Sonic screwdriver: Difference between revisions

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*To transfer its powers to the viewer's remote control. ([[DW]]: ''[[Attack of the Graske]]'')
*To transfer its powers to the viewer's remote control. ([[DW]]: ''[[Attack of the Graske]]'')
*As a lighter. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Girl in the Fireplace]]'')
*As a lighter. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Girl in the Fireplace]]'')
*To somehow make the [[Cybus Cyberman|Cybermen]] turn away from the Doctor's directions. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Age of Steel]]'')
*To somehow make the [[Cybus Cyberman|Cybermen]] turn away from the Doctor's directions(Possply disrubting their systems). ([[DW]]: ''[[The Age of Steel]]'')
*To threaten [[The Wire]] and forcing it to release himself. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Idiot's Lantern]]'')
*To threaten [[The Wire]] and forcing it to release himself. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Idiot's Lantern]]'')
*To partially re-constitute [[Ursula Blake]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Love & Monsters]]'')
*To partially re-constitute [[Ursula Blake]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Love & Monsters]]'')

Revision as of 12:00, 10 February 2008

The sonic screwdriver is a tool and defensive weapon used by the Doctor from his second incarnation onward. It is also part of toolbox for the Doctor's TARDIS.

Variants

The Doctor's sonic screwdriver

Mark I

A small, simple device very like a penlight. It was first introduced by the Doctor in his second incarnation. (DW: Fury from the Deep)

Uses:

Mark II

A larger and more elaborately detailed version, the Doctor introduced in his third incarnation. During his fifth incarnation it was destroyed by the Terileptil leader. (DW: The Visitation). By his seventh incarnation the Doctor had a new one. (DW: Doctor Who: The TV Movie).

Uses:

Mark III

In his ninth incarnation the Doctor had a new model with a glowing blue laser-like beam at one end.


Uses;

Mark IV

The tenth incarnation of the Doctor had a model similar to the previous one, though somewhat larger. It was burnt out after modifying an X-Ray scanner to give off more radiation to defeat a Slab, but was replaced soon after with an identical, though probably the same model.

Mark designations are used here purely for convenience. The Doctor and others only referred to the tool as "the sonic screwdriver".

Other sonic screwdrivers

  • Liz Shaw had her own sonic screwdriver which she used to open the Doctor's TARDIS for him. (DW: Inferno)
This appeared like the Doctor's Mark II.
  • Romana constructed her own sonic screwdriver. The device impressed the Doctor, and he attempted, unsuccessfully, to swap sonic screwdrivers with her. (DW: The Horns of Nimon)
This resembled a smaller, slimmer version of the Doctor's Mark II.

Technology and Functions

The sonic screwdriver is apparently the product of Gallifreyan technology since other Time Lords (i.e. Romana) use the device and understand it enough to construct their own versions of it. The name of the device itself suggests that it functions using soundwaves, although the actual workings of the device have never been explicitly explained.

The different versions of the Doctor's sonic screwdrivers have exhibited different capabilities and uses, such as the interception of signals ranging from transmat beams to conscious thought; medical diagnostics and repair of organic parts; cutting, but also re-attaching together materials such as barbed wire; operating Earth machinery such as computers and even cash machines; creating a spark to light a candle. Although it is primarily a tool, it can also be used as a defensive weapon, such as when the Tenth Doctor put it in a sound board to destroy the Robot Santas. (DW: The Runaway Bride) However, according to the Tenth Doctor, the device cannot be used to wound, maim or kill living things. (DW: Doomsday)

Sonic screwdrivers and similar technology also cannot unlock a deadlock seal. (DW: School Reunion)

Behind the Scenes

In Star Trek, Gary Seven had a sonic-screwdriver-like tool called a servo. In the CG series ReBoot, Bob used a keytool called Glitch.