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| Sonic screwdriver | |
| Type: | Multi-functional sonic device |
| Created by: | The Doctor |
| Appearances: | Full List of Appearances |
"Harmless is just the word; that's why I like it. Doesn't kill, doesn't wound, doesn't maim. But I tell you what it does do: it is very good at opening doors."
The sonic screwdriver is a versatile tool and defensive weapon which the Doctor stated to be grown in peaceful places (IDW: Agent Provocateur) used by the Doctor from his second incarnation onwards.
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A small, simple device similar to a penlight, first used by the Doctor in his second incarnation. (DW: Fury from the Deep)
A larger and more elaborately detailed version, the Doctor began using this model in his third incarnation. It had a removable head which The Doctor would change with other heads, each doing a different function. (DW: The Sea Devils).
The Fourth Doctor remade his sonic screwdriver into a silver version that lacked the inter changeable heads. It was capable of extending its tip.
The Seventh Doctor uses a sonic screwdriver like his mark III to lock the Master in a casket. (DW: Doctor Who: The TV Movie) This is used throughout the Eighth Doctor's life and has a torch built in the handle.
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)
The tenth incarnation had to grow/construct another screwdriver after the X-ray incident. It was very similar to the Mark V, though somewhat larger and silver. It is seen blowing up in the trailer for Series 5, possibly meaning there will be a Mark VII.
In the Doctor's personal future, he would upgrade the screwdriver with, in addition to the Mark V 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)
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.
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, PDA: Catastrophea)
A sonic screwdriver is a type of technology, an engineer's tool used in the 23rd and 24th centuries. (VAN novel: Harbinger, SCE eBook: Wildfire)
A sonic screwdriver was a type of engineering tool used by Starfleet engineers in the late 24th century. (SCE eBook: Wildfire)
The Doctor, an alien being from an alternate reality, also possessed a device known as a sonic screwdriver. Although his device proved to have many more applications, with it being used to do anything from locking doors to decrypting computers and generating sonic waves. (Star Trek: Daedalus)
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