Big Finish Doctor Who/Recap/019 Minuet in Hell
It's the start of the 21st century, and the Brigadier is visiting the new state of Malebolgia. There, he meets Dashwood, a man who's running for governor of the state. The Brigadier also runs into an amnesiac Doctor, stuck in a lunatic asylum-which Dashwood is a patron of. At the same time, Charley is also amnesiac and is working as a hostess at the Hellfire Club (no, not that one ). As you probably guessed, Dashwood leads the Hellfire Club and is determined to use his power to summon the demon Marchosias to help him achieve congressional power.
Tropes
- Bedlam House: The Dashwood Institute; its full title is the Brigham Elijah Dashwood Laboratory for Alternative Mentalities. The Doctor's not even there for a full day before they try to lobotomize him.
- Call Back to the TV movie. This isn't the first time the Doctor's been amnesiac-he even mentions Grace!
- Cuckoo Nest
- Darker and Edgier: Open references to prostitution, Satanic worship, and several extended descriptions of torture. This is definitely one of the darker Doctor Who stories.
- Fake American: More than you can shake a stick at.
- Of Corsets Sexy: Charley's queen of hell outfit has elements of this. Also Spikes of Villainy.
- Our Demons Are Different: For starters, they're aliens. Specifically, Cynovaurs, parasite aliens that feed on negative thoughts.
- Psychological Horror
- You Have to Believe Me: The Doctor doesn't do a terribly good job of making himself sound sane when he's missing most of his memory.