Dinner's finished.

The plates have disappeared, somebody's checking their phone and eventually the question arrives:

“So... what now?”

Going home is a perfectly respectable answer.

But if nobody actually wants to go home yet, Peterborough has a few ways to stretch dinner into a proper evening.

The trick is working out what sort of mood everyone's in.

Still energetic? Try Angle Entertainment.

Ready to sit down somewhere dark and let somebody else provide the entertainment? Showcase Cinema de Lux.

Want the evening to feel like an actual occasion? See what's on at New Theatre Peterborough.

Three very different answers to the same post-dinner question.

Still got energy? Try Angle Entertainment

If dinner has somehow made your group more lively, Angle Entertainment on Lincoln Road gives you something to actually do.

Its escape rooms are particularly good for groups and competitive couples.

You're put into a themed room, given puzzles and clues and have to work together against the clock.

In theory.

In practice, one person becomes team captain without being asked, somebody starts examining completely irrelevant furniture and another announces they've solved something that everyone else solved nine minutes ago.

Prices currently get cheaper per person as the group gets bigger, starting at £24 each for two players and falling to £18 each for groups of five or more.

Angle also has a gaming lounge, so it's worth checking what's available when you're planning your evening.

It's open until 11pm Monday to Saturday, making this one of the more exciting choices when dinner finishes later.

Choose it if: nobody wants to sit still and your group can survive discovering who is terrible under pressure.

Want an easy evening?

Showcase Cinema de Lux

Sometimes you've had dinner, you're full and the idea of solving clues against a countdown clock sounds frankly exhausting.

That's where Showcase Cinema de Lux Peterborough comes in.

It's at Mallory Road, Boon Gate, with 13 screens, recliner seating, free parking and a Lounge Bar.

In other words, very little is required of you.

Choose film.

Acquire compulsory snacks despite having eaten an entire meal 40 minutes earlier.

Recline.

Excellent.

Showcase currently advertises Saver Monday tickets from £4.99 when bought at the cinema, although prices depend on the film, day and format.

Check the actual screening and ticket price before setting off rather than building the evening around an offer that doesn't apply to your chosen film.

This is also probably the easiest option for a mixed group.

Nobody needs special skills. Nobody needs to understand the rules. And nobody can accuse you of ruining the evening because you couldn't work out what a tiny brass key opened.

Choose it if: everyone's happy to relax and you'd prefer the second half of the evening to require almost no organisational ability whatsoever.

Want a proper night out? New Theatre Peterborough

Then there's New Theatre Peterborough on Broadway.

This is the option when you don't just want “something after dinner”.

You want a night out.

The programme can include plays, comedy, music and touring productions, so the experience and ticket price depends entirely on what's on.

Current listings show that starting prices can vary considerably between performances, which is why this one needs a little more planning than deciding to watch a film.

But that's also its advantage.

Book something you genuinely want to see and suddenly dinner becomes the first part of the evening rather than the entire event.

The theatre is in the city centre, with bus stops nearby and Peterborough railway station around a 10-minute walk away, making it possible to build the whole evening without necessarily driving.

The downside?

You can't finish dinner at 8pm, wander towards Broadway and reasonably expect a convenient performance to materialise.

This one is a book-first, eat-second plan.

Choose it if: it's a birthday, date night, celebration or you simply fancy making Tuesday feel considerably more interesting than Tuesday normally does.

So... what are we doing?

The decision is actually quite simple.

Want to do something? Angle.

Want to switch off? Showcase.

Want an occasion? New Theatre.

And if everyone sits silently when you ask?

They're tired.

Go home.

There's no shame in admitting that the most appealing activity after a large dinner is putting comfortable trousers on.

For everyone else, check current prices, availability, performance times and booking details with the venue before heading out.

Where do you go after dinner in Peterborough?

We're looking for the places that work when it's 8pm, nobody wants to go home and nobody planned anything beyond the meal.

Where do you head?

Tell us the Peterborough venue and why it works particularly if it's affordable, open later or doesn't need booking three weeks in advance.

The best suggestions could become our road map to Peterborough's genuinely good last-minute nights out in the future.