – there are so many more targets that could do with this treatment), and it’s in many ways the most depressing and pessimistic of the lot, basically because there’s very little in it that you can’t see actually happening at some point over the next few years. It’s a play that you feel at the end could easily have run at 45 or even a 60 minute length, there’s so much to unpack in it, and even after two listens, I suspect there’s more that I’ve missed.

It’s a story that in some ways could only be told now, in light of everything that’s happened in the last few years, and the way that people who were citizens of this country suddenly found themselves, thanks to laws and decisions completely outwith their control told that that wasn’t the case, it never was the case, but maybe, just maybe, there was a way that it could be “made right”. The opening few minutes lull you into a false sense of security about what’s happening (there are hints of Russell T Davies’ use of game shows in the Christopher Eccleston era of Doctor Who) until the full horror dawns. I won’t spoil the twists – of which there are plenty – but Timor Greer’s appearance is not what I expected given what’s set up.

Verdict: The angriest and most scathing of this series so far. 8/10

Paul Simpson