Things are quiet in The Indomitable Village, as most of the Romans are away fighting in Britannia. Fortunately, the monotony is broken up by the arrival of Anticlimax, Asterix's cousin and a warrior from another indomitable village in the region of Cantium (present day Kent). Anticlimax has come to Gaul after hearing rumours of a magic potion which grants superhuman strength, and Getafix sends Asterix and Obelix back with him, along with a barrel of the magic potion. Unfortunately, while fighting aboard a Roman galley during the channel crossing, Obelix lets slip that they're giving the potion to the Britons, and the garrisons are on the alert. To make things worse, they lose possession of the potion while hiding out in the city of Londinium (London). On top of the Romans, the Gauls also have to deal with weather which alternates between fog and rain, boiled boar with mint sauce (which is normally served with lamb), warm beer (bitter), drinking cups of hot water, driving on the wrong side of the road, imperial measurements, and unusual coinage (pre-decimal currency was still in use at the time of writing).
Yeah, most of the humour in this album comes from what is basically the French perception of British stereotypes. Goscinny even added a note saying that he and Uderzo weren't prejudiced against the English when it was first translated. However, he didn't have to, because we make fun of ourselves all the time, so this story became one of the most successful albums in the UK market. Sometimes I think they overdo the references to Britain though, but that's not much of an issue. The end of that last paragraph doesn't cover it, but you get the general idea.
My favourite moment is probably when they initially lose the potion. The Roman prefect orders the confiscation of all barrels of beer and wine from every pub in Londinium, and then orders a legion to sample their contents in order to find the potion. This starts out with military precision, but soon collapses when all the legionaries get incredibly drunk, to the point that one soldier finds the potion, and ends up picking fights with everybody else. The segment is only topped when Obelix tries the same method and gets drunk too. Speaking of Obelix, he's not fond of the cuisine, but he does get hooked on rugby, reflecting the sport's popularity in France.
Oh, and speaking as someone with a casual interest in history, I need to point out an elephant in the room; the Romans never conquered Britain during Caesar's lifetime. While he did lead two military expeditions there, neither of them made any real territorial gains, but he did secure an allegiance with a local tribal king. But if it was historically accurate, Asterix and Obelix would have no reason to go to Britain. You can't always let something like historical accuracy get in the way of a funny story.
Jolly good show, what?
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