Bad Terms: Saoirse of the Seven Seas

"Quit your prattling!"

Writer: Nina Millns

Format: Audio

Released: August 2025

Series: Sixth Doctor Adventures 9.01

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Peri

Synopsis

Saoirse O'Grady, Queen of the Irish Sea, teams up with the brave Captain Peri (and her lowly second-in-command, the Doctor) to fight for justice for her people and her homeland. But her English foe, Sir Kenneth Rushworth, doesn't just have the law on his side – he has allies not of this Earth. Allies who have a very particular interest in Saoirse...

Verdict

Saoirse of the Seven Seas was a great start to the Bad Terms latest series of Sixth Doctor Adventures! Given the nature of the Sixth Doctor era at Big Finish this range has become a little bit of a hodgepodge when it comes to jumping across era since Hebe's journey was wrapped up, but that's no bad thing! I've still got a lot of catching up to do when it comes to Flip and Constance as companions, but this just seemed like the classic televised pairing of the Sixth Doctor and Peri so I was excited to dive right in. The prospect of Peri being a pirate captain was very exciting and whilst a pirate story is no new thing, not even to the Sixth Doctor with Doctor Who and the Pirates, this did feel refreshing for this pairing. Thankfully there were no musical numbers this time around but it definitely felt like a modern era adventure with a Classic pairing. A quick Google search seems to indicate that Saoirse O'Grady is a fictional pirate as the Queen of the Irish Sea and that really does make sense with the revelation that came towards the end with the identity of her baby's father! It would be quite the explanation in the Whoniverse if she was a real historical figure that went missing for example. I thought the way her pregnancy was revealed in the story was good and I loved how feisty she was. Being a female and captain of a ship would be met with conflict and challenges but she tackled them right from the off which I loved. She initially took the Doctor's surprise at her being the captain to mean he was prejudicing her gender but it was actually her age that more surprised the Time Lord. It was fun to hear how well she then got on with Peri, especially when the companion announced the Doctor as her second in command! I thought a bit more could actually have been done to play around with that dynamic and emphasise Peri's superiority, but it was a nice moment for the Doctor to proudly boast on the famous Captain Peri. I thought Sir Kenneth Rushworth was a good character and historical villain and his representing the English provided a fantastic dynamic with Saoirse being a proud Irishwoman. I thought the way the political strife between England and Ireland was presented was marvellous and as a patriotic Welshman I was certainly on the side of Saoirse. I'm eternally jealous of Ireland's independence! I thought Kenneth being in league with the Xeneroth was good and it was so obvious he was being used. Sure he had a seal that got him in a slightly better cell with Peri, but the fact he hadn't received payment suggested he never would. He was consumed by his desires to get riches though and it really did take over his mindset. The Doctor having knowledge of the Xeneroth species was good stuff too and I was glad that this wasn't something he had met in an unseen adventure. I hate when that happens because the scale of media in the Whoniverse now really suggests that we would have seen or heard or read about it somewhere. I thought the Xeneroth actually being the father of Saoirse's baby was unexpected, but it was clear she did have a history with him. I thought she was going to be an alien so that was definitely a twist I didn't see coming. The rest of the alien clan were not happy with the use of resources just to find one human even if it was the captain's daughter, and a revolt ensued. I thought the Xeneroth's ability to consume was impressive and provided some strong imagery for sure! The explosion at the end was a fitting way to finish things off and we got an emotional end for the Xeneroth as he knew he couldn't be with Saorise. They were just too different so he did what he had to for his daughter. The comical ending for Kenneth with him being on a plank after somehow surviving the ship explosion was humour. Overall, a really fun story to start the boxset! 

Rating: 8/10