The Oldest Sci-Fi Show Ever Just Referenced Hemingway's Famous 6-Word Story

Once upon a time, legend has it, that author Ernest Hemingway claimed to have written the shortest short story ever. Although it's tough to say that this short story was really created by Papa Hemingway, the concept of a six-word story has stuck in the collective unconscious. And now, the oldest and longest-running sci-fi TV series ever—Doctor Who—just made Hemingway's famed six-word short story into a very big deal.

In the latest episode of Doctor Who, "The Story & the Engine," the titular Time Lord Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) is faced with an alien "Barber" who steals people's stories to power a spider-like space craft. It's a brilliant episode about the power of storytelling and the need for legends. It is set in Lagos, touches on African folklore, and was written by Inua Ellams. But, perhaps the most pivotal moment of the story comes from the Doctor referencing Hemingway's famous six-word story, after he sees a set of Hemingway books stashed away in the lair of the Barber.

Related: Hemingway's Most Tender Novel is Suddenly in the Public Domain

As a Time Traveller, the Doctor reveals he met Hemingway at some point and says he challenged Hemingway to a short story contest. In real life, the six-word short story that Hemingway claims to have written is: "For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn." That said, some sources suggest that there's no way Hemingway invented this story since the connection to Hemingway began in 1991 (well after his death), and the story itself is much older. You also won't find it in any of Hemingway's short story collections, though some of his greatest stories (with similar themes) are very, very short, including "The Hills Like White Elephants" or "Cat in the Rain," the latter of which is less than 1,200 words.

In the timey-wimey Doctor Who context, the idea of a six-word story is made into a plot point by the Doctor when he challenges another character, the mysterious Barber (Ariyon Bakare), to tell his own six-word story. 

For the Doctor, his science fiction six-word story is probably something Hemingway would approve of: "I'm born. I die. I'm born." This idea references the fact that in Doctor Who, the Doctor is semi-immortal, and when each version of the Doctor dies, another one "regenerates."

You can stream the new Doctor Who on Disney+. Past seasons of the 2005-2022 version, which this latest episode heavily references, are streaming on Max.