Sonic screwdriver: Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox Object|image = [[file:Sonic screwdriver.jpg|250px]]
|object name = Sonic screwdriver
|type = Multi-functional sonic device
|origin = [[The Doctor]]<br>[[The Doctor's TARDIS]]
|appearances = [[Sonic screwdriver - List of Appearances|Full List of Appearances]]
|mentions = [[BBCR]]: ''[[The Devil and Miss Carew]]''}}{{Big toc}}
The '''Sonic Screwdriver''' was a versatile tool and defensive weapon used by [[the Doctor]].


==Technology and functions==
The sonic screwdriver was a common and basic [[Time Lord]] device. If needed, a Time Lord could make one from scratch in very little time. ([[REF]]: ''[[Doctor Who: The Visual Dictionary (2010)]]'') [[The Doctor]] implied that he chose to make the first sonic screwdriver instead of wooing a woman. ([[DW]]: ''[[A Christmas Carol (TV story)|A Christmas Carol]]'') Other alien races were known to possess similar devices, such as the [[sonic pen]] used by Miss [[Cofelia|Foster]] ([[DW]]: ''[[Partners in Crime]]'') and the [[sonic blaster]] obtained by Captain [[Jack Harkness]]. Sonic blasters were known to be made in the [[Villengard]] factory. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Empty Child]]'') The name of the device itself suggests that it functioned using sound waves, although the actual workings of the device were never fully explained.
A crystal similar to [[Metebelis Crystal]] sought after by the [[Eight Legs]] of [[Metebelis III]] was used in the Mark VI sonic screwdriver. ([[IDW]]: ''[[The Forgotten]]'') There were also electrical components. ([[DWAM]]: ''[[The Halls of Sacrifice]]'')
The screwdriver had a multitude of settings, along with different versions of settings. The Doctor told Rose to use "setting 15B" to help him triangulate the source of the ghosts ([[DW]]: ''[[Army of Ghosts]]'') and used 34-H to sink a ship ([[DWBIT]]: ''[[Second Wave]]''). It was also said to have a setting 85. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Lazarus Experiment]]'') The Doctor told Rose to use setting 2428D to re-attach barbed wire. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Doctor Dances]]'') Sarah Jane uses the Theta Omega setting to melt plastic vines. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Android Invasion]]'')
The different versions of the Doctor's sonic screwdrivers exhibited different capabilities and uses, such as the interception of signals ranging from transmat beams to conscious thought; {{fact}} medical diagnostics and repair of organic parts; ([[DW]]: ''[[The Empty Child]]'') {{facts}} cutting, but also re-attaching materials such as barbed wire; ([[DW]]: ''[[The Doctor Dances]]'') operating Earth machinery such as computers and even cash machines (at regular and high eject speeds); ([[DW]]: ''[[School Reunion]]'', ''[[The Runaway Bride]]'') creating a spark to light a candle; {{fact}} and, on the rare occasion, driving screws without touching them. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Ark in Space]]'') {{facts}} Although it was primarily a tool, it could also be used as a defensive weapon. The Tenth Doctor put it in a sound board to destroy the [[Robot Santa]]s. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Runaway Bride]]'') Although the [[Eighth Doctor]] once claimed that the device could destroy a Dalek's brain if held directly against the casing when activated ([[EDA]]: ''[[War of the Daleks]]''), according to the [[Tenth Doctor]], the device could not be used to wound, maim, or kill living things. ([[DW]]: ''[[Doomsday]]'') It could be used to destroy non-living objects or mechanisms or place living creatures in circumstances where they might die, if the situation required. {{fact}}
From time to time, the sonic screwdriver needed to be recharged. ([[NSA]]: ''[[The Monsters Inside]]'', [[DWAM]]: ''[[Bizarre Zero]]'') The sonic screwdriver was self-repairing and could send out a homing signal to any parts that had been severed. ([[DW]]: ''[[A Christmas Carol (TV story)|A Christmas Carol]]'')
Sonic screwdrivers and similar technology could not unlock a [[deadlock seal]] ([[DW]]: ''[[School Reunion]]''); one of few exceptions was Miss Foster's [[sonic pen]], which was able to open the deadlock seals on and within the Adipose Industries building when the Doctor's sonic screwdriver could not. ([[DW]]: ''[[Partners in Crime]]'') Some or all versions were ineffective against wood, or in the presence of some models of hairdryers. ([[DW]]: ''[[Silence in the Library]]'' / ''[[Forest of the Dead]]'', ''[[The Hungry Earth]]'', [[PDA]]: ''[[Catastrophea (novel)|Catastrophea]]'')
==Variants of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver==
[[file:Doc2Sonic.jpg|thumb|right|Earliest known sonic screwdriver in use. ([[DW]]: ''[[The War Games]]'')]]
===Mark I===
A small, simple device similar to a penlight, first used by the Doctor in his [[First Doctor|first]] ([[MA]]: ''[[Venusian Lullaby]]'') and [[Second Doctor|second incarnations]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Fury from the Deep]]'')
====Known uses====
*Cracking the code for an aerodynamic shuttle. ([[MA]]: ''[[Venusian Lullaby]]). ''
*Opening up hatches, panels and control panels. ([[DW]]: ''[[Fury from the Deep]]'', ''[[The War Games]]'')
*For cutting through a section of a wall. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Dominators]]'')
*As a conventional screwdriver (without touching the screws). ([[DW]]: ''[[The War Games]]'')
===Mark II===
[[file:CarnivalMonsters sonic screwdriver.jpg|right|thumb|Variation used during and following the [[Third Doctor|Third Doctor's]] [[exile on Earth]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Carnival of Monsters]]'')]]
A larger and more elaborately detailed version, the Doctor began using this model in his [[Third Doctor|third incarnation]]. In addition to a redesign on the tip which remained the norm for the next two versions, it had a silver handle, and black and yellow stripes. It had a removable head which the Doctor would change with other heads, each performing a different function. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Sea Devils]]'')
====Known uses====
*Booby trap detector in [[the Master's TARDIS]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Colony in Space]]'')
*Remote detection and detonation of land mines. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Sea Devils]]'')
*To open an electronic door. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Mutants]]'')
*Undoing wrist clamps. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Mutants]]'')
*Creation of a spark of [[fire]] and igniting swamp gas. ([[DW]]: ''[[Carnival of Monsters]]'')
*Open electronic locks. ([[DW]]: ''[[Carnival of Monsters]]'')
*As conventional screwdriver, on large, flathead screw. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Monster of Peladon]]'')
*Overloading the brains of [[Space Greyhound]]s. ([[IDW]]: ''[[The Forgotten]]'')
*To distract giant maggots. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Green Death]]'')
===Mark III                                  ===
The [[Fourth Doctor]] remade his sonic screwdriver into a silver version that lacked the interchangeable heads. It was capable of extending its tip.
====Known uses====
*To remotely detonate mines. ([[DW]]: ''[[Robot (TV story)|Robot]]'')
*To cut locks. ([[DW]]: ''[[Robot (TV story)|Robot]]'')
*Undoing screws. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Ark in Space]]'')
*Repairing wires chewed by the [[Wirrn]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Ark in Space]]'')
*To fix a circle of [[transmat]] refractors. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Sontaran Experiment]]'')
*To breach a [[force field]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Sontaran Experiment]]'')
*To shut down [[Styre's robot]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Sontaran Experiment]]'')
*To sabotage a two-way [[radio]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Genesis of the Daleks]]'')
*Deactivate an energy loop opening up [[Sutekh|Sutekh's]] deflection barrier. ([[DW]]: ''[[Pyramids of Mars]]'')
*To shatter the [[Clynex]]. ([[DWM]]: ''[[The Naked Flame]]'')
*To create a temporary hole in [[Gallifrey]]'s [[force field]] above the Citadel. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Invasion of Time]]'')
*Using the correct sonic frequency to return the [[Fourth Doctor]] and [[Ernestina Stott]] to normal size. ([[BBCR]]: ''[[Hornets' Nest]]'' - ''[[The Dead Shoes]]'')
*To open doors on [[Ribos]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Ribos Operation]]'')
*To unlock multi-levered interlocks to the Ribos crown jewels casket ([[DW]]: ''[[The Ribos Operation]]'')
*To open the door to the real Queen [[Xanxia]]'s chamber. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Pirate Planet]]'')
*To free [[Romana I|Romana]] from her bonds on a prison ship in [[hyperspace]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Stones of Blood]]'')
*To blow up a [[Dalek]] bomb. ([[DW]]: ''[[Destiny of the Daleks]]'')
*To unscrew the [[Zero Room]]'s hinges and assist in constructing the [[Zero Cabinet]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Castrovalva (TV story)|Castrovalva]]'')
*To disarm [[fusion bomb]]s by reversing the polarity of the neutron-flow. ([[MA]]: ''[[Cold Fusion]]'')
*To open a door to escape confinement. ([[DW]]: ''[[Four to Doomsday]]'')
*To reverse the magnetic field on Monopticans. ([[DW]]: ''[[Four to Doomsday]]'')
*To short-circuit androids in conjunction with a pencil, the graphite acting as a conductive material for the screwdriver's power. ([[DW]]: ''[[Four to Doomsday]]'')
*To use as a component in the [[Delta wave augmenter]], to induce sleep. ([[DW]]: ''[[Kinda (TV story)|Kinda]]'')
===Mark IV===
[[file:ChangLooksThroughSonic.jpg|thumb|[[Chang Lee]] discovers the sonic screwdriver the [[Seventh Doctor]] had at [[regeneration]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Doctor Who (1996)|Doctor Who]]'')]]
Towards the end of his [[Seventh Doctor|Seventh Incarnation]] The Doctor used a model quite similar to his Mark III except that instead of the ring around the tip being red, the tip itself was red. This was used during the [[Eighth Doctor]]'s life and had a torch built in the handle. During a period when he suffered from amnesia, the Doctor was only able to operate the screwdriver when he stopped himself consciously thinking about what he was trying to do with it and actively focused on something else, but he eventually overcame this and was able to operate it naturally once again.
====Known Uses====
*To lock the casket containing [[the Master]]'s remains. ([[DW]]: ''[[Doctor Who (1996)|Doctor Who]]'')
*To turn Cybermen against each other. ([[DWM]]: ''[[The Flood]]'')
*To disorient a Rescue Operational Security Module. ([[BFA]]: ''[[Embrace the Darkness]]'')
*Used by [[Romana]] to raise the bulkheads between her and the Matrix chamber. ([[BFA]]: ''[[Neverland]]'')
*To jam motion-sensitive sensors long enough for the Doctor and his companions to get to safety. ([[BFA]]: ''[[Scaredy Cat]]'')
*To lock the TARDIS [[console room]] away from the rest of the ship until it can repair itself during a [[Hellion]] attack. ([[BFA]]: ''[[Absolution]]'')
*To track residual energy traces. ([[BFA]]: ''[[The Girl Who Never Was]]'')
*To reactivate a long-dormant telegraph machine. ([[BFA]]: ''[[The Girl Who Never Was]]'')
*To oscillate the atoms of wickerwork to weaken the structure. ([[BFA]]: ''[[Dead London]]'')
*To vibrate Molluscari from their shells by duplicating the precise frequency necessary. ([[BFA]]: ''[[Orbis]]'')
*To open the organic locks used by the [[Zygon]]s. ([[EDA]]: ''[[The Bodysnatchers]]'')
*To destroy a Dalek's brain (When placed directly against the Dalek's casing around its head). ([[EDA]]: ''[[War of the Daleks]]'')
*To repel [[ghost]]s. ([[EDA]]: ''[[Vanderdeken's Children]]'')
*To open a door in a force field large enough for the Doctor and his companions to travel through. ([[EDA]]: ''[[EarthWorld]]'')
*To open the chest of the mobile nuclear weapon Fatboy. ([[EDA]]: ''[[Eater of Wasps]]'')
*To decapitate the King of Beasts of the [[Babewyn]]. ([[EDA]]: ''[[The Adventuress of Henrietta Street]]'')
*To lock a bank vault from the inside. ([[EDA]]: ''[[Trading Futures]]'')
*To temporarily disable an electron bomb. ([[EDA]]: ''[[The Tomorrow Windows]]'')
*To subdue hostile dogs (Presumably using a dog-whistle-like frequency). ([[EDA]]: ''[[The Deadstone Memorial]]'')
*To disrupt the control signal for floating magnetic discs. ([[EDA]]: ''[[To the Slaughter]]'')
===Mark V===
Towards the end of his [[eighth incarnation]], the Doctor had a new model with a glowing blue diode at one end. The [[Ninth Doctor|ninth]] and [[Tenth Doctor|tenth incarnations]] of the Doctor also carried this model, until it was burnt out after modifying an [[x-ray]] scanner to increase the radiation output. ([[DW]]: ''[[Smith and Jones]]'')
[[file:Sonic screwdriver - Doomsday.png|right|thumb|The version used by the [[Ninth Doctor|ninth]] and [[tenth Doctor|tenth]] incarnations of the Doctor. ([[DW]]: ''[[Doomsday]]'')]]
====Known uses====
*To heal [[Osskah Longspan]]'s body. ([[ST]]: ''[[Osskah]]'')
*To destroy the controls of an elevator. ([[DW]]: ''[[Rose (TV story)|Rose]]'')
*To detect and stop [[telepathy|telepathic]] signals. ([[DW]]: ''[[Rose (TV story)|Rose]]'')
*To interface with a [[computer]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The End of the World (TV story)|The End of the World]]'')
*To control an elevator. ([[DW]]: ''[[Aliens of London]]'')
*To cause rain via atmospheric excitation. ([[DWM]]: ''[[Death to the Doctor!]]'')
*To obtain money from a cash machine. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Long Game]]'')
*To charge a battery. ([[DW]]: ''[[Father's Day]]'')
*To act as a medical scanner and diagnostic tool. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Empty Child]]'')
*To corrode thin metal (e.g. barbed wire) so that it crumbles into rust. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Doctor Dances]]'')
*To re-connect barbed wire. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Doctor Dances]]'')
*To unlock handcuffs. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Doctor Dances]]'')
*To set up a resonation pattern in concrete. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Doctor Dances]]'')
*To reverse teleport devices. ([[DW]]: ''[[Boom Town]]'')
*To destroy a television camera. ([[DW]]: ''[[Bad Wolf (TV story)|Bad Wolf]]'')
*To dematerialise the TARDIS and initialising TARDIS processes from outside the craft. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Parting of the Ways]]'')
*To blow up a remote control Christmas tree. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Christmas Invasion]]'')
*To transfer its powers to a remote control. ([[DW]]: ''[[Attack of the Graske]]'')
*To ignite swamp gas. ([[DWAM]]: ''[[The Hunt of Doom]]'')
*To stop the emergence of [[Mirrorling]]s from mirrors. ([[DWAM]]: ''[[Mirror Image]]'')
*To dislodge and reinsert teeth. ([[DWM]]: ''[[The Lodger (comic story)|The Lodger]]'')
*To create small flames. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Girl in the Fireplace]]'')
*To cut rope. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Age of Steel]]'')
*To locking and unlock a hatch in Cybus Industries ([[DW]]: ''[[The Age of Steel]]'')
*To threaten [[the Wire]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Idiot's Lantern]]'')
*To illuminate [[Rose Tyler|Rose]]. ([[DWAM]]: ''[[Warfreekz!]]'')
*To reverse an [[anti-gravity]] [[umbrella]]. ([[DWAM]]: ''[[Smart Bombs]]'')
*To partially reverse the [[Abzorbaloff]]'s absorption of [[Ursula Blake]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Love & Monsters]]'')
*To de-activate a [[Scribble Creature|living graphite scribble]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Fear Her]]'')
*To partially crack glass so it can be smashed with the push of a finger. ([[DW]]: ''[[Army of Ghosts]]'')
*To detonate an explosive device. ([[DW]]: ''[[Doomsday]]'')
*To get money from cash machine, at both regular and extra-high rates of ejection. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Runaway Bride]]'')
*To unlock a taxi door and window. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Runaway Bride]]'')
*To scan a life form for information, specifically Donna Noble. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Runaway Bride]]'')
*To detonate the head of a [[roboform]] ([[DW]]: ''[[The Runaway Bride]]'')
*To search a phone for an app or a feature. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Runaway Bride]]'')
*To hack into the [[H.C. Clements]] website. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Runaway Bride]]'')
*To bypass the key needed to access the secret basement in H.C. Clements. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Runaway Bride]]'')
*To summon the Tardis using [[Huon]] particles. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Runaway Bride]]'')
*To cut a spider web. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Runaway Bride]]'')
*To destroy the Robot Santas with sound (used in conjunction with a professional sound system). ([[DW]]: ''[[The Runaway Bride]]'')
*To detect heated [[water]]. ([[DWAM]]: ''[[The Halls of Sacrifice]]'')
*To overload [[Cyberman (Pete's World)|Cybermen]]. ([[DWBIT]]: ''[[The Power of the Cybermen]]'')
*To crash an [[aircar]]. ([[DWBIT]]: ''[[Time of the Cybermen]]'')
*To confuse the antibodies of a living [[planet]]. ([[DWBIT]]: ''[[Lonely Planet]]'')
*To increase the radiation output of a device such as an [[x-ray]] scanner; this action burned out the screwdriver. ([[DW]]: ''[[Smith and Jones]]'')
===Mark VI===
The [[Tenth Doctor|tenth incarnation]] used another screwdriver after the X-ray incident. This model was damaged during the Doctor's [[The End of Time (TV story)|tenth regeneration]] and the TARDIS' subsequent crash, as well as by [[Prisoner Zero]] and was ultimately destroyed when [[The Eleventh Doctor|the Doctor]] used it to overload technology to alert the Atraxi. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Eleventh Hour]]'')
====Known uses====
[[file:Mark VI sonic - The Eleventh Hour.png|right|thumb|Mark VI Sonic screwdriver being used by the [[Eleventh Doctor]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Eleventh Hour]]'')]]
*Opening air-tight seals. ([[DW]]: ''[[Gridlock]]'')
*Trying to strip off pieces of [[Dalekanium]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Evolution of the Daleks]]'')
*Lighting a bunsen burner from a distance. ([[DW]]: ''[[Evolution of the Daleks]]'')
*Bypassing and turning off security systems. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Lazarus Experiment]]'')
*Producing hypersonic sound waves which led to the death of the Lazarus creature in conjunction with a pipe organ. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Lazarus Experiment]]'')
*Scanning for the transformed Lazarus creature after it escaped to [[Southwark Cathedral]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Lazarus Experiment]]'')
*Disabling robotic flies. ([[DWBIT]]: ''[[Exhausting Evil]]'')
*Disabling [[security orb]]s. ([[DWBIT]]: ''[[Wrath of the Warrior]]'')
*Modifying hearing aids. ([[DWBIT]]: ''[[The Screaming Prison]]'')
*Reversing [[Teleportation|teleport feeds]]. ([[DWBIT]]: ''[[Warriors' Revenge]]'')
*Sinking a ship. ([[DWBIT]]: ''[[Second Wave]]'')
*Resonating a floor to destroy it, via crystal gems. ([[DWBIT]]: ''[[Operation Lock-up]]'')
*Melting [[chocolate]] by increasing the resonance frequency of a torch. ([[DWBIT]]: ''[[Crimes and Punishment]]'')
*Completing the life's work of Professor [[Yana]], allowing the [[human]] race to travel to [[Utopia (planet)|Utopia]] ([[DW]] ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]'')
*Locking the TARDIS navigational systems to only allow travel between its current position and its previous position. ([[DW]]: ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]'')
*Fixing a decades-broken [[vortex manipulator]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]'')
*Destroying a security camera. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums]]'')
*As a soldering iron to make [[perception filter]]s using [[TARDIS key]]s. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums]]'')
*Uncorking a champagne bottle. ([[DW]]: ''[[Voyage of the Damned]]'')
*Looping temporal energy of a [[fraxis pod]] back into a [[zygma drive]]. ([[DWBIT]]: ''[[Blooms of Doom!]]'')
*Shattering robot assassins. ([[DWBIT]]: ''[[A Suitable Showdown]]'')
*Controlling a cable cart. ([[DW]]: ''[[Partners in Crime]]'')
*Breaking into a silo on the [[Ood-Sphere]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Planet of the Ood]]'')
*Creating a [[stasis beam]]. ([[DWBIT]]: ''[[School of the Dead]]'')
*Disabling a [[Sontaran]] teleport. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Sontaran Stratagem]]'')
*Scanning shadows for the presence of [[Vashta Nerada]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Silence in the Library]]''/''[[Forest of the Dead]]'')
*Showing a hologram of [[Donna Noble]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Forest of the Dead]]'')
*Tinting a helmet visor ([[DW]]: [[Forest of the Dead]])
*Disabling the [[Crusader 50]]'s entertainment system. ([[DW]]: ''[[Midnight (TV story)|Midnight]]'')
*Checking [[Crusader 50]]'s control console for faults. ([[DW]]: ''[[Midnight (TV story)|Midnight]]'')
*Teleporting a [[Graske]] to the other side of the universe. ([[DW]]: ''[[Music of the Spheres]]'')
*Opening the casing of a cleaning robot. ([[DWBIT]]: ''[[Carnage Zoo]]'')
*[[Teleport]]ing onto a [[Nim]] [[spacecraft]]. ([[DWBIT]]: ''[[The Day the Earth Was Sold]]'', ''[[The King of Earth]]'')
*As a [[Sonic Toothbrush]]. ([[DWAM]]: ''[[The Continuity Cap]]'')
*Tracing [[distress signal]]s. ([[DWAM]]: ''[[The Ghost Factory]]'')
*Modifying a [[gravity converter]]. ([[DWAM]]: ''[[Skydive]]'')
*Disabling a [[Cyrronak Robot]]. ([[DWAM]]: ''[[Highway Robbery]]'')
*Scanning slime. ([[DWAM]]: ''[[Doomsilk]]'')
*Cancelling out a [[phonic blast]]. ([[DWAM]]: ''[[We Will Rock You]]'')
*Shattering ice. ([[DWAM]]: ''[[Arctic Eclipse]]'')
*Scanning the [[President of Earth (Return of the Klytode)|President of Earth]] for [[alien]] influence. ([[DWAM]]: ''[[Return of the Klytode]]'')
*Blowing up a fire hydrant. ([[DWAM]]: ''[[Creature Feature]]'')
*Atmospheric excitation to cause rain. ([[DWAM]]: ''[[Mudshock]]'')
*Tickling a [[lion]] with sonic waves. ([[NSA]]: ''[[The Slitheen Excursion]]'')
*Repairing an overloading distribution box. ([[TDL]]: ''[[The Graves of Mordane]]'')
*Downloading a journal. ([[TDL]]: ''[[The Colour of Darkness]]'')
*Detecting and illuminating [[ultraviolet]] characters. ([[TDL]]: ''[[The Game of Death]]'')
*Remotely controlling environmental controls. ([[TDL]]: ''[[The Game of Death]]'')
*Detecting the arrival of [[spacecraft]]. ([[TDL]]: ''[[The Pictures of Emptiness]]'')
*Picking up traces of [[Psychic energy|psychic spoor]]. ([[DWM]]: ''[[Mortal Beloved]]'')
*Tinting the Doctor's glasses. ([[DW]]: ''[[Planet of the Dead (TV story)|Planet of the Dead]]'')
*Opening bus doors. ([[DW]]: ''[[Planet of the Dead (TV story)|Planet of the Dead]]'')
*Unlocking handcuffs. ([[DW]]: ''[[Planet of the Dead (TV story)|Planet of the Dead]]'')
*Incapacitating a [[Gizou]]. ([[IDW]]: ''[[Fugitive]]'')
*Detecting time traces. ([[SJA]]: ''[[The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith]]'')
*As an actual screwdriver, without touching the screws. ([[DW]]: ''[[Dreamland (TV story)|Dreamland]]'')
*Disabling a [[Shimmer]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'')
*Switching the [[Hesperus]]' power off. ([[DW]]: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'')
*Changing the course of the TARDIS. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Eleventh Hour]]'')
*Opening a "[[Time Crack|crack]]" in space-time. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Eleventh Hour]]'')
*Overloading all technology in [[Leadworth]] (To the point where the screwdriver itself explodes). ([[DW]]: ''[[The Eleventh Hour]]'')
===Mark VII===
[[File:New_Screwdriver.png|thumb|The Mark VII sonic screwdriver ([[DW]]: ''[[The Eleventh Hour]]'')]]
Following the Mark VI's destruction, the Doctor received a new Sonic Screwdriver from the TARDIS. It differed radically from the previous model, having “claws” and a green diode, rather than blue. It also had copper plating in various places, similar to the new TARDIS interior. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Eleventh Hour]]'') Unlike the previous marks, which had "settings", this version had a psychic interface, in which the user simply pointed and thought of the function they wished it to perform. ([[DW]]: ''[[Let's Kill Hitler]]'') This version of the screwdriver was destroyed when a [[sky shark]] bit it in half and swallowed the top half ([[DW]]: ''[[A Christmas Carol (TV story)|A Christmas Carol]]''). When the Mark VII was bitten in half by a sky shark, the Doctor left it with [[Kazran Sardick]] , saying that he was "going to need a new one" ([[DW]]: [[A Christmas Carol (TV story)|''A Christmas Carol'']]). The Doctor had duplicates of this screwdriver, which he continued to use throughout his travels. He also mentions that this screwdriver is more than just sonic, but does not mention what else it is ([[DW]] : [[Night Terrors]]).
====Known uses====
*Scanning [[Starship UK]]'s engine room. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Beast Below]]'')
*As a torch. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Beast Below]]'')
*To force a [[star whale]] to regurgitate by overloading its chemo-receptors. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Beast Below]]'')
*Making a star whale's voice audible to the human ear. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Beast Below]]'')
*Amplifying an electrical beam. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Beast Below]]'')
*Opening the chest plate of [[Edwin Bracewell|an Android]]'s controls and (unsuccessfully) attempting to defuse the bomb inside it. ([[DW]]: ''[[Victory of the Daleks]]'')
*To increase a signal's strength. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Time of Angels]]'')
*To scan Father [[Octavian]]'s computer. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Time of Angels]]'')
*Opening the entrance hatch of a space ship. ([[DW]]: ''[[Flesh and Stone]]'')
*Isolating the lighting so that the [[Weeping Angel]]s could not drain the power. ([[DW]]: ''[[Flesh and Stone]]'')
*Redirecting all the power to the doors in order to open them. ([[DW]]: ''[[Flesh and Stone]]'')
*Determining the nature of [[time Field|the cracks]] throughout time and space. ([[DW]]: ''[[Flesh and Stone]]'')
*To send a signal through to [[Amy Pond|Amy's]] communicator to help guide her through a forest. ([[DW]]: ''[[Flesh and Stone]]'')
*Uploading software. ([[DW]]: ''[[Flesh and Stone]]'')
*Simultaneously healing and analysing wounds. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Vampires of Venice]]'')
*Blocking out the effects of [[perception filter]]s. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Vampires of Venice]]'')
*Scanning lifeforms. ([[DW]]: ''[[Amy's Choice]]'')
*Scanning piles of dust for traces of children. ([[DW]]: ''[[Amy's Choice]]'')
*Detecting where lights are. ([[DW]]: ''[[Amy's Choice]]'')
*Exploding lightbulbs. ([[DW]]: ''[[Amy's Choice]]'')
*Unlocking padlocks. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Hungry Earth]]'')
*Hacking into computer records. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Hungry Earth]]'')
*Displaying energy barricades which are usually invisible to the naked eye. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Hungry Earth]]'')
*Activating bio-programmed soil. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Hungry Earth]]'')
*Scanning for heat signatures. ([[DW]]: ''[[Cold Blood]]'')
*Disabling [[Silurian]] weapons. ([[DW]]: ''[[Cold Blood]]'')
*Scanning an infection. ([[DW]]: ''[[Cold Blood]]'')
*Locking the [[The Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]] doors. ([[DW]]: ''[[Cold Blood]]'')
*Opening the gate to the London Underground. ([[VG]]: ''[[City of the Daleks]]'')
*Opening up a discarded [[Dalek]] dome. ([[VG]]: ''[[City of the Daleks]]'')
*Bypassing Dalek security seals. ([[VG]]: ''[[City of the Daleks]]'')
*Opening up control panels in [[Kaalann]]. ([[VG]]: ''[[City of the Daleks]]'')
*Accessing the [[Visualiser]] eye and repowering it. ([[VG]]: ''[[City of the Daleks]]'')
*Tampering with the [[Dalek Emperor]]'s casing. ([[VG]]: ''[[City of the Daleks]]'')
*Activating a Dalek console trap. ([[VG]]: ''[[City of the Daleks]]'')
*Constructing a [[Dalek Vision Disruptor]]. ([[VG]]: ''[[City of the Daleks]]'')
*Heating [[water]] and ice. ([[VG]]: ''[[Blood of the Cybermen]]'')
*Giving a [[Cybermat (Blood of the Cybermen)|Cybermat]] a "Cyber-Migraine". ([[VG]]: ''[[Blood of the Cybermen]]'')
*Distracting Cybermats. ([[VG]]: ''[[Blood of the Cybermen]]'')
*Fixing platform lift control panels. ([[VG]]: ''[[Blood of the Cybermen]]'')
*Closing and locking a door to a [[Cyber-conversion]] room. ([[VG]]: ''[[Blood of the Cybermen]]'')
*Unlocking [[Cyber-conversion unit]] manacles. ([[VG]]: ''[[Blood of the Cybermen]]'')
*Disassembling a [[Chronon Blocker]]. ([[VG]]: ''[[TARDIS (The Adventure Games)|TARDIS]]'')
*Opening an electronic door. ([[VG]]: ''[[Shadows of the Vashta Nerada]]'')
*Activating emergency light switches. ([[VG]]: ''[[Shadows of the Vashta Nerada]]'')
*Turning on the lights inside a generator. ([[VG]]: ''[[Shadows of the Vashta Nerada]]'')
*Unsuccessfully attempting to stun the [[Krafayis]] (possibly due to being unable to find the right prozactic setting), appearing to please it instead. ([[DW]]: ''[[Vincent and the Doctor]]'')
*Opening the door to a [[79B Aickman Road|time ship]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Lodger (TV story)|The Lodger]]'')
*Changing a [[hologram]] between its different forms. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Lodger (TV story)|The Lodger]]'')
*Scanning [[Stonehenge]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Pandorica Opens (TV story)|The Pandorica Opens]]'')
*Lighting flaming torches. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Pandorica Opens (TV story)|The Pandorica Opens]]'')
*Scrambling a Cyberarm's circuits. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Pandorica Opens (TV story)|The Pandorica Opens]]'')
*Scanning the [[Pandorica]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Pandorica Opens (TV story)|The Pandorica Opens]]'')
*To open, close and lock the Pandorica. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Big Bang]]'')
*Amplifying a satellite dish to scan for an exploding TARDIS. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Big Bang]]'')
*Giving orders to androids. ([[WC]]: ''[[The War of Art]]'')
*To reconfigure the binaries in the TARDIS. ([[VG]]: ''[[Evacuation Earth]]'')
*Heating up a [[tea]]pot. ([[WC]]: ''[[Snowfall]]'')
*To confirm the [[isomorphic controls|isomorphic]] nature of a control panel. ([[DW]]: ''[[A Christmas Carol (TV story)|A Christmas Carol]])''
*As a lure to attract a [[Sky fish]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[A Christmas Carol (TV story)|A Christmas Carol]]'')
*Attempting self-reconstruction via signalling its other half. ([[DW]]: ''[[A Christmas Carol (TV story)|A Christmas Carol]]'')
*Transmitting [[Abigail Pettigrew|Abigail]]'s singing from one broken segment to the other. ([[DW]]: ''[[A Christmas Carol (TV story)|A Christmas Carol]]'')
*Unlocking a door. ([[DW]]: ''[[Day of the Moon]]'')
*Scanning a spacesuit. ([[DW]]: ''[[Day of the Moon]]'')
*Affirming whether a [[nanorecorder]] had defaulted to telepathic transmission or a recording. ([[DW]]: ''[[Day of the Moon]]'')
*Unlocking Amy's restraints. ([[DW]]: ''[[Day of the Moon]]'')
*Stunning the Silence. ([[DW]]: ''[[Day of the Moon]]'')
*Protecting two versions of [[Rory Williams]] from falling victim to the [[Blinovitch Limitation Effect]] ([[DWN]]: ''[[Touched by an Angel]]'')
*Scanning the Flesh. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Rebel Flesh]]'')
*Locking a grating into place. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Almost People]]'')
*Dissolving [[Ganger]]s. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Almost People]]'')
*Closing doors inside a [[Cyber Ship]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[A Good Man Goes to War]]'')
*Opening doors on [[Demon's Run]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[A Good Man Goes to War]]'')
*Detecting if a person is fatally wounded. ([[DW]]: ''[[A Good Man Goes to War]]'')
*Disabling a force field. ([[DW]]: ''[[A Good Man Goes to War]]'')
*Disarming [[River Song|Melody Pond]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Let's Kill Hitler]]'')
*Hailing the Eleventh Doctor's [[sonic cane]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Let's Kill Hitler]]'')
*Disabling priveleges from the the [[Teselecta]]'s crew. ([[DW]]: ''[[Let's Kill Hitler]]'')
*Activating [[George (Night Terrors)|George's]] toys. ([[DW]]: ''[[Night Terrors]]'')
*Scanning for monsters. ([[DW]]: ''[[Night Terrors]]'')
===Mark ?===
In the Doctor's personal future, he upgraded the screwdriver with, in addition to Mark VI settings, "red settings" and "damper settings". He gave it to [[River Song]], both for her use and, unknown to River, a [[Data Chip|Neural Relay]], which saved River's [[Data Ghost]] for uploading into [[Charlotte Abigail Lux|the main computer]] of [[the Library]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Silence in the Library]]'', ''[[Forest of the Dead]]'')
[[File:506529-river_song_sonic_screwdriver_super.jpg|thumb|river's screwdriver]]Known uses
*Activating and disabling gravity platforms. ([[DW]]: ''[[Forest of the Dead]]'')
*Fixing light bulbs. ([[DW]]: ''[[Forest of the Dead]]'')
*Storing the consciousness of a human (specifically River's). ([[DW]]: ''[[Forest of the Dead]]'')
*Increasing mesh densities to over 800%. ([[DW]]: ''[[Forest of the Dead]]'')
==Related tools==
*[[Liz Shaw]] had her own version of the Doctor's "door handle" device, which she used to open the door to the Doctor's shed. ([[DW]]: ''[[Inferno]]'')
*[[Romana]] constructed her own sonic screwdriver. Her version so impressed the Doctor that he unsuccessfully attempted to swap sonic screwdrivers with her. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Horns of Nimon]]'') She later gave it to the Doctor. ([[NA]]: ''[[Lungbarrow]]'') ''This resembled a smaller, slimmer version of the Doctor's Mark II.''
*[[The Master]] had a similar tool, called a '''[[laser screwdriver]]'''. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums]]'')
*Captain [[Jack Harkness]] and later [[River Song]] possessed a '''[[sonic blaster]]'''. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Empty Child]]'' / ''[[The Doctor Dances]]'', ''[[Silence in the Library]]'' / ''[[Forest of the Dead]]'')
*Using stolen and incomplete [[UNIT]] design plans, [[Toshiko Sato]] created a '''[[sonic modulator]]'''. ([[TW]]: ''[[Fragments]]'')
*[[Matron Cofelia|Miss Foster]] had a '''[[sonic pen]]''' (described as sleek) with a design similar to the [[Tenth Doctor]]'s sonic screwdriver. It is unknown if it doubled as a writing tool. ([[DW]]: ''[[Partners in Crime]]'')
*The Doctor gave [[Sarah Jane Smith]] a '''[[sonic lipstick]]''', a similar tool. ([[SJA]]: ''[[Invasion of the Bane]]'')
*The Doctor mentions that he once had a '''[[laser spanner]]''' as well, but [[Emmeline Pankhurst]] took it from him. ([[DW]]: ''[[Smith and Jones]]'')
*[[Mrs Wormwood]] was in possession of a ring called a '''[[Phonic disruptor]]'''. ([[SJA]]: ''[[Enemy of the Bane]]'')
*The [[Sixth Doctor]] defeated [[Cybermen]] using a [[sonic lance]], similar in function to the sonic screwdriver. The Doctor was also able to use it as a weapon as well. ([[DW]]: ''[[Attack of the Cybermen]]'')
*The [http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Eleventh_Doctor Eleventh Doctor] used a '''[[sonic cane]] '''to contact [http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Amy_Pond Amy] and [http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Rory_Williams Rory] while they were miniaturised inside the [http://tardis.wikia.com/index.php?title=Teselecta&action=edit&redlink=1 Teselecta] and to scan the Teselecta. ([http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/DW DW]: ''[http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Let%27s_Kill_Hitler Let's Kill Hitler]'')
*[[Jackson Lake]] carried what is likely the most primitive iteration of the sonic screwdriver. His version was a regular [[19th century]] screwdriver, which he claimed was sonic by virtue of it making a sound when it was struck against a surface. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Next Doctor]]'')
==Behind the scenes==
*The sonic screwdriver was retired during the Fifth Doctor serial ''[[The Visitation]]'', as it was felt that it had become overused. It was absent for the Sixth Doctor era and all of the Seventh, except in ''[[Doctor Who (1996)|Doctor Who]]'', in which the Seventh Doctor was seen to use it to lock the Master's remains away; the Eighth Doctor recovered it at the end of the film. The tool was reintroduced with the Ninth Doctor and has become the show's most frequently used gadget besides the TARDIS itself. It has since appeared in many Seventh and Eighth Doctor audio adventures from [[Big Finish Productions]].
*For unexplained reasons, the Tenth Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver had a green casing in ''[[The Infinite Quest]]''.
*During early production of Series 1 (2005), the production crew decided to switch from their original prop to one based on the toy Sonic Screwdriver because the first prop was prone to falling apart. So, the production team secured molds from the toy replica in order to make a more reliable prop for the next season.
*Early conceptual art of the modern era Sonic Screwdriver feature a different "tube" section, with notes referring to "glowing organic circuitry", and a movable ball-joint on the emitter, to allow use around corners and in tight spaces. Instead of the "glowing circuitry," the actual prop and toy reproductions feature a black "swivel," like a simple helix. When given a personal copy of the concept art, David Tennant himself commented on the lack of the swivelling emitter.
*Another early piece of concept art, similar to a simple Bitmap drawing, reveals that the black "cap" at the reverse end of the Sonic Screwdriver was intended to be an opening set of "feet," allowing the Sonic Screwdriver to plug into a section of the TARDIS console. This feature was also dropped from the eventual prop model.
*There are two main versions of the Mark VI Sonic Screwdriver - one has a slide feature with button, and one which does not slide and has a fixed button. The two prop types varied each episode.
*When the Doctor handles the screwdriver, the clinking noises produced (when he throws and catches it) are created by repeating the motions with a corkscrew, the handles of which bump against the casing to produce the required noise. These noises are then dubbed over the footage.
*A toy of the Mark VII (Matt Smith version) was seen in "Light Echoes", an edition of [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mk7h "The Sky at Night"] broadcast on [http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc4 BBC4] on Wednesday 5th October 2010. The screwdriver was (jokingly) used to scan a part of the [http://www.lofar.org.uk LOFAR] radio telescope, then under construction in Chilbolton, Hampshire, UK.
*In the original script for ''[[The Eleventh Hour]]'', the Doctor referred to the Mark VI Screwdriver as "Level 4000" technology.
*The Eleventh Doctor's sonic screwdriver toy has a secret third noise that can be activated by pressing the un-closed sonic button twice quickly and holding it on the third press. This feature, however, drains the batteries.
==External links==
* [http://nzdwfc.tetrap.com/archive/tsv31/sonicscrewdriver.html "Is That A Sonic Screwdriver in your Pocket, Doctor?" article by Jon Preddle]
* [http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/cubegoodies/8cff Sonic Screwdriver toy on ThinkGeek]
* [http://theautogadgets.com/unique-screwdriver.html New sonic screwdriver 2010]
*[http://www.denofgeek.com/television/290333/doctor_who_new_pics_of_matt_smith-and_new_sonic_screwdriver.html New Doctor New Screwdriver]
[[Category:The Doctor's items]]
[[Category:The Doctor's items]]
[[Category:Gallifreyan technology]]
[[Category:Gallifreyan technology]]
[[Category:Sonic devices|*]]
[[Category:Sonic devices|*]]
[[Category:Previous Featured Articles]]
[[Category:Previous Featured Articles]]

Revision as of 20:27, 9 September 2011

The Sonic Screwdriver was a versatile tool and defensive weapon used by the Doctor.

Technology and functions

The sonic screwdriver was a common and basic Time Lord device. If needed, a Time Lord could make one from scratch in very little time. (REF: Doctor Who: The Visual Dictionary (2010)) The Doctor implied that he chose to make the first sonic screwdriver instead of wooing a woman. (DW: A Christmas Carol) Other alien races were known to possess similar devices, such as the sonic pen used by Miss Foster (DW: Partners in Crime) and the sonic blaster obtained by Captain Jack Harkness. Sonic blasters were known to be made in the Villengard factory. (DW: The Empty Child) The name of the device itself suggests that it functioned using sound waves, although the actual workings of the device were never fully explained.

A crystal similar to Metebelis Crystal sought after by the Eight Legs of Metebelis III was used in the Mark VI sonic screwdriver. (IDW: The Forgotten) There were also electrical components. (DWAM: The Halls of Sacrifice)

The screwdriver had a multitude of settings, along with different versions of settings. The Doctor told Rose to use "setting 15B" to help him triangulate the source of the ghosts (DW: Army of Ghosts) and used 34-H to sink a ship (DWBIT: Second Wave). It was also said to have a setting 85. (DW: The Lazarus Experiment) The Doctor told Rose to use setting 2428D to re-attach barbed wire. (DW: The Doctor Dances) Sarah Jane uses the Theta Omega setting to melt plastic vines. (DW: The Android Invasion)

The different versions of the Doctor's sonic screwdrivers exhibited different capabilities and uses, such as the interception of signals ranging from transmat beams to conscious thought; [source needed] medical diagnostics and repair of organic parts; (DW: The Empty Child) [additional sources needed] cutting, but also re-attaching materials such as barbed wire; (DW: The Doctor Dances) operating Earth machinery such as computers and even cash machines (at regular and high eject speeds); (DW: School Reunion, The Runaway Bride) creating a spark to light a candle; [source needed] and, on the rare occasion, driving screws without touching them. (DW: The Ark in Space) [additional sources needed] Although it was primarily a tool, it could also be used as a defensive weapon. The Tenth Doctor put it in a sound board to destroy the Robot Santas. (DW: The Runaway Bride) Although the Eighth Doctor once claimed that the device could destroy a Dalek's brain if held directly against the casing when activated (EDA: War of the Daleks), according to the Tenth Doctor, the device could not be used to wound, maim, or kill living things. (DW: Doomsday) It could be used to destroy non-living objects or mechanisms or place living creatures in circumstances where they might die, if the situation required. [source needed]

From time to time, the sonic screwdriver needed to be recharged. (NSA: The Monsters Inside, DWAM: Bizarre Zero) The sonic screwdriver was self-repairing and could send out a homing signal to any parts that had been severed. (DW: A Christmas Carol)

Sonic screwdrivers and similar technology could not unlock a deadlock seal (DW: School Reunion); one of few exceptions was Miss Foster's sonic pen, which was able to open the deadlock seals on and within the Adipose Industries building when the Doctor's sonic screwdriver could not. (DW: Partners in Crime) Some or all versions were ineffective against wood, or in the presence of some models of hairdryers. (DW: Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead, The Hungry Earth, PDA: Catastrophea)


Variants of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver

Earliest known sonic screwdriver in use. (DW: The War Games)

Mark I

A small, simple device similar to a penlight, first used by the Doctor in his first (MA: Venusian Lullaby) and second incarnations. (DW: Fury from the Deep)

Known uses

Mark II

File:CarnivalMonsters sonic screwdriver.jpg
Variation used during and following the Third Doctor's exile on Earth. (DW: Carnival of Monsters)

A larger and more elaborately detailed version, the Doctor began using this model in his third incarnation. In addition to a redesign on the tip which remained the norm for the next two versions, it had a silver handle, and black and yellow stripes. It had a removable head which the Doctor would change with other heads, each performing a different function. (DW: The Sea Devils)

Known uses


Mark III

The Fourth Doctor remade his sonic screwdriver into a silver version that lacked the interchangeable heads. It was capable of extending its tip.

Known uses

Mark IV

Chang Lee discovers the sonic screwdriver the Seventh Doctor had at regeneration. (DW: Doctor Who)

Towards the end of his Seventh Incarnation The Doctor used a model quite similar to his Mark III except that instead of the ring around the tip being red, the tip itself was red. This was used during the Eighth Doctor's life and had a torch built in the handle. During a period when he suffered from amnesia, the Doctor was only able to operate the screwdriver when he stopped himself consciously thinking about what he was trying to do with it and actively focused on something else, but he eventually overcame this and was able to operate it naturally once again.

Known Uses

Mark V

Towards the end of his eighth incarnation, the Doctor had a new model with a glowing blue diode at one end. The ninth and tenth incarnations of the Doctor also carried this model, until it was burnt out after modifying an x-ray scanner to increase the radiation output. (DW: Smith and Jones)

File:Sonic screwdriver - Doomsday.png
The version used by the ninth and tenth incarnations of the Doctor. (DW: Doomsday)

Known uses

Mark VI

The tenth incarnation used another screwdriver after the X-ray incident. This model was damaged during the Doctor's tenth regeneration and the TARDIS' subsequent crash, as well as by Prisoner Zero and was ultimately destroyed when the Doctor used it to overload technology to alert the Atraxi. (DW: The Eleventh Hour)

Known uses

File:Mark VI sonic - The Eleventh Hour.png
Mark VI Sonic screwdriver being used by the Eleventh Doctor. (DW: The Eleventh Hour)

Mark VII

The Mark VII sonic screwdriver (DW: The Eleventh Hour)

Following the Mark VI's destruction, the Doctor received a new Sonic Screwdriver from the TARDIS. It differed radically from the previous model, having “claws” and a green diode, rather than blue. It also had copper plating in various places, similar to the new TARDIS interior. (DW: The Eleventh Hour) Unlike the previous marks, which had "settings", this version had a psychic interface, in which the user simply pointed and thought of the function they wished it to perform. (DW: Let's Kill Hitler) This version of the screwdriver was destroyed when a sky shark bit it in half and swallowed the top half (DW: A Christmas Carol). When the Mark VII was bitten in half by a sky shark, the Doctor left it with Kazran Sardick , saying that he was "going to need a new one" (DW: A Christmas Carol). The Doctor had duplicates of this screwdriver, which he continued to use throughout his travels. He also mentions that this screwdriver is more than just sonic, but does not mention what else it is (DW : Night Terrors).

Known uses

Mark ?

In the Doctor's personal future, he upgraded the screwdriver with, in addition to Mark VI settings, "red settings" and "damper settings". He gave it to River Song, both for her use and, unknown to River, a Neural Relay, which saved River's Data Ghost for uploading into the main computer of the Library. (DW: Silence in the Library, Forest of the Dead)

File:506529-river song sonic screwdriver super.jpg
river's screwdriver

Known uses


Related tools

Behind the scenes

  • The sonic screwdriver was retired during the Fifth Doctor serial The Visitation, as it was felt that it had become overused. It was absent for the Sixth Doctor era and all of the Seventh, except in Doctor Who, in which the Seventh Doctor was seen to use it to lock the Master's remains away; the Eighth Doctor recovered it at the end of the film. The tool was reintroduced with the Ninth Doctor and has become the show's most frequently used gadget besides the TARDIS itself. It has since appeared in many Seventh and Eighth Doctor audio adventures from Big Finish Productions.
  • For unexplained reasons, the Tenth Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver had a green casing in The Infinite Quest.
  • During early production of Series 1 (2005), the production crew decided to switch from their original prop to one based on the toy Sonic Screwdriver because the first prop was prone to falling apart. So, the production team secured molds from the toy replica in order to make a more reliable prop for the next season.
  • Early conceptual art of the modern era Sonic Screwdriver feature a different "tube" section, with notes referring to "glowing organic circuitry", and a movable ball-joint on the emitter, to allow use around corners and in tight spaces. Instead of the "glowing circuitry," the actual prop and toy reproductions feature a black "swivel," like a simple helix. When given a personal copy of the concept art, David Tennant himself commented on the lack of the swivelling emitter.
  • Another early piece of concept art, similar to a simple Bitmap drawing, reveals that the black "cap" at the reverse end of the Sonic Screwdriver was intended to be an opening set of "feet," allowing the Sonic Screwdriver to plug into a section of the TARDIS console. This feature was also dropped from the eventual prop model.
  • There are two main versions of the Mark VI Sonic Screwdriver - one has a slide feature with button, and one which does not slide and has a fixed button. The two prop types varied each episode.
  • When the Doctor handles the screwdriver, the clinking noises produced (when he throws and catches it) are created by repeating the motions with a corkscrew, the handles of which bump against the casing to produce the required noise. These noises are then dubbed over the footage.
  • A toy of the Mark VII (Matt Smith version) was seen in "Light Echoes", an edition of "The Sky at Night" broadcast on BBC4 on Wednesday 5th October 2010. The screwdriver was (jokingly) used to scan a part of the LOFAR radio telescope, then under construction in Chilbolton, Hampshire, UK.
  • In the original script for The Eleventh Hour, the Doctor referred to the Mark VI Screwdriver as "Level 4000" technology.
  • The Eleventh Doctor's sonic screwdriver toy has a secret third noise that can be activated by pressing the un-closed sonic button twice quickly and holding it on the third press. This feature, however, drains the batteries.

External links

Retrieved from "https://tardis.wiki/w/index.php?title=Sonic_screwdriver&oldid=679277"