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The First and Second Doctors sonic screwdriver functioned as a conventional screwdriver, without physical contact with screws. (TV: The War Games) It was also capable of cracking codes, (PROSE: Venusian Lullaby) opening up hatches, panels, control panels, (TV: Fury from the Deep, The War Games) and prison cell doors. (AUDIO: Fear of the Daleks) On occasion, the Doctor also used it to cut through a section of a wall (TV: The Dominators) and to override a security lock. (AUDIO: Helicon Prime)
He also used it to destroy the Dalek crystal at the heart of a mind projector (AUDIO: Fear of the Daleks) and to dismantle a Hawker. (AUDIO: The Apocalypse Mirror)
Behind the scenes
The sonic screwdriver prop
- In Victor Pemberton's script for Fury from the Deep, it was simply described as the Doctor's "own version of a screwdriver". When seeing a normal screwdriver in rehearsals, production assistant Michael Briant suggested using another prop and the device having sonicwaves, Patrick Troughton then took a penlight from the visual effects department. (DWM 277)
- While shooting, Fury from the Deep, Troughton accidentally lost the original prop and it had to be replaced at the last minute by Peter Day[1] with the safety whistle[2] of Deborah Watling's life jacket outfit.[3]
- In Episode 6 of Fury from the Deep, the Second Doctor uses one of his devices together with some amplifiers to produce a "sonic laser soundwave" but it is unknown if this is the sonic screwdriver, and if so whether it was the retrieved original prop or not. The combined props are seen in a surviving alternate take of the climax battle of the episode, in which a sort of medical hammer appears to be lodged in the amplifier and manipulated by Troughton.
- The Second Doctor's slim penlight prop from The War Games has been identified as a Eveready model no. 1980 (1968-70 version).[2]
- Doctor Who: Legacy mobile game contains a premium pack called "Sonic Adventure", which is centred around finding various sonic devices used by different incarnations of the Doctor and by several other characters. The playable characters form this premium pack represented almost every model of sonic screwdriver encountered in the DWU.
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ https://twitter.com/NothingLane/status/909107817830895616 Extract] of Peter Day's interview by Richard Bignell for Loose Cannon Productions' Doctor Who - The Making of Fury from the Deep
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Essay by Lee Moone
- ↑ Account report of Frazer Hines