Arbitration

"Never underestimate a Leela of the Sevateem."

Writer: David Llewellyn 

Format: Audio

Released: February 2013

Series: Gallifrey 5.03

Featuring: Romana II, Leela

Synopsis

Romana's secret is in danger of being exposed by those she trusts, and the only hope of escape is through the Axis. But will Leela's forthright determination to see justice done, whatever the costs, mean their chance to get home will be lost forever...?

And if they are able to regain access to the Axis, is the world they left behind any better than the society they have built here?

Time will tell.

Verdict

Arbitration was an excellent audio to conclude the fifth series of Gallifrey! It ended with an almighty cliffhanger that has me wanting to get stuck right into the sixth series, but unfortunately I don't actually own this currently. I hope to purchase it shortly as the way things ended was so exciting and has left me wondering whether our trusty trio of Romana, Narvin and Leela will have actually made it home at all! Before we got there, we had another stellar story being told on this Gallifrey and another example of Romana's rule as Supreme Leader being questioned and challenged. Lord Zakar was a fantastic character and his position on Gallifrey as a supporter of Romana's presidency and a very rich entrepreneur was great. It was fun to know that money talks in all realities and versions of Gallifrey, but he was more than suspect of Romana and Narvin. In fact, he knew everything and utilised his knowledge to try and get freed after being captured by Leela and the Outsiders. I love how Leela has established herself as leader of the Outsiders and her taking it upon herself to put Zakar on trial for his role in ensuring that so many of the former slaves perished because of financial cost of a rescue mission was brilliant. She was adamant in her form of justice, even when challenged by Narvin, and she was emphatic in revealing that they had video evidence of his order. I loved that. The relationship between Leela and Narvin is an interesting one because they clearly care for each other but are such different people sitting on different sides of Gallifrey. Their allegiance to Romana is fascinating too because the savage enjoys her, but not what she stands for. The diplomatic nature of the episode was fun and Narvin trying to reason with Romana about tackling Leela with diplomacy was terrific. I thought he certainly had a point! I thought the episode serving as one of reflection and all that Romana and company had changed on this Gallifrey was fantastic, particularly with her stubbornness and wanting to ensure that she left this version of their home planet in a good way. Civil war was on the brink with the Regenerators and the Outsiders but Romana didn't want things to be the same as they were when they arrived after all of her work. That was an interesting challenge to hear developed, but Narvin was more concerned with getting home through the Axis and the time was near. The reemergence of Kavil was very good in linking with the Axis and it seemed to bring things somewhat full circle for this fifth series. Whilst the quality of each episode has been very strong, this has felt like a slightly disjointed series in terms of flow from story to story, but that hasn't impacted my enjoyment in the slightest. A lot seems to happen between episodes and that's fine, but I get the feeling that Series 6 might be more of a smooth process after that cliffhanger! With the Axis opening the way home and it seeming like things would wrap up neatly for the Gallifreyans, the Daleks emerged through and exterminated in brutal fashion! They would rule Gallifrey. All Gallifreys! What an incredible end to send us into the next series. I really didn't see it coming but I loved it and it sets us up for something special in the future. Overall, a great finale!

Rating: 9/10