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{{retitle|''Mary Celeste''}}
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Mary Celeste''}}[[File:Celeste.jpg|right|thumb|The ''Mary Celeste'' moments before [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] landed. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Chase]]'')]]
{{Infobox Object
The '''''Mary''''' or '''''Marie Celeste''''' was a ship commanded by [[Benjamin Briggs]]. She was famous for the mystery surrounding why she had been abandoned at sea in [[1872]]. The [[First Doctor]], [[Ian Chesterton]], [[Barbara Wright]] and [[Vicki Pallister]] materialised on the ship. [[Dalek]]s had already arrived in their [[Dalek time machine]]s. The crew of the ''Celeste'' mistook the Daleks for "the [[Barbary Terror]]", and jumped overboard. The Doctor and his [[companion]]s were apparently unaware of the name of the ship they had landed on. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Chase (TV story)|The Chase]]'')
|name      = ''Mary Celeste''
|image      = Celeste.jpg
|aka        = ''Marie Celeste'', ''Amazon''
|type        = [[Ship]]
|origin      = [[Earth]]
|first cs    = The Chase (TV story)
|appearances = {{il|[[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Mystery of the Marie Celeste (short story)}}|[[PROSE]]: {{cs|Timechase (short story)}}|[[COMIC]]: {{cs|A Stitch in Time (TVA comic story)}}|[[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Chase (novelisation)}}}}
}}
The '''''Mary Celeste''''', ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Eaters of Light (TV story)}}) or '''''Marie Celeste''''', ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|A Stitch in Time (TVA comic story)}}) as it was sometimes wrongly named, was a merchant ship ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|A History of Humankind (novel)}}) commanded by Captain [[Benjamin Briggs]]. It was originally named the '''''Amazon''''', ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Secret Lives of Monsters (novel)}}) the [[Twelfth Doctor]] briefly speculating on the [[existence]] of non-existence of the ''Mary Celeste's'' [[Mary Celeste (individual)|namesake]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|A History of Humankind (novel)}}) She was famous for her mysterious abandonment at sea in [[1872]]. According to several accounts, [[the Doctor]] was involved in the crew's disappearance.


Her abandonment apparently was not a [[fixed point in time]], as there were several different accounts of the event. The first three incarnations of [[the Doctor]] were all involved in different sets of experiences surrounding the crew's disappearance, though only the [[Second Doctor]] knew that he was on the ill-fated vessel.
The ship was salvaged after running aground in [[1867]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Secret Lives of Monsters (novel)}})


Another account had it that the Daleks on the ship had actually arrived via a [[human]]-made [[Time-Conveyor]] and they were being pursued by two [[human]] brothers named [[Peter (Timechase)|Peter]] and [[David (Timechase)|David]]. These [[time travel]]lers also left without realising the name of the ship. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Timechase]]'')
The ''Mary Celeste'' left [[New York]] for [[Genoa]] in [[November]] [[1872]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|A History of Humankind (novel)}}) Its crew included Captain Bejamin Briggs, first mate [[Albert C. Richardson|Albert G. Richardson]], second mate [[Andrew Gillings]], and four [[German]] sailors, [[Arien Martens]], [[Gottlieb Gottschalk]], and [[Boy Lorenzen|Boy]] and [[Volkert Lorenzen]]. Captain Briggs' wife [[Sarah Briggs|Sarah]] and daughter [[Sophia Matilda Briggs|Sophia Matilda]] were also on the voyage. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Chase (novelisation)}})


Yet a third said that the [[Second Doctor]], [[Jamie McCrimmon]] and [[Zoe Heriot]] found that the crew of the ''Mary Celeste'' had been abducted by [[Arcturan]]s. The Doctor freed the crew, but they were all killed by a [[sea serpent]]. Their experience of the ship was different from those of other time travellers on board the vessel, in that they actually knew they were on the ''Celeste''. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Mystery of the Marie Celeste (short story)|The Mystery of the Marie Celeste]]'')
By one account, [[the Doctor's TARDIS]] accidentally [[materialise]]d on the ship while the [[First Doctor]] was trying to evade a [[Dalek time machine]]. [[Barbara Wright]] left the TARDIS to explore the ship but was captured by first mate [[Albert C. Richardson]]. She was then rescued by [[Vicki Pallister]], and they returned to the TARDIS with [[Ian Chesterton]], who alone noticed the name of the ship. Richardson witnessed the TARDIS's dematerialisation and reported it to Captain Briggs.


[[File:Marie_Celest.jpg|thumb|left|The Third Doctor on board the ''Marie Celeste''. ([[COMIC]]: ''[[A Stitch in Time (comic story)|A Stitch in Time]]'')]]
Shortly afterwards, [[Pursuer-Dalek|Pursuer Daleks]] arrived on the ship in their time machine ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Chase (TV story)}}) or, by another account, through a [[Time-Conveyor]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Timechase (short story)}}) With the [[Bosun (The Chase)|boatswain]] identifying the Daleks as the [[Barbary Terror]], the crew – including the captain, his family, [[Willoughby]], and the [[cabin steward (The Chase)|cabin steward]] – jumped overboard. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Chase (TV story)}}) As the [[Second Doctor]] would later say when telling the story to [[Zoe Heriot]] and [[Jamie McCrimmon]], everyone left on deck was exterminated. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Rosemariners (audio story)}}) By another account, the Daleks were followed by [[Peter (Timechase)|Peter]] and [[David (Timechase)|David]], who pushed one Dalek overboard before leaving, unaware that the ship was the ''Marie Celeste''. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Timechase (short story)}}) In his annotation of a [[Coal Hill School]] history book, the [[Twelfth Doctor]] credited the tragedy of the ''Mary Celeste'' to the Daleks. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|A History of Humankind (novel)}})
A fourth history put the [[Third Doctor]] into the mix. When he landed [[the TARDIS]] on the [[New York City|New York]] docks, the crew of the ''Mary Celeste'' mistook it for cargo and had it loaded on board. To regain access to his ship, the Doctor paid for passage on the ''Mary Celeste''. When he showed Professor [[Theodore Cassells]] the TARDIS interior, he fled from the hold to the deck. When he tried to tell Captain Briggs what he had seen, the Captain Briggs misunderstood and thought the TARDIS was a [[time bomb]]. He, Cassells and the crew left the ''Mary Celeste'' in a lifeboat, which was swamped by a large wave that drowned everyone on it. The Doctor left, unaware of the name of the ship he was on. ([[COMIC]]: ''[[A Stitch in Time (comic story)|A Stitch in Time]]'')
 
In a different account, the Second Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe found that the crew of the ''Mary Celeste'' had been abducted by [[Arcturian]]s. The Doctor freed the crew, but they were subsequently killed by a [[sea serpent]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Mystery of the Marie Celeste (short story)}})
 
[[File:Marie Celest.jpg|thumb|left|The Third Doctor on board the ''Marie Celeste''. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|A Stitch in Time (TVA comic story)}})]]
By another account, the [[Third Doctor]] became involved with the ''Mary Celeste'' when, after landing [[the TARDIS]] on the [[New York City|New York]] docks, the crew mistook it for cargo and loaded it onboard. To regain access to his ship, the Doctor paid for passage on the ''Mary Celeste''. After he showed Professor [[Theodore Cassells]] the TARDIS interior, Cassells fled to the deck and told Captain Briggs what he had seen. However, Briggs misunderstood and thought the TARDIS was a [[time bomb]]. He, Cassells, and the crew left the ''Mary Celeste'' in a lifeboat, which was swamped by a large wave that drowned everyone on it. The Doctor left, unaware of the name of the ship he was on. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|A Stitch in Time (TVA comic story)}})
 
She never arrived in Genoa, and was discovered a month after her departure in the [[Atlantic Ocean]], just off the [[Azores|Azores Islands]], ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|A History of Humankind (novel)}}) about 600 miles west of [[Portugal]], drifting and abandoned, by the ''[[Dei Gratia]]'' on [[4 December]] [[1872]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Secret Lives of Monsters (novel)}}) Although she was still seaworthy, there was no sign of the crew. The ship was well provisioned, and the captain and crew's belongings were still there. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|A History of Humankind (novel)}}) The ''Mary Celeste'' was deliberately destroyed in [[1885]] in an attempted insurance fraud. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Secret Lives of Monsters (novel)}})
 
In a story [[Nardole]] related to a group of [[Pict]]s, an [[Enzomodon ambassador]], in an attempt to communicate, [[digestion|digested]] the whole crew of the ''Mary Celeste'' before ultimately choking on a [[lifeboat]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Eaters of Light (TV story)}})
 
The annals of the [[Silversmiths' Coterie]] claimed that they were descended from the survivors of the ''Mary Celeste''. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)}})


== References made to the ship ==
== References made to the ship ==
The [[First Doctor]], upon finding a deserted [[Solar Queen|spacecraft]] on [[Vortis]], wondered if the ship was like the ''Mary Celeste''. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Lair of Zarbi Supremo]]'')
The [[First Doctor]], upon finding a deserted [[Solar Queen|spacecraft]] on [[Vortis]], wondered if the ship was like the ''Mary Celeste''. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Lair of Zarbi Supremo (short story)}})
 
The [[Third Doctor]], travelling with [[Jo Grant]], compared the mystery of the [[SS Bernice|S.S. ''Bernice'']] to that of the ''Mary Celeste''. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Carnival of Monsters (TV story)}})
 
[[Tegan Jovanka]] told [[Nyssa]] that [[Mawdryn]]'s ship was more ''Mary Celeste'' than ''[[RMS Queen Mary|Queen Mary]]'', due to its apparently empty state. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Mawdryn Undead (TV story)}})
 
[[Sarah Jane Smith]], speaking to [[Maria Jackson]], [[Luke Smith]] and [[Clyde Langer]], compared an empty research facility to the ''Mary Celeste''. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Last Sontaran (TV story)}})
 
The ship is indirectly referenced by [[Briggs' freighter|another doomed ship]] also commanded by a [[Briggs (Earthshock)|Captain Briggs]] and lost to arch nemeses of [[the Doctor]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Earthshock (TV story)}})
 
The [[Sixth Doctor]] mentioned the disappearance of the ''Mary Celeste'' to [[Peri Brown]] when they visited [[1872]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The First Sontarans (audio story)}})
 
In [[2009]], a future version of Peri Brown claimed that the ''Mary Celeste'' disappearance was caused by [[Piscon]]s wanting to take over human forms. This was later revealed as simply something she made up. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Peri and the Piscon Paradox (audio story)}})


The [[Third Doctor]], travelling with [[Jo Grant]], compared the mystery of the [[SS Bernice|S.S. ''Bernice'']] to that of the ''Mary Celeste''. ([[TV]]: ''[[Carnival of Monsters (TV story)|Carnival of Monsters]]'')
In [[1742]], [[Ace]] mentioned the ship when she, the [[Seventh Doctor]] and [[Thomas Hector Schofield]] landed on an apparently abandoned ''[[Isabella (The Flying Dutchman)|Isabella]]''. The Doctor told her not to remind him of it. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Flying Dutchman (audio story)}})


[[Tegan Jovanka]] told [[Nyssa]] that [[Mawdryn]]'s ship was more ''Mary Celeste'' than ''[[RMS Queen Mary|Queen Mary]]'', due to its apparently empty state. ([[TV]]: ''[[Mawdryn Undead (TV story)|Mawdryn Undead]]'')
Sarah Jane Smith asked [[Harry Sullivan]] if he also thought the apparently abandoned galleon in [[space]] was an "interplanetary ''Mary Celeste''". ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Avast There! (short story)}})


[[Sarah Jane Smith]], speaking to [[Rani Chandra]], compared an empty research facility to the ''Mary Celeste''. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Last Sontaran (TV story)|The Last Sontaran]]'')
[[Graham Stevens]] claimed that his grandfather was rescued from the ''Marie Celeste'' by a [[mermaid]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Cat's Cradle: Witch Mark (novel)}})


The ship is indirectly referenced by [[Briggs' freighter|another doomed ship]] also commanded by a [[Briggs (Earthshock)|Captain Briggs]] and lost to arch nemeses of [[the Doctor]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Earthshock (TV story)|Earthshock]]'')
[[Fitz Kreiner]] and [[Sasha (History 101)|Sasha]] found a building that was completely empty. Fitz likened it to the ''Celeste''. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|History 101 (novel)}})


In [[2009]], a future version of [[Peri Brown]] claimed that the ''Mary Celeste'' disappearance was caused by [[Piscon]]s wanting to take over human forms. This was later revealed as simply something she made up. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Peri and the Piscon Paradox]]'')
[[Martha Jones]] compared the deserted spaceship ''[[Castor (spacecraft)|Castor]]'' to the ''Mary Celeste''. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Wooden Heart (novel)}})


[[Sarah Jane Smith]] asked [[Harry Sullivan]] if he also thought the apparently abandoned galleon in [[space]] was an "interplanetary ''Mary Celeste''". ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Avast There! (short story)|Avast There!]]'')
[[Amy Pond]] compared an apparently deserted science research centre to the ''Mary Celeste''. The [[Eleventh Doctor]] said that he did not want to go through that trouble again. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Heart of Stone (novel)}})


[[Graham Stevens]] claimed that his grandfather was rescued from the ''Marie Celeste'' by a [[mermaid]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Cat's Cradle: Witch Mark]]'')
[[Rory Williams]] once asked the Doctor if he had anything to do with the mystery of the missing crew of the ''Mary Celeste'' to which the Doctor replied, "Not directly. Long story". ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Good, the Bad and the Alien (novel)}})


[[Fitz Kreiner]] and [[Sasha (History 101)|Sasha]] found a building that was completely empty. Fitz likened it to the ''Celeste''. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[History 101]]'')
Amy Pond found lifebelts labelled ''SS Mary Celeste'' on [[the Doctor's TARDIS]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Water Thief (novel)}})


[[Martha Jones]] compared the deserted spaceship ''[[Castor (spaceship)|Castor]]'' to the ''Mary Celeste''. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Wooden Heart]]'')
In [[2221]], Jo visited an exhibit about the ''Mary Celeste'' in [[Prague]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Spoilsport (short story)}})


[[Amy Pond]] compared an apparently deserted science research centre to the ''Mary Celeste''. The [[Eleventh Doctor]] said that he did not want to go through that trouble again. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Heart of Stone]]'')
Offered a trip in [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]], [[Clive Finch|CJ]], a follower of mysteries, suggested visiting the ''Mary Celeste''. This was rejected by the [[Twelfth Doctor]] as "boring", already knowing that "that was the [[Dalek]]s." ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Persistence of Memory (short story)}}) In his [[The Vault (The Pilot)|vault]] underneath [[St Luke's University]], the Doctor had a sign which had ''Mary Celeste'' written on it. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Pilot (TV story)}})


[[Rory Williams]] once asked the Doctor if he had anything to do with the mystery of the missing crew of the ''Mary Celeste'' to which the Doctor replied, "Not directly. Long story". ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Good, the Bad and the Alien]]'')
Upon returning to [[Nerva Beacon]] following their failure to avert the [[creation of the Daleks]], Harry Sullivan compared the silent station to the ''Mary Celeste''. When the Fourth Doctor noted that there was a perfectly simple explanation for the ''Mary Celeste'', Harry expressed disbelief. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Return of the Cybermen (audio story)}})


== Behind the scenes ==
== Behind the scenes ==
* In reality, the disappearance of the crew of the ''Mary Celeste'' remains a mystery.
* In reality, the disappearance of the crew of the ''Mary Celeste'' remains a mystery.
[[File:Mary Celeste nameplate.jpg|thumb|The nameplate of the abandoned ship, identifiying it as the Mary Celeste. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Chase]]'')]]
[[File:Mary Celeste nameplate.jpg|thumb|The nameplate of the abandoned ship, identifying it as the Mary Celeste. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Chase (TV story)|The Chase]]'')]]
* On the DVD release of ''The Chase'', the production notes commentary indicates that although some feel the nameplate seen in the episode is misspelled, the spelling used is actually correct. Though ''Mary'' is technically correct, ''Marie'' was popularised when Sir [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] wrote the first fictional account of the ship and misspelled the name. This account became ubiquitous when some [[19th century]] [[newspaper]]s mistook Conan Doyle's fiction for fact. Through the years, many fictional accounts have traced their way back to Conan Doyle's original account. The net result has been widespread confusion — as expressed in [[DCOM]]: ''[[The Chase (TV story)|The Chase]]'' — over whether ''Mary'' or ''Marie'' is the correct spelling.
* On the DVD release of ''The Chase'', the production notes commentary indicates that although some feel the nameplate seen in the episode is misspelled, the spelling used is actually correct. Though ''Mary'' is technically correct, ''Marie'' was popularised when Sir [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] wrote the first fictional account of the ship and misspelled the name. This account became ubiquitous when some [[19th century]] [[newspaper]]s mistook Conan Doyle's fiction for fact. Through the years, many fictional accounts have traced their way back to Conan Doyle's original account. The net result has been widespread confusion — as expressed in the documentary for ''[[The Chase (TV story)|The Chase]]'' — over whether ''Mary'' or ''Marie'' is the correct spelling.
* Although ''The Chase'' is played mostly for laughs, the scene in which the Daleks force the passengers to jump overboard takes on a sombre note as a baby is shown among those falling into the sea, becoming the first baby to presumably die during the course of a televised ''Doctor Who'' story.
* Although ''The Chase'' is played mostly for laughs, the scene in which the Daleks force the passengers to jump overboard takes on a sombre note as a baby is shown among those falling into the sea, becoming the first baby to presumably die during the course of a televised ''Doctor Who'' story.
* The ''Marie Celeste'' is mentioned by the [[Seventh Doctor]] in the script for the ultimately unproduced film ''[[The Dark Dimension (TV story)|The Dark Dimension]]''.
* One possible "game over" for the video game ''[[Don't Blink (video game)|Don't Blink]]'' has the player being sent back in time by a [[Weeping Angel]] to the year 1872 to die on the ''Mary Celeste''.


[[category:Wikipediainfo]]
[[Category:Vehicles]]
[[Category:Boats and ships from the real world]]
[[Category:Boats and ships from the real world]]
[[Category:Individual boats and ships]]
[[Category:Fixed points in time]]

Latest revision as of 17:47, 3 November 2024

Mary Celeste

The Mary Celeste, (TV: The Eaters of Light [+]Loading...["The Eaters of Light (TV story)"]) or Marie Celeste, (COMIC: A Stitch in Time [+]Loading...["A Stitch in Time (TVA comic story)"]) as it was sometimes wrongly named, was a merchant ship (PROSE: A History of Humankind [+]Loading...["A History of Humankind (novel)"]) commanded by Captain Benjamin Briggs. It was originally named the Amazon, (PROSE: The Secret Lives of Monsters [+]Loading...["The Secret Lives of Monsters (novel)"]) the Twelfth Doctor briefly speculating on the existence of non-existence of the Mary Celeste's namesake. (PROSE: A History of Humankind [+]Loading...["A History of Humankind (novel)"]) She was famous for her mysterious abandonment at sea in 1872. According to several accounts, the Doctor was involved in the crew's disappearance.

The ship was salvaged after running aground in 1867. (PROSE: The Secret Lives of Monsters [+]Loading...["The Secret Lives of Monsters (novel)"])

The Mary Celeste left New York for Genoa in November 1872. (PROSE: A History of Humankind [+]Loading...["A History of Humankind (novel)"]) Its crew included Captain Bejamin Briggs, first mate Albert G. Richardson, second mate Andrew Gillings, and four German sailors, Arien Martens, Gottlieb Gottschalk, and Boy and Volkert Lorenzen. Captain Briggs' wife Sarah and daughter Sophia Matilda were also on the voyage. (PROSE: The Chase [+]Loading...["The Chase (novelisation)"])

By one account, the Doctor's TARDIS accidentally materialised on the ship while the First Doctor was trying to evade a Dalek time machine. Barbara Wright left the TARDIS to explore the ship but was captured by first mate Albert C. Richardson. She was then rescued by Vicki Pallister, and they returned to the TARDIS with Ian Chesterton, who alone noticed the name of the ship. Richardson witnessed the TARDIS's dematerialisation and reported it to Captain Briggs.

Shortly afterwards, Pursuer Daleks arrived on the ship in their time machine (TV: The Chase [+]Loading...["The Chase (TV story)"]) or, by another account, through a Time-Conveyor. (PROSE: Timechase [+]Loading...["Timechase (short story)"]) With the boatswain identifying the Daleks as the Barbary Terror, the crew – including the captain, his family, Willoughby, and the cabin steward – jumped overboard. (TV: The Chase [+]Loading...["The Chase (TV story)"]) As the Second Doctor would later say when telling the story to Zoe Heriot and Jamie McCrimmon, everyone left on deck was exterminated. (AUDIO: The Rosemariners [+]Loading...["The Rosemariners (audio story)"]) By another account, the Daleks were followed by Peter and David, who pushed one Dalek overboard before leaving, unaware that the ship was the Marie Celeste. (PROSE: Timechase [+]Loading...["Timechase (short story)"]) In his annotation of a Coal Hill School history book, the Twelfth Doctor credited the tragedy of the Mary Celeste to the Daleks. (PROSE: A History of Humankind [+]Loading...["A History of Humankind (novel)"])

In a different account, the Second Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe found that the crew of the Mary Celeste had been abducted by Arcturians. The Doctor freed the crew, but they were subsequently killed by a sea serpent. (PROSE: The Mystery of the Marie Celeste [+]Loading...["The Mystery of the Marie Celeste (short story)"])

The Third Doctor on board the Marie Celeste. (COMIC: A Stitch in Time [+]Loading...["A Stitch in Time (TVA comic story)"])

By another account, the Third Doctor became involved with the Mary Celeste when, after landing the TARDIS on the New York docks, the crew mistook it for cargo and loaded it onboard. To regain access to his ship, the Doctor paid for passage on the Mary Celeste. After he showed Professor Theodore Cassells the TARDIS interior, Cassells fled to the deck and told Captain Briggs what he had seen. However, Briggs misunderstood and thought the TARDIS was a time bomb. He, Cassells, and the crew left the Mary Celeste in a lifeboat, which was swamped by a large wave that drowned everyone on it. The Doctor left, unaware of the name of the ship he was on. (COMIC: A Stitch in Time [+]Loading...["A Stitch in Time (TVA comic story)"])

She never arrived in Genoa, and was discovered a month after her departure in the Atlantic Ocean, just off the Azores Islands, (PROSE: A History of Humankind [+]Loading...["A History of Humankind (novel)"]) about 600 miles west of Portugal, drifting and abandoned, by the Dei Gratia on 4 December 1872. (PROSE: The Secret Lives of Monsters [+]Loading...["The Secret Lives of Monsters (novel)"]) Although she was still seaworthy, there was no sign of the crew. The ship was well provisioned, and the captain and crew's belongings were still there. (PROSE: A History of Humankind [+]Loading...["A History of Humankind (novel)"]) The Mary Celeste was deliberately destroyed in 1885 in an attempted insurance fraud. (PROSE: The Secret Lives of Monsters [+]Loading...["The Secret Lives of Monsters (novel)"])

In a story Nardole related to a group of Picts, an Enzomodon ambassador, in an attempt to communicate, digested the whole crew of the Mary Celeste before ultimately choking on a lifeboat. (TV: The Eaters of Light [+]Loading...["The Eaters of Light (TV story)"])

The annals of the Silversmiths' Coterie claimed that they were descended from the survivors of the Mary Celeste. (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Loading...["The Book of the War (novel)"])

References made to the ship[[edit] | [edit source]]

The First Doctor, upon finding a deserted spacecraft on Vortis, wondered if the ship was like the Mary Celeste. (PROSE: The Lair of Zarbi Supremo [+]Loading...["The Lair of Zarbi Supremo (short story)"])

The Third Doctor, travelling with Jo Grant, compared the mystery of the S.S. Bernice to that of the Mary Celeste. (TV: Carnival of Monsters [+]Loading...["Carnival of Monsters (TV story)"])

Tegan Jovanka told Nyssa that Mawdryn's ship was more Mary Celeste than Queen Mary, due to its apparently empty state. (TV: Mawdryn Undead [+]Loading...["Mawdryn Undead (TV story)"])

Sarah Jane Smith, speaking to Maria Jackson, Luke Smith and Clyde Langer, compared an empty research facility to the Mary Celeste. (TV: The Last Sontaran [+]Loading...["The Last Sontaran (TV story)"])

The ship is indirectly referenced by another doomed ship also commanded by a Captain Briggs and lost to arch nemeses of the Doctor. (TV: Earthshock [+]Loading...["Earthshock (TV story)"])

The Sixth Doctor mentioned the disappearance of the Mary Celeste to Peri Brown when they visited 1872. (AUDIO: The First Sontarans [+]Loading...["The First Sontarans (audio story)"])

In 2009, a future version of Peri Brown claimed that the Mary Celeste disappearance was caused by Piscons wanting to take over human forms. This was later revealed as simply something she made up. (AUDIO: Peri and the Piscon Paradox [+]Loading...["Peri and the Piscon Paradox (audio story)"])

In 1742, Ace mentioned the ship when she, the Seventh Doctor and Thomas Hector Schofield landed on an apparently abandoned Isabella. The Doctor told her not to remind him of it. (AUDIO: The Flying Dutchman [+]Loading...["The Flying Dutchman (audio story)"])

Sarah Jane Smith asked Harry Sullivan if he also thought the apparently abandoned galleon in space was an "interplanetary Mary Celeste". (PROSE: Avast There! [+]Loading...["Avast There! (short story)"])

Graham Stevens claimed that his grandfather was rescued from the Marie Celeste by a mermaid. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Witch Mark [+]Loading...["Cat's Cradle: Witch Mark (novel)"])

Fitz Kreiner and Sasha found a building that was completely empty. Fitz likened it to the Celeste. (PROSE: History 101 [+]Loading...["History 101 (novel)"])

Martha Jones compared the deserted spaceship Castor to the Mary Celeste. (PROSE: Wooden Heart [+]Loading...["Wooden Heart (novel)"])

Amy Pond compared an apparently deserted science research centre to the Mary Celeste. The Eleventh Doctor said that he did not want to go through that trouble again. (PROSE: Heart of Stone [+]Loading...["Heart of Stone (novel)"])

Rory Williams once asked the Doctor if he had anything to do with the mystery of the missing crew of the Mary Celeste to which the Doctor replied, "Not directly. Long story". (PROSE: The Good, the Bad and the Alien [+]Loading...["The Good, the Bad and the Alien (novel)"])

Amy Pond found lifebelts labelled SS Mary Celeste on the Doctor's TARDIS. (PROSE: The Water Thief [+]Loading...["The Water Thief (novel)"])

In 2221, Jo visited an exhibit about the Mary Celeste in Prague. (PROSE: Spoilsport [+]Loading...["Spoilsport (short story)"])

Offered a trip in the TARDIS, CJ, a follower of mysteries, suggested visiting the Mary Celeste. This was rejected by the Twelfth Doctor as "boring", already knowing that "that was the Daleks." (PROSE: The Persistence of Memory [+]Loading...["The Persistence of Memory (short story)"]) In his vault underneath St Luke's University, the Doctor had a sign which had Mary Celeste written on it. (TV: The Pilot [+]Loading...["The Pilot (TV story)"])

Upon returning to Nerva Beacon following their failure to avert the creation of the Daleks, Harry Sullivan compared the silent station to the Mary Celeste. When the Fourth Doctor noted that there was a perfectly simple explanation for the Mary Celeste, Harry expressed disbelief. (AUDIO: Return of the Cybermen [+]Loading...["Return of the Cybermen (audio story)"])

Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • In reality, the disappearance of the crew of the Mary Celeste remains a mystery.
The nameplate of the abandoned ship, identifying it as the Mary Celeste. (TV: The Chase)
  • On the DVD release of The Chase, the production notes commentary indicates that although some feel the nameplate seen in the episode is misspelled, the spelling used is actually correct. Though Mary is technically correct, Marie was popularised when Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the first fictional account of the ship and misspelled the name. This account became ubiquitous when some 19th century newspapers mistook Conan Doyle's fiction for fact. Through the years, many fictional accounts have traced their way back to Conan Doyle's original account. The net result has been widespread confusion — as expressed in the documentary for The Chase — over whether Mary or Marie is the correct spelling.
  • Although The Chase is played mostly for laughs, the scene in which the Daleks force the passengers to jump overboard takes on a sombre note as a baby is shown among those falling into the sea, becoming the first baby to presumably die during the course of a televised Doctor Who story.
  • The Marie Celeste is mentioned by the Seventh Doctor in the script for the ultimately unproduced film The Dark Dimension.
  • One possible "game over" for the video game Don't Blink has the player being sent back in time by a Weeping Angel to the year 1872 to die on the Mary Celeste.