The Grand Betelgeuse Hotel

"You don't seem like much of a criminal."

Writer: Christopher Cooper

Format: Audio

Released: December 2015

Series: Monthly Adventures 207c

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Ace

Synopsis

The TARDIS brings the Doctor and Ace to the most opulent casino hotel in the cosmos – a haunt of the rich, the famous and the unutterably corrupt. There's a robbery in progress – but is the Doctor really in on the plan?

Verdict

The Grand Betelgeuse Hotel was another great story to continue my way through the You Are the Doctor collection comprising the two-hundred-and-seventh Monthly Adventure from Big Finish! This one was another great half an hour so with a fun little setting. I love the idea of a casino hotel and I'd love to one day stay in one. Las Vegas would obviously be the preferred setting and my partner and I have long discussed about the potential of eloping there so maybe one day I'll get that stay, but I hope the circumstances would be very different to what the Doctor and Ace experienced here! I thought the way things started with Ace on trial was a nice change and something different which I think is important in a release like this. I'm blogging each story and listening on a different day, but I'm sure that a number of fans would have listened to them all in one sitting so the need for different kinds of settings and styles is paramount and this ticks the list. Chafal was not exactly on Ace's side when it came to hearing her case and he just seemed frustrated by having to go through all kinds of legal formalities. It did all seem a bit mad when the whole case was determining if she was guilty or not but things couldn't proceed until she admitted her plea. That didn't add up and frustrated Ace! It was amusing as the listener but hearing how distraught she was by the apparent death of the Doctor was quite emotional. She genuinely believed he had died and when events caught up, it was clear to understand why. Hearing Chafal played by Jon Culshaw was almost a little off-putting which is a shame as I just so clearly associate him with the role of the Brigadier now. I almost can't hear anyone else in his voice like this so it felt like the Brig had Ace on trial! Now that would be something fun to hear. The story behind the Grand Betelgeuse Hotel was intriguing and whilst I enjoyed the setting, I cannot get on board with its pronunciation being like Beetlejuice! That just cannot be correct, surely? It's fun to hear though and it had those horror kind of vibes without feeling too dark. The emotional story behind Ruben was a powerful story and I can't imagine how one would feel after losing your children to the very people you were now having to work for. Of course, he would have a plan in place that was rather deadly but by that point he was clearly off the rails. It was no surprise after losing one's children, but it was nice for Ace to be the one to help bring him round just as things got desperate. The Doctor and Ruben being lost to the portal was a bit of a shock, but it is a bit of a problem in trying to do death justice for the main character! We know that The Movie is where the Seventh Doctor regenerates so selling his apparent death is so difficult. It works in Missy as part of Dark Gallifrey recently, but that was a very unique setting with a somewhat cheat of a resolution. It was nice though to hear how genuinely shocked and happy Ace was to find that he had made it safely through and now brought her through as well after a long time tinkering. She'd certainly had quite the ordeal with the trial! The Doctor's comment about overtaking your future was a fun line and I liked the explanation of the thermic detonator within the network to prevent utter destruction. Overall, a great little adventure and I wonder if in the final story of this release Ace will pilot the TARDIS successfully? I look forward to fining out.

Rating: 8/10