Sonic screwdriver

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The sonic screwdriver — often simply called the sonic — was a highly versatile tool used by many, but not all, incarnations of the Doctor. The Doctor modified and ostensibly upgraded it over the years, giving it an increasing number of applications. Early versions were used mainly for the picking of locks and for projecting sound so as to, for example, detonate bombs. By the time of the Ninth Doctor, the sonic was able to also be used as a sophisticated scanning device, with medical applications. Subsequent incarnations gave it even wider functionality, such as the ability to hack into computers, provide geolocation and actively defend against some types of assault weapon.

Technology and functions

The sonic screwdriver was considered to be very advanced Gallifreyan technology. (PROSE: Heart of TARDIS) The First Doctor built the first sonic screwdriver (or an innovative model of one) instead of wooing a woman, something he later regretted. He suggested that he did it partially out of boredom. (TV: A Christmas Carol, TV: The Doctor Dances) Other alien races had similar devices, such as the sonic pen used by Miss Foster (TV: Partners in Crime) and the sonic blaster obtained by Captain Jack Harkness and River Song. (TV: The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances, Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead) The name of the device suggests that it functioned using sound waves, although its actual workings were never truly explained.

The Mark IV sonic screwdriver used a crystal similar to the Metebelis Crystal sought after by the Eight Legs of Metebelis III. (COMIC: The Forgotten) There were also electrical components. (COMIC: The Halls of Sacrifice)

The screwdriver had a multitude of settings and different versions of settings. The Tenth Doctor told Rose to use "setting 15B" to triangulate the source of the ghosts (TV: Army of Ghosts) and used 34-H to sink a ship (COMIC: Second Wave). It had a setting 85 that undid security codes to unlock doors. (TV: The Lazarus Experiment) The Ninth Doctor told Rose to use setting 2428D to re-attach barbed wire. (TV: The Doctor Dances) Sarah Jane used the Theta Omega setting to melt plastic vines. (TV: 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; (TV: The End of the World) medical diagnostics and repair of organic parts; (TV: The Empty Child, The Vampires of Venice) cutting, but also re-attaching materials such as barbed wire; (TV: The Doctor Dances) operating Earth machinery such as computers and even cash machines (at regular and high eject speeds); (TV: School Reunion, The Runaway Bride) creating a spark to light a candle or Bunsen burner; (TV: The Girl in the Fireplace Evolution of the Daleks) pushing/lifting heavy objects; (TV: The Rings of Akhaten) and, on the rare occasion, driving screws without touching them. (TV: The War Games, The Ark in Space, The Doctor's Wife)

Although it was primarily a tool, the sonic screwdriver could also be used as a defensive weapon. The Tenth Doctor put it in a sound board to destroy the Robot Santas by overloading their sensors. (TV: The Runaway Bride) The Eleventh Doctor used it to bounce soundwaves off a knife held by Melody Pond, knocking it out of her hand. (TV: Let's Kill Hitler) Although the Eighth Doctor once claimed the device could destroy a Dalek's brain if held directly against the casing when activated, (PROSE: War of the Daleks) according to the Tenth Doctor, the device could not be used to wound, maim or kill living things. (TV: Doomsday, The Doctor's Daughter) It could destroy non-living objects or mechanisms or place living creatures in circumstances where they might die, if the situation required. (TV: The End of the World, The Christmas Invasion)

From time to time, the sonic screwdriver needed to be recharged. (PROSE: The Monsters Inside, COMIC: Bizarre Zero) It was self-repairing and could send out a homing signal to any parts that had been separated. (TV: A Christmas Carol) However, it was up to the owner to collect the parts for reassembly.

Sonic screwdrivers and similar technology could not unlock a deadlock seal. (TV: School Reunion) To undo one of these seals, the user would need at least two sonic devices. One such instance was when the Tenth Doctor used his own sonic screwdriver in conjunction with Miss Foster's sonic pen to open the deadlock seals on and within her own facility when the Doctor's screwdriver alone could not. (TV: Partners in Crime) Some or all versions were ineffective against wood, or in the presence of some models of hairdryers. (TV: Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead, The Hungry Earth, PROSE: Catastrophea)

Variants of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver

The earliest known version of the sonic screwdriver in use. (TV: The War Games)

Mark I

The first version was a small, simple device similar to a penlight, used by the First (PROSE: Venusian Lullaby) and Second Doctor. (TV: Fury from the Deep) It was used by the Eighth Doctor after it was destroyed "centuries ago". He explained how this occurred to his companion Samantha Jones: "It's a Time Lord tool. Time doesn't work the same way for Time Lord tools." (PROSE: Alien Bodies)

Known uses

This mark of the sonic screwdriver was used for:

The "door handle"

File:Doorhandle.jpg
Suspiciously sonic: the "door handle." (TV: Inferno)

Early in his third incarnation, the Doctor employed a silver tool slightly larger than the Mark I sonic screwdriver, but with a round emitter head similar to the Mark II. (TV: Inferno) Although he never referred to as a sonic screwdriver, its appearance and in-hand use were uncanny. The Doctor described it as a "door handle" to a UNIT soldier.

Known uses

This "door handle" was used for operating the automatic door to the Doctor's workshop at the Inferno Project. (TV: Inferno)

Mark II

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

The Third Doctor's most-used model of the sonic screwdriver was much larger than the Mark I; its elaborately-detailed silver shape featured black and yellow stripes and red trim. It had a removable head which the Doctor would change with others, each performing a different function. (TV: The Sea Devils)

Known uses

This mark of the sonic screwdriver was used for:

Mark III

File:Frontiersonic.png
The sonic stripped down to its metallic elements. (TV: Frontier in Space)

The Third Doctor fitted the head of his sonic screwdriver with a cylindrical black magnet which enabled it to open bolted doors, especially when its polarity was reversed. (TV: Frontier in Space) This refit left the metal mostly unpainted, with a dark red emitter ring. The head of this model could be extended. Before this model was destroyed (TV: The Visitation), its head was repainted twice after the original coat wore off. (TV: The Keeper of Traken, Castrovalva) The Doctor went without a sonic screwdriver for some time after this model and Nyssa lamented the Fifth Doctor's decision not to replace it. (TV: Snakedance)

Known uses

This mark of the sonic screwdriver was used for:

Mark IV

Chang Lee discovers the sonic screwdriver amongst the things he stole from the Seventh Doctor. (TV: Doctor Who)

Towards the end of his seventh life, the Doctor fished a fourth type of sonic screwdriver from one of the tool kits in the TARDIS. This model looked similar to the Mark III seen at the end of his fourth incarnation; it was completely silver. The handle resembled a small torch, and the tip was a ring with a red sphere in its centre. To use this model, the tip was pointed at the object in question. This version remained in the Eighth Doctor's use throughout his life. There was a torch built into the handle. Once, while suffering from amnesia, the Doctor distracted himself and operated this sonic screwdriver on instinct.

Known Uses

This mark of the sonic screwdriver was used for:

Mark V

File:Mk V Sonic.jpg
The sonic used in (AUDIO: The Great War)

Later in his eighth incarnation, the Doctor carried a sonic screwdriver with a wooden handle. It had a metallic tip with six prongs that nested a clear diode at the end, which glowed blue when activated. (AUDIO: The Great War) The Doctor claimed that he made this version of the sonic screwdriver to do more than open doors and blow up land mines. (AUDIO: X and the Daleks)

Known uses

This mark of the sonic screwdriver was used for:

Mark VI

File:Sonic screwdriver - Doomsday.png
The version used by the Ninth and Tenth Doctors. (TV: Doomsday)

The Doctor had yet another screwdriver during his eigthth incarnation, this one with a glowing blue diode at one end. Although the first known individual known to use it was the Eighth Doctor, (PROSE: Osskah) this model was much more ubiquitous as the model carried by the Ninth Doctor, who used it far less frequently like his previous incarnations had done before. The Tenth Doctor also used this model, as he liked tinkering with technology to make devices he needed. This version was burnt out by accident after the Doctor used it to modify an x-ray radiation output to over 5000%. (TV: Smith and Jones)

Known uses

This mark of the sonic screwdriver was used for:

Security
Medical
Diagnostic
Technology
Amplification
Utility

Mark VII

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

Following his first adventure with Martha Jones, the Tenth Doctor created a similar screwdriver. The only visible difference was the colour scheme of the handle. The Doctor had this screwdriver on his person during his regeneration, and was damaged repeatedly afterwards, which lead to malfunctions. Despite the damage, the Eleventh Doctor used it to overload technology in an attempt to alert the Atraxi to Prisoner Zero's location. This fried it into useless, charred metal, much to his growing annoyance and anger. (TV: The Eleventh Hour)

Known uses

This mark of the sonic screwdriver was used for:

Security
Medical
Diagnostic
Technology
Amplification
Utility

Mark VIII

The Mark VIII sonic screwdriver (TV: The Eleventh Hour)

After the loss of the Mark VII, the TARDIS gifted the Doctor with this new model. Differing radically from the last due to having "claws" and a green diode, rather than blue, it also had copper platting similar to the new control room. (TV: The Eleventh Hour) A psychic interface allowed its user to point it at a target and think of the function they wanted, instead of "settings"; however, it may have been a secondary way of using it. (TV: Let's Kill Hitler) Having been mentioned to be more than sonic, (TV: Night Terrors) the Mark VIII also shot beams of green energy. (TV: Day of the Moon, Closing Time)

Retaining ineffectiveness against wood, it also didn't work against Peg Dolls or the Wooden King and Queen. (TV: Night Terrors, The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe) The Doctor considered it embarassing and that "I need to invent a setting for wood." (TV: Night Terrors) In similar situations, he yelled at it in panic; "Aliens made of wood, you know this was always going to happen!", "Yes, I know it's wood. Get over it!" (TV: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe) Oddly, he defended once, "Oi! Don't diss the sonic!" (TV: The Hungry Earth) At some point it had an anti-freeze setting. (TV: The Snowmen)

It was destroyed and replaced repeatedly: bitten in half by a Sky shark and left behind, (TV: A Christmas Carol) given to Ganger Doctor, (TV: The Rebel Flesh) or simply fried out from over usage. (COMIC: Silent Knight) In all examples it was unknown how he received a new one, except for in the later, when he was given it by Santa Claus.

Known Uses

This mark of the sonic screwdriver was used for:

Security
Medical
Diagnostic
Technology
Amplification
Other

River's Screwdriver

The Doctor created this version at an unknown point in his life before River's final date with him at the Darillium Singing Towers. This version of the sonic screwdriver had the Mark VI's settings along with "dampers" and a "red setting" that allowed it to work without interference from Doctor Moon. The Doctor gave it to River Song so she would be ready when she met his tenth incarnation in the Library. Unknown to her, this version included a Neural Relay which would save her data ghost for uploading into the main computer of the Library. (TV: Silence in the Library, Forest of the Dead).

Known uses

This mark of the sonic screwdriver was used for:

Related tools

Behind the scenes

The sonic screwdriver prop

  • The sonic screwdriver was retired during the Fifth Doctor serial The Visitation, as it was felt that it had been overused. It was absent for the Sixth and Seventh Doctor's eras, except in the TV Movie, in which the Seventh Doctor used 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. The production team secured moulds of the toy replica to make a more reliable prop for the next season.
  • 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.

Concept art

  • Early conceptual art of the modern era sonic screwdriver feature a different "tube" section. Notes refer 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 featured 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.
  • 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 dubbed over the footage.

Sonic screwdriver toy

  • 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.
  • The Eleventh Doctor's sonic screwdriver toy has a total of four sound effects, two of which alternate with every other button press. The third is activated by pressing twice and holding on the third button push. The fourth is activated with three presses and a hold on the fourth push. However, in some models of the toy, over-use of the hidden sound effects causes the sound functions to eventually break, leaving only the LED functional.

The Visual Dictionary

Attack of the Graske

In NOTDWU: Attack of the Graske, the Tenth Doctor appears to break the fourth wall by noting the player at home's been watching his adventures. Later, he points the sonic screwdriver at the television screen, transferring its powers to the player's digital remote control. This, along with having the player choose multiple endings to this game, disqualifies it as a valid source on this wiki.

Other matters

  • In the original script for The Eleventh Hour, the Doctor referred to the Mark VI screwdriver as "Level 4000" technology.
  • Scientists at the University of Dundee invented a device which turns objects with ultrasonic waves, an invention which has been described as a real-world version of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver.[1]
  • The Poldigon scientists the Seventh Doctor encountered on Celdor knew of Sonic screwdrivers, but not of The Doctor himself. This suggests they were at least partly a Gallifreyan invention and not entirely of the Doctor's creation. (AUDIO: The Doomsday Quatrain)

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Dr Who's sonic screwdriver 'invented' at Dundee University
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