Gallifrey review: Leela makes a dangerous moral choice in Arbitration

The Gallifrey gang are so close to finding a way home. But could a rash move from Leela jeopardize everything?

Things get complicated in Arbitration, the final episode in the fifth series of Gallifrey. After receiving a message at the end of the previous episode, Romana, Narvin and Leela are closer than ever to getting home. But before they can go home together, they need to be united. And that’s not going to be easy. Especially when Leela kidnaps a major figure in Gallifreyan society.

This really explores exactly how important the society of the Outsiders has become to Leela on this alternative Gallifrey. And Leela has very strong reasons for her actions in this episode, despite how dangerous and extreme they are. What she and the Outsiders do risk a war with the Regenerators at best. At worst, they’ll all be slaughtered.

But it’s not just the Outsiders who are important to Leela in this episode. Both Romana and Narvin have been good friends to her in the past. But at this point, things are still difficult between the three of them, and Leela is very disillusioned about Romana in particular. It’s very fitting that, for the last episode of series five (if not the last episode set on this particular alternative of Gallifrey), this is a key episode in reuniting the three.

Lord Zakar

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Barnaby Edwards gives a great performance as  Lord Zakar, the man captured by Leela in this episode. He can do both charm and arrogance well in equal measure. He’s clearly a man capable of the crimes he’s accused of. But he’s also a man with a lot of wealth, power and influence, and he knows it.

Zakar’s exactly the kind of antagonist that Gallifrey is so good at creating – not one out to take over the universe, but simply out for power and capable of literally getting away with murder. It’s great to get such a perfect example of a classic Gallifrey villain at the end of this series.

Ah yes, the ending. The story of Arbitration is resolved in a very satisfying manner. But, more importantly, it also provides a perfect ending for the box set. Series four gave us a cliffhanger that was rather low-key with Forever: one that resolved the series, while setting things up for the next one.

Series five ends along similar lines, in some ways. But with one crucial difference: the cliffhanger at the end of this episode is big. And it promises a spectacular ending to Gallifrey’s original era with the sixth series.

Have you listened to Arbitration? How well do you think it resolved the fifth series of Gallifrey? And what did you think of that ending? Let us know in the comments below.