Sonic screwdriver

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The sonic screwdriver is a versatile tool and defensive weapon first used by the Doctor in his second incarnation.

Variants of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver

Earliest known sonic screwdriver in use

Mark I

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

Known uses

Mark II

File:Early-sonic-screwdriver.jpg
Variation likely created during the Doctor's exile on Earth.

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 doing 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 inter changeable heads. It was capable of extending its tip.

Known uses

Mark IV

Chang Lee discovers the sonic screwdriver the Seventh Doctor had at regeneration.

The Seventh Doctor uses a sonic screwdriver like his mark III to lock the Master's remains in a casket. (DW: Doctor Who) This is used throughout the Eighth Doctor's life and has a torch built in the handle.

Mark V

In his ninth incarnation the Doctor had a new model with a glowing blue diode at one end. The tenth incarnation 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 Mark 1.gif
A version known to be used by the ninth and tenth incarnations of the Doctor

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:2007SonicHorizontal.jpg
Sonic screwdriver created after its predecessor was destroyed at Royal Hope Hospital

Mark VII

Following the Mark VI's destruction, the Doctor received a new Sonic Screwdriver from the TARDIS. It was radically different to the previous model, having “claws” and a green diode, rather than blue. It also has copper plating in various places, both of which are similar to the new TARDIS interior (DW: The Eleventh Hour). As with the Mark VI, this model “doesn't do wood” either (DW: The Hungry Earth).

The Mark VII in the TARDIS console.
File:MARK VII.jpg
Mark VII

Known Uses

Mark ?

The Doctor's future screwdriver, loaned out to River Song (DW: Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead)

In the Doctor's personal future, he would upgrade the screwdriver with, in addition to the Mark VI settings, red settings and damper settings. He gave it to River Song, both for her use and because it served as a way to save River's Data Ghost for uploading into the main computer of the Library. (DW: Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead)

The nature of the red or damper settings is not yet clear; however, it is suggested that a red setting is a more powerful setting than the blue one and maybe dampers reduce outside interference with the sonic - similar to a bio damper. The 'TARDIS return switch' seen on the prop design (see right) may use similar technology to a Stattenheim remote control.

Origin

It's origins or creation has not been revealed onscreen, but given that the Mark VI (which has obvious design similarities with the Mark ?) was destroyed and replaced with the Mark VII, it is either a newly created (albeit similar looking) device with additional modifications or a heavily repaired and upgraded Mark VI.

It is also possible that the Mark ? is an ontological paradox, with the later incarnation of The Doctor giving it to River Song who later leaves it when she dies, to be retrieved with her body and diary by the Tenth Doctor (an earlier incarnation than the one who bequeathed the device), present at River's death, with the intention of giving it to her later on, thus completing the ontological paradox. However, before realising that it held River's data ghost and retrieving it, The Doctor appeared to be about to leave the Mark ? (along with the diary) behind in the library, it is not known what he did with the device after uploading the data ghost.

Known uses


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 attempted (unsuccessfully) 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.


Many of the sonic devices featured in the show are in fact incorrectly named, as their function is not always reflected accurately by their name. For example, a sonic lipstick should in fact be a device which performs the functions of a lipstick using sonic waves; similarly a sonic pen should be a device which writes using sonic energy. These devices have, however, been named to suit their appearance rather than their function. Similarly, The Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver is only occasionally seen to actually manipulate screws, suggesting that all sonic-devices of this nature performs much the same functions and The Doctor simply chose to call his device a screwdriver.


Technology and Functions

The sonic screwdriver is apparently the product of Gallifreyan technology since other Time Lords (i.e. Romana) used the device and understood 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 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)

The screwdriver also seems to have a multitude of settings, along with different versions of settings, as he tells Rose to use "setting 15B" to help him triangulate the source of the ghosts (DW: Army of Ghosts) and it is said to have a setting 85. (DW: The Lazarus Experiment). The Doctor tells Rose to use setting 2428D to re-attach barbed wire, suggesting that the screwdriver (at least the Mark V screwdriver) has at least this many functions (DW: The Doctor Dances)

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 (at regular and high eject speeds); creating a spark to light a candle; and, on the rare occasion, driving screws without touching them. 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) It can still be used to destroy non-living objects or mechanisms or place living creatures in circumstances where they might die, if the situation requires.

Sonic screwdrivers and similar technology cannot unlock a deadlock seal (DW: School Reunion); one of few exceptions is 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. This suggests that certain sonic devices can be tailored to open certain deadlock seals, much like a key to a certain lock. (DW: Partners in Crime) However, when the Master stole The Doctor's TARDIS, he activated the TARDIS' deadlock seal and the Doctor was unable to open it using the sonic screwdriver. (DW: Utopia) However, this may be due to the fact that the Doctor stole his TARDIS and its deadlock is therefore not susceptible to the Doctor's technology in the same way as Adipose. Some or all versions may be 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)

Charging

File:Sonic tardis.jpg
This screenshot suggests that the Sonic Screwdriver is charged by the TARDIS.

In DW: Aliens of London the sonic screwdriver is seen standing upright on the TARDIS console. This suggests that the TARDIS may charge the sonic screwdriver. This means that the sonic screwdriver may have a battery supply of some sort. However, with the revelation in DW: The Eleventh Hour that the TARDIS itself can manufacture screwdrivers, that this recess may simply be the equivilant of a tool holder or fabrication station. In NSA: "The Monsters Inside" the sonic screwdriver needs charging. This may mean the TARDIS creates, stores and charges sonic devices.

Behind the Scenes

  • The tool was retired during the Fifth Doctor serial DW: The Visitation as it was felt it had become overused. It was absent for the Sixth Doctor era and all of the Seventh, except in DW: Doctor Who in which the Seventh Doctor was seen to use it to lock the Master's remains away, and 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 DW: 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 and 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. The "claws" on the Series 5 model of the sonic screwdriver may be a re-imagining of these "feet".
  • There are two main versions of the 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.

External links

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