An Unfulfilled Dream (short story)

 was a Brief Encounter short story published in DWM 178.

It was told, unusually, from the Doctor's point of view and featured Katarina from a point in time before she met the First Doctor in the television story The Myth Makers.

Summary
While in ancient Greece, the Seventh Doctor stops at a house for a drink of water, where he unknowingly meets someone who was once very important to him.

Plot
The Seventh Doctor, tired of trying drinks from the food replicator with his companion all night, steps outside the TARDIS into a village in Ancient Greece. He talks to a young girl who tells him that she is to become the handmaiden of a priestess because her family do not have enough money. After being given a glass of water by the girl's mother, he gifts the family a gold coin in exchange, that will allow them to buy enough food to last them a year. As he leaves, he asks the girl her name, and she tells him that it is Katarina. The Doctor realises that he has, again, failed to save the life of somebody who trusted him.

Characters

 * Seventh Doctor
 * Katarina

Worldbuilding

 * The Doctor mentions that his companion is hungover after a night testing drinks from the TARDIS replicator.
 * The Doctor gives the family a gold coin in exchange for his drink of water.

Continuity

 * The Doctor recalls meeting the older Katarina in Troy (TV: The Myth Makers) and her death in 4000. (TV: The Daleks' Master Plan)