The shot of Ten "shooting a laser beam" at the Cybermen from 'The Age of Steel' wasn't the sonic screwdriver, it was the recharging TARDIS power crystal. 🤦
I'm a fan of Capaldi's short-lived sonic screwdriver. Great list. What I'd like to see next for the sonic screwdriver is for actually to do wood but a specific type; one that's super rare or found only on one planet.
I liked both of his sonics the glasses and his own season 10 design his actual sonic screwdriver is a good fidget device cause it’s shaped u can twirl it through your fingers sort of like a drummer does with a drumstick and cycle through the 4 settings
Hold on just a minute. The Cybermen did try wood. However, the 11th(ish) Doctor tricked that Cyberman into self-destructing even though the sonic screwdriver doesn't work on wood.
Well it was never stated that the wooden cybermen were actually fully wooded as in there still could’ve been metal mechanisms inside that the sonic was able to manipulate in making it fire on itself as to saying nice try using what looked like a wooden cybermen cause the sonic was still able to detect it wasn’t fully wood
@@kevin10001 The Sonic doesn't work on wood at all, it wouldn't be able to detect metalic parts, if those were hidden beneath the wooden shell. Like Superman's greatest weakness (apart from a piece of his planet) is lead, any items hidden behind a lead plate won't be seen by his x ray vision. So Doctor's Sonic doesn't do wood. He was in the field of truth, he couldn't lie, so he told the wooden Cyberman exactly what he did, he sent a signal (that did nothing, because he didn't tell the Cyberman, that it doesn't work on wood), the Cyberman got tricked into aiming at itself and to destroy itself. Plain simple.
Interestingly, the screwdriver is literally anything but a weapon. It does basically everything apart from attack things. As River once said: River: "What are you doing?" Doctor: "I'm helping!" River: "You've got a screwdriver go build a cabinet!" Doctor: "That's really rude!" If the screwdriver really was a weapon it wouldn't be used by more pacifist doctors like Tennant and Capaldi. And instead each version of the screwdriver reflects the personality of the Doctor it belongs to. 9 and 10's being minimalist and rustic, like scrap thrown together. 11's being large and showy, 12's being futuristic and academic (hence the marker) and later becoming epic sunglasses (don't dis the shades) when 12 is blind and slowly deteriorating into a sort of unhinged depression. And then 13's being practical and multipurpose "like a sonic Swiss army knife only without the knife. Only idiots carry knives." Again, not a weapon. I think Tennant sums it up best in "Doomsday": "It doesn't wound, it doesn't kill, it doesn't maim. That's why I like it. But I'll tell you what it does do. It is very good... at opening doors."
Literally anything can become a weapon if used with the intent to harm. Also, I've had the good fortune to spend time with members of some rainforest communities who use bush knives several times a day, and they are certainly not idiots. I was not a fan of how narrow-minded and simplistic that line of dialogue for Thirteen was. Ir was also pretty insulting to people like my dad, who carries a Swiss army knife everywhere he's allowed to, and has never once become involved in violence, but many times proved a very useful and ingenious craftsperson. Sure, I know the ham-fisted point that was trying to be made about not carrying a weapon around. It's not a bad message.
Very true, pocket knives can be very useful for many utilities and that does not necessarily mean that the carrier has intent to harm. I am also not a fan of many haphazardly thrown in lines in 13th's dialogue intended to set an "example." I think the writer's wanted to express their disapproval of weapons being carried around as you mentioned, however, I was merely using the quote as an example to support my point. The point of the screwdriver is a multipurpose tool, similar to a pocket knife but without the possibility of it being used to intentionally cause harm. Hopefully with RTD back in charge, the writing will swing the show back to its Sci-Fi roots, instead of making weak attempts to better the country through poor lines of dialogue and massive plot-hole episodes like Orphan-55. @@DavidBeddard
@@orangutanboi23 Doctor Who should always try to make the world better, any good sci-fi worth its salt shows us the truth of ourselves through imagining what could be, but there's really no excuse for sloppy flagship television like what Chibnall presided over.
I'm surprised that Romana's sonic screwdriver wasn't mentioned. Correct me if I am wrong, but I remember it being more advanced than what the doctor had at the time.
Romana’s was definitely her own design and a fair bit more advanced. It was even equipped with a “silencer” which means it didn’t emit a ‘whirr’ like a normal Sonic Probe!
They explained the wood thing in the 50th special. It was about the time it took to match the frequency resonance or something like that. Thats why the war doctor scanned it, the 10th was still processing and the 11th was able to do it. Obvs it wasnt locked anyway but still. It makes more sense that it can do it but it takes so long its unusable than the lack of communication with the trees having anything to do with it. Especially as that episode decided that trees DO communicate...
A Sonic Baseball Bat would be incredibly cool. Ace is back in the game, so we could definitely see the Companion Family get their own gadgets much like Sarah Jane and her Sonic Lipstick! What would Tegan get though?
Hey love the videos, I think the Sonic isn't a weapon and I'm gonna use a line from the 10th doctor in Doomsday to tell you why..... "Doesn't kill doesn't Wound doesn't maim, but ill tell you what it DOES do, it is very good at opening doors". In my opinion the sonic doesn't do any of that so its not a weapon. Its a tool to aid in my eyes 😊
I've been a Thunderbirds fan since I was a kid in the 60s as well as a Doctor Who fan. A few years ago my wife found me a 3rd Doctor's screwdriver for Christmas. Now I know why there was something familiar about it.
Is the sonic a weapon? Welp, in the words of the 10th Doctor,”Oh, yes. Harmless is just a word. That’s why I like it. Doesn’t kill, doesn’t wound, doesn’t maim.”
1. Do we count the “sonic baton” used by the conductor during Doctor Who Night at the BBC Proms? 2. My head canon: the First Doctor did have a sonic screwdriver as seen in “An Unearthly Child.” (You didn’t think he was using a penlight to find the Tardis door keyhole, did you?) 3. The vulnerability to wood: Since I’m a comics nerd, i’m always reminded of the Golden Age Green Lantern, whose power ring also couldn’t affect wood. 4. I *love* the idea that Pertwee’s Sonic has a Thunderbirds connection!
One thing you forgot to mention is that the sonic screwdriver is one part of a larger, standard, TARDIS maintenance and repair kit (ref. A Doctor Who Technical Manual from the early 1980’s).
According to the “War Doctor” he say in the 50th Anniversary special “why are you pointing your screwdrivers like that, it’s a scientific instrument not a weapon.” Or something to that effect. So it’s a SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT 😊😊😊
The Sonic didn’t open the TARDIS doors from the outside not because they were manually locked with the mechanism shown in the clip you used, but because the doors were *deadlocked* from the TARDIS console. I don’t know if this is a thing with the editor using the wrong clips, because it also happened when it was stated thr screwdriver could shoot lasers, and the clip showed something that was NOT the screwdriver.
@@WhoCulture "Up for debate" is very generous of you. Mid-life crisis vibes. We're lucky he didn't use the chameleon circuit to turn the TARDIS into a Ferrari.
Loved Sarah jane's sonic lippy (actually had the set with the watch as a kid) also not mad at having thunderbirds are go go round my brain as i love that song especally as it pays hommage to the puppet version of thunderbirds (as did the live action film as puppets were used for some close up shots )
I assumed that the 9th and 10th doctor's sonic worked through settings because in "The Doctor Dances" the doctor gave the sonic to Rose and told her a setting, which she did by extending it a specific amount. After "Let's kill Hitler" I just assumed that the Doctor's screwdriver was updated with new technology when he got this new one. Also, side note, 13th's sonic doesn't seem like it has a psychic interface because of how cobbled together it feels and the fact she only had human technology with a bit of Stenza tech but I don't see a way to change the settings on it.
Human technology were mostly the spoons aka Sheffield steel, maybe some sort of whatever she could find in the workshop, but the most tech was from the Stenza, which was pretty much advanced, even for the Doctor to completely understand it. It's an amazing feature on its own, that the Doctor was able to cobble together a working tool from an unknown tech. Yea, I'm almost sure it had various setting, probably even a psychic interface, since the Doctor did lots of readouts from it and there was no visible display. The Doctor sonicked things, then looked at the screwdriver and said whatever it shown her. If that doesn't scream psychic interface, then what does?
Yes, it’s also a weapon. It’s in the name; screwdriver. As a tool, it can make/remove, assist with tasks, and indirectly kill too. I personally always like 9/10’s sonic the best as both design and an example to being the true definition of its small-term usefulness and deadlines.
The sonic screwdriver a weapon? Well, a regular screwdriver is not intended as a weapon, but can be used as one. I think the same goes for the sonic screwdriver.
@@BMJgunner remember how it was used in Partners in crime to create a strong soundwave? It clearly looked like it hurt. So like I said, it's not a weapon, but can become one, if misused. Just like a regular screwdriver.
@@BlueSpring3 I was making a joke about when River told The Doctor to Sonic a Cabinet at the silence. But I agree. It's most likely why the doctor keeps it on his person at all times. In the wrong hands it could very well be dangerous
A "weapon" is defined as something intended to cause bodily harm or physical damage, and the Doctor has explicitly stated it's not for that purpose - he even says "Harmless is just the word: that's why I like it! Doesn't kill, doesn't wound, doesn't maim." It's not a weapon, it's a tool.
About enemies not creating vast wooden armies to defeat the Doctor... I know it's not an army per say, but isn't this exactly what the Cybermen did to try and sneak past Trenzalore's defences in Twice Upon A Time? :)
It's The Time of the Doctor, not Twice upon a time. But yea, that's where the Cybermen found out, that a wooden army wouldn't work. Also why do people assume, that every single enemy has any knowledge about how exactly a sonic device works, or what materials it does or doesn't do? I find it strange, that the Cybermen would know about the sonic's weakness. They tried wood, because the Doctor outlawed any technology from Trenzalore, except his own, which was only his screwdriver and the TARDIS, if she ever decided to return to him. No other tech was allowed, a regular Cyberman would be quickly detected, while a wooden came as a surprise. It's not that they specifically tried to outsmart the Doctor by taking advantage of the sonic's weakness. They just tried to sneak past the defences.
I think Ellie was having a bit too much fun with this one. Can’t say I blame her, though. TOYS! TOYS! TOYS! What’s you fav. Screwdriver? I would guess River’s for her. 4 or 11/12 for me.
My favourite was when the 3 Doctors were locked in the Tower of London, when they realized they were technically all carrying the same Sonic. So they used the time that had passed in their lifetimes to run a programme to figure out how to unlock the door... ...which they hadn't even checked, to see if it was locked, as Clara asked disbelievingly! I wonder what the new "desktop" is going to look like?
0:10 actually it wasn't the screwdriver iin this episode, il was the thing that gave the TARDIS enough power to leave the parallel planet (2x05 and 2x06)
Joanna Lumley as The Doctor noted that _her_ sonic screwdriver had three speed settings... Imagining on our own Doctor Who episode where conjoined twins Cathy and Ann Odine of the Acme Intergalactic company offer to help repair the Tardis chameleon circuit and ask for the sonic screwdriver. Upon trying to use it, the underside of the console erupts into _spitzensparkens_ followed by _bloodiphuquenscreamin_ from the twins. "Oy! You circuit bent this! That's a EULA violation!" Speaking of EULA violations, The Master tried to zap them with his Tissue Compression Eliminator, but they just snatch it out of his hands. They bring up the device's usage logs and, clamping onto The Master's ear, drags him to his Tardis to make him 'unsquish everyone he'd squished'. Seems the Acme TCI is reversible and is used for saving space on passenger or cargo spaceships.
From what I remember the tenth doctor firing at the cyberman in the cyberman episodes, that wasn't the sonic screwdriver, that was something to do with the tardis's power thing
5:03 Anything can be used as a weapon if used with the intent to harm. I recommend not dwelling on that thought for too long, though, as it can take you to some pretty dark places. On the flip side, for similar oddly similar reasons, anything can be used as a musical instrument. That you _can_ dwell on for as long as you like, and that takes you to some really cool places!
I want to point out, the 11ths had a psychic interface, the visual dictionary says 9-10s has gallifreyan circuitry which makes a dial or some similar adjusting device where small movements can make a huge change, hence why 9 tells Rose to use setting 1412B (or some such number) to reattach the barbed wire
3:02 Guy with a degree in Theoretical Physics here, with some personal headcanon about The Doctor's magic wand. What is "sonic"? Sound, right? What is sound? Pressure waves. What are waves? Oscillations. What are oscillations? Back and forth movements. Literal wibbly-wobbly! At a quantum level, _everything_ is wibbly-wobbly, oscillating, waving. So if the sonic screwdriver can emit, stimulate, resonate with, and detect quantum oscillations, then it can interact with matter and energy at the quantum level. So it can detect the quantum states of the semiconductors in computers, it can resonate concrete, it can set up vibrational modes in screws. The psychic interface means you point and think, and it feeds back to your brain as if you'd seen, heard, or smelled the information.
No. The sonic is not a weapon. It is a tool, designed to assist. A perfect fit for a man with two hearts, who travels around in a living machine, that has “for help and assistance ” written on the outside…. This is paraphrased from something Moffat once said, and I consider it to be the only useful thing he contributed to the show during his time as show runner.
I'm surprised that there wasn't a mention of Romana II's Sonic Screwdriver, which was featured in "Horns of Nimon" way back in the Classic era's 17th season.
I had made the same mistake before thinking it was the sonic screwdriver that the Doctor used in the Age of Steel to fire the beam at the Cybermen. No, it's a Tardis power cell. It's the same device he used previously to store regenerative energy to begin the charging process so the Tardis could get back to their universe. The sonic screwdriver never fires an energy beam out of it. It's always only sound.
The sonic used in the classic series was destroyed by Tereleptils in the story "The Visitation", because producer John Nathan-Turner thought it was being over used and wanted the writers to find other ways to get the Doctor out of trouble. So the Sixth and Seventh Doctors didn't have one. It's interesting that Seven was going to make one for Ace. I had never heard that. In Larry Niven's Tales of Known Space series of books, police use "sonic stunners" to knock out criminal suspects. Sometimes these are equipped on drones, or mounted on walls near gates. I always wondered if the sonic screwdriver had that capability. Romulans
I can be used as a weapon. In the 50th they used it against the Daleks, in Fall of the Doctor it was used against the Cybermen and it was also used as a sonic counter during Matt Smiths era. You'd have to imagine that anything based on sonic technology could have destructive possibilities. And the Doctor has even treated it like one before as they did when 10 and 11 came face to face with the War Doctor.
I always interpreted the effectiveness of the three sonics against the Dalek in The Day of The Doctor as being because they were inside a painting, not because they could do that to a real Dalek. But, yes, it absolutely can be used as a weapon. Literally anything can be if used with the intent to cause harm. Just watch Home Alone.
@@StephenLeGresley A real sonic in an artificial environment. It's not that the sonic's abilities change, it's that they're interacting with Time Lord art. The three sonics aren't repulsing a real Dalek, they're resonating magic Time Lord time paint within a frozen moment of time. Of course, none of it makes any sense if you stop to think about it for more than a second, but that's not really the point. My point is that it's not a real Dalek any more than that's the real city of Arcadia trapped in the "painting".
My head canon is that the Sonic outsources some of its processing capabilities to the TARDIS and they're basically tethered to some extent. Would be neat to see that explored more!
I really like how it was established that the Doctor's sonic screwdriver doesn't work on wood, but they released a toy called the Trans-Temporal Sonic Screwdriver that had a get this, a "wood" setting.
I have to chuckle when people object "it doesn't work on wood!" when the sonic is used on a wooden door/window, because doors and windows usually have locks made of metal inside them. There's no reason, therefore, why the sonic screwdriver couldn't be used to unlock a wooden door/window on that basis.
Is the sonic screwdriver a weapon? IMO, its a tool that can be used as a weapon. A regular screwdriver, used to turn screw, can be used as a weapon. Similarly, a hammer. And thank you, Ellie, for "Stop it!" Best laugh Ive had today! : )
Did you know that the sonic screwdriver was actually part of the TARDIS standard tool kit? according to the BBC printed manual that I had as a kid in the late 70s the TARDIS's all came with a standard toolkit which included a sonic screwdriver, amongst other nice tools). This book would have been written during John Pertwee's time by which time the sonic had become cannon in the Doctor Who world.
I don't know if you make this comparison in the video, but it makes me think of KNIGHT RIDER's K.I.T.T.'s ability to unlock doors & manipulate radio-signals etc. Maybe KNIGHT RIDER is a 'prequel' to Doctor Who?
I would say no because war doctor once said here we go at the pointing again. They're scientific instruments, not water pistols, which would technically indicate weapons a little bit of a stab in the dark, but hey.
Ha! Your plan has been foiled, Ellie. I don't know what that Busted song sounds like, so it's not stuck in my head. And you would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for the fact that I don't know any music from those pesky kids.
definatly a tool, that like manny tools in history can double as a weapon (think wood axe, pitch fork, meat cleaver, sledge hammer) can be a realy dangerous tool
Honestly if one of his enemies did manage to make an army of wood to fight him It'd have to be fireproof wood, cause I could totally see the doctor just creating a flame thrower Wood still burns
Of course The Doctor would argue that the Sonic is not a weapon, but that's like arguing that a hatchet isn't a weapon because you don't use it that way. It's all perception.
I know there's a bunch of comments here but I hope you see this. Also I know this is the wrong video but it's your most recent. Why is no one talking about how Donna won the lottery? In her final moment on screen the doctor gives her a lottery ticket as a wedding present. Donna states it's a triple rollover. I know it doesn't say she won but it really would be a bad present if she didn't. Anyway I hope RTD addresses this. Thanks
Noup, the Doctor was standing in a field of truth, he couldn't lie, the sonic still didn't work on wood, but the Doctor sent a signal to reverse the Wooderman weapon, so it would backfire on him instead and told the wooden Cyberman exactly what he did, except he left the part about sonic not working on wood out, the Cyberman assumed it worked and turned his weapon around aiming at himself. The Doctor then told him (after the Wooderman took the blast), that he couldn't lie, but didn't told him about the sonic not doing wood.
It didn't actually work on wooden cyberman. The Doctor said that he have sent a signal and he did it, but as it is wood it didn't receive it, however the cyberman didn't know that fact that the sonic can't work on him, but he only knew that the Doctor can't lie in the truth field. So he believed and rotated his weapon
Hi Elle I love your videos. To answer your question. Is a sonic screwdriver a weapon? A normal screwdriver is definitely a weapon I asked chat GPT for a few examples and it was able to give four below, so on the basis that anything can become a weapon if used as one, including an ordinary sheet of paper and a pen being mightier than the sword. A sonic is definitely a weapon, but mostly just a tool. In 2015, a man in Chicago was charged with first-degree murder for allegedly killing his roommate with a screwdriver during a dispute. In 2017, a man in the United Kingdom was convicted of murdering his partner by stabbing her multiple times with a screwdriver. In 2018, a woman in California was arrested and charged with murder for allegedly using a screwdriver to kill her husband. In 2020, a man in India was accused of fatally stabbing his coworker with a screwdriver during an altercation.
I think the sonic screwdriver is either or both a stupidly good lock pick and signal jammer. Locks doors anything that needs to be opened or fiddled with it will do that. It is quite literally a master lock picking tool. I think the reason those locks could not be opened is due to the fact that the doctor could not figure out how they worked yes he is a genious but they are a cut above what he can do. I think this is a galefriening tool since if they have a living machine that can travel through time and space then why could they not have a tool that could open nearly any door or interface with any machine.