Coat of Charms (unproduced short story)
Coat of Charms was a short story outlined in 2020 by Irish writer S. Brennan for Legends of Earth, a mooted BBC Books Doctor Who anthology by Emil Fortune which would have featured stories inspired by folklore from around the world, authored by non-U.K. writers writing about myths of their own native cultures.
The story riffed on one of the legends associated with St. Bridget of Kildare. It would have provided an origin story of sorts for the Sixth Doctor's blue coat, and, in its original pitched form, featured Evelyn Smythe as his companion, although this was nixed by the editor, with Brennan suggesting the use of Melanie Bush if limited to TV companions. Ultimately, the Legends of Earth anthology as a whole was cancelled due to poor sales of other similar BBC Books anthologies around this time.[1]
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Sixth Doctor and his companion travel to medieval Ireland to partake of the famous blueberry jam made from the blueberry bushes on the land which St. Bridget is said, in legend, to have obtained from the King of Leinster by asking for only as much land as her coat could cover, only for a miracle to allow the coat to stretch to enormous size. As they arrive, the Doctor quickly realises that he's gotten the timing a bit out and the land still belongs to the King, being arrested for picking blueberries without permission. Taken before the King, the travellers encounter Bridget herself, who is just about to make her request. When she makes her proposal, the Doctor lends her his own multi-coloured coat, in exchange for Bridget agreeing to cover the blueberry bush the Doctor picked from as part of her land claim, so that his crime will be nullified. It is that coat which stretches miraculously, covering the land in multicoloured patchwork until the King relents. The coat then vanishes, with the "strain" of being stretched so far having been more than its structure could weather. After saying their goodbyes (and taking a supply of blueberries with them), the Doctor and companion leave the 5th century, with the Doctor lamenting the loss of his patchwork coat (while the companion playfully celebrates it) but beginning to ponder a fittingly blue replacement.
Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- ↑ Aristide Twain (14 April 2024). “Legends of Earth”: The 2020s “Doctor Who” Anthology Which Never Was. Aristide Twain on Tumblr. Archived from the original on 14 April 2024.
