A SHOW a thousand years in the making, Horrible Histories: Incredible Invaders charts the brutal and bloody story of Britain and the people who settled there.

Starting as a series of comedic books for children in 1993, Horrible Histories has gone on to spawn both a much beloved television series and a magazine, mixing historical fact, satirical silliness and a healthy helping of disgusting details to create something both fun and educational.

Even today, author Terry Deary still tops the list of the most borrowed non-fiction children’s authors every year.

The play follows Hannah Boyce's native Briton Mavis as she navigates the various hurdles and pitfalls of life under the Romans, the Celts, the Saxons and the Vikings. Boyce is instantly likeable and entertaining, playing the straight character to a cast of hilariously mugging invaders.

Loaded with puns, songs, anachronistic references to modern culture and plenty of slapstick physical humour, there’s plenty to keep young audiences entertained without being distracting.

The focus is still very much on the history, with many interesting and funny factoids popping up throughout, including the architecture of Roman roads, ancient Saxon medicines and some baffling examples of ancient British justice.

The costumes and effects are deliberately silly and exaggerated, allowing the small cast to effectively switch roles on the fly while still remaining visually distinct as characters.

The show’s real secret weapon, however, is the incorporation of 3D Bogglevision into the some of the backgrounds, providing an additional level of spectacle to an otherwise technically limited show as spears, snakes, severed heads and more are all hurled at the audience, much to the delight of younger viewers.

Horrible Histories: Incredible Invaders strikes a careful balance between pantomime comedy and intriguing topics, providing a fun-filled show with plenty of laughs with lots of food for thought throw in.