Talk:Sonic screwdriver
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I think there should be a list of all of the things that the Doctor has done with the sonic screwdriver, possibly with episode references. --Jawr256 07:04, Jun 5, 2005 (UTC)
- I'm not too sure about that; the list would become far too expansive. It was, after all, in use for about twenty years. --JB Adder | Talk 06:45, Jun 7, 2005 (UTC)
How off-the-cuff was the Doctor's comment in The Doctor Dances, about 'a long night with a lot of cabinets to put up'? Is there any chance this is the true genesis of the Übertool, or was he simply being facetious? Should we put it in the article? Radagast 12:08, Jun 13, 2005 (UTC)
- I'd say it was facetious, myself. --12:18, Jun 13, 2005 (UTC)
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- Speaking of this converstation, shouldn't Jack's sonic blaster be mentioned? After all the article mention's Homunculette's sonic monkey-wrench. GracieLizzie 13:58, 13 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Toy reference
In the article it mentions a reference to the actual prop being replaced with a mold of a working pen replica/toy. Is there any more information on this? It does not mention what manufacturer or anything, as I am in the USA I would not know. --Rebootedrock 03:56, 29 October 2006 (UTC)
[edit] wrong setting
I'm sure it's setting 2428-D for re-attaching barbed wire not setting 2482-D. Can someone confirm this?
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- It depends on the composite of the material. Harder forms of metal used in later versions of Barbed wire would require a higher setting, where as soft Iron used in the Barbed wire during WWII wouldn't require such a drastic setting, so both a correct. James Random 10:43, 24 June 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Stealer of Dreams
It was still unable to allow the Doctor and Rose out of a locked taxi-cab in The Stealers of Dreams. Template:Spoilers Isn't the reason the sonic screwdriver proves ineffective in this scene that neither it nor the Doctor are actually present, but are the result of Rose going "fiction crazy"? --Daibhid C 22:32 27 November 2005
- I haven't read it, so I don't know. I assume it to be accurate, but if anyone thinks otherwise, just change it. --khaosworks (talk • contribs) 23:37, 27 November 2005 (UTC)
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- The reference has been removed, but for the record Daibhid is right: the "Doctor" in that scene is actually a hallucination Rose is having, which is why his sonic screwdriver has no effect. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 04:53, 28 November 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Article bloating
I know I was the one that started listing the functions of the new sonic screwdriver, but on reflection, do we really need to list everything? I don't want the article more crufty than it actually is. On another note, I'll be removing that Stealer of Dreams reference as per the talk above. --khaosworks (talk • contribs) 08:51, 28 November 2005 (UTC)
- I think it's quite nice to have everything, maybe it should be forked into Sonic screwdriver uses however.--TheDoctor10 (talk|email) 06:38, 29 November 2005 (UTC)
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- That would be so fancrufty that it won't survive an AfD, I suspect. The question is whether or not the information is notable and useful, not whether it's "nice". --khaosworks (talk • contribs) 08:00, 29 November 2005 (UTC)
- The article's only a little over two pages long (on my settings, of course) based on several decades' worth of source material, it doesn't seem particularly bloated to me. Bryan 16:40, 29 November 2005 (UTC)
- Sorry Khaosworks, I should have read this before adding my extra bits! I did think it was worth mentioning about distracting the cybermen in Age of Steel though because I'm not sure this is covered by 'deactivating electronics'. I thought what happened was that the SS was used to send out a burst of sound that bounced off the surrounding houses and confused the cybermen into thinking their quarry was escaping. It's not something that has been seen before as far as I'm aware but correct me if I'm wrong? --86.27.60.124 17:02, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
- I wasn't sure it really had to be mentioned at all, hence my sneaky "uses include" phrasing so we don't feel the need to put in every little thing. --khaosworks (talk • contribs) 17:26, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Romana's screwdriver
Will check on my own later, but just a query - is the one in City of Death the same as the one she used in Nimon, or is it just a replica of the Doctor's? --khaosworks (talk • contribs) 22:38, 15 December 2005 (UTC)
Same one she used in Nimon, if you look, but its got a different Head on it that's similar to The Doctor's.
[edit] Driving screws?
Has the Sonic Screwdriver actually ever been used to drive screws? If not, I'd like someone to charnge the article to say that the SS has never been seen to actually drive screws. (I'd do it myself, but I'd forget to come back)
- Yes, it has. For one, in Fury from the Deep (when it first appeared) as well as in The Ark in Space. --khaosworks (talk • contribs) 02:39, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
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- Also used in The War Games for this purpose. GideonFrost 10:50, 30 December 2006 (UTC)
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- The Ninth Doctor actually mentioned having a lot of cabinets to put up in The Doctor Dances.
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[edit] Citation of Pemberton quote
Unfortunately, it turns out that my copy of the Doctor Who Magazine issue with that Victor Pemberton quote in it (#318) is in storage and inaccessible for the moment. Could someone who has the issue accessible find out the name of the interview, for the citation? Thanks. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 01:01, 25 March 2006 (UTC)
- Tis done. —Whouk (talk) 11:34, 25 March 2006 (UTC)
- I thank you. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 16:29, 25 March 2006 (UTC)
[edit] The Answering Machine
The article mentions that the Sonic Screwdiver has been used to extract a credit stick from a cash machine on Satellite 5 (The Long Game), but it should also mention that it's used to destroy the answering machine at Adam Mitchell's parents' house. --John R. Sellers 09:44, 25 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] In the Ninth Doctor Adventures, it was used to cauterise wounds and stop a clockwork mechanism using a borrowed cylindrical power-pack
The power-pack was not "borrowed" it actually belonged to the screwdriver in the first place, but had been stolen by The Painted Lady, but was later returned to the Doctor when they joined forces. Good god people, read the book! James Random 10:31, 24 June 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Another thing
It should also be mentioned that the sound the screwdriver makes is dubbed in, although the screwdriver itself does make the noise, it generally can't be picked up by the overhead mics - an example of this can be seen in the Idiot's Lantern when The Doctor is trying to gain entry to the Warehouse taht the police are using as a secret HQ, when Tennent places the screwdriver back in his jacket pocket - you can see, just for the second, the nib light up where he's caught the button - but no sound is made. James Random 10:38, 24 June 2006 (UTC)
Can someone contribute any light on the claims that writer Terrence Dicks (ref http://users.bestweb.net/~foosie/robot.htm) and actor Patrick Troughton (BBC documentary just prior to the first Bille Piper series, IIRR) also had creative input into the sonic screwdriver? Thank you. (Reader, October 2006.)
[edit] The New Sonic Screwdriver - Not A Cure-All
The new sonic screwdriver is actually not a cure-all. In most episodes, the Doctor uses the screwdriver as tool to do rather unimportant things (such as destroying remote controlled christmas trees, or, opening & closing doors), but never as a solution to the episode´s central problem: E.g. in Gridlock or in The Parting of the Ways, he frantically tries to repair machinery but the actual solutions come from the Face of Boe / Rose. In Love & Monsters, the cane holding the Abzorbaloff together is broken by Elton, not the Doctor´s screwdriver. Other examples may be found throughout the series. Usually the solutions come either from the Doctor´s companions or the Doctor´s skill or reasoning or confounding the enemy himself.
(such as destroying remote controlled christmas trees, or, opening & closing doors),
I fail to see how destroying an item that was going to kill you or putting a door between you and something that wants to kill you is 'unimportant'.
[edit] List too long
I have added an "Example farm" tag to the list of uses, as it looks very much like every time The Doctor uses his screwdriver for something slightly different, it gets added to the list. If it continues, then you will end up with a very long list which potentially could be added to indefinitely. I suggest that it gets trimmed down significantly. StephenBuxton 11:41, 23 April 2007 (UTC)
[edit] It's a "Laser Spanner" not a Sonic Spanner
In Smith and Jones, Martha Jones asks the Doctor if he "also has a laser spanner". He replies that he did until Emmeline Pankhurst stole it.
[edit] Deus Ex reference incorrect
"The "multitool" from Deus Ex and Deus Ex:Invisible War looks very similar to a screwdriver and is also mostly used to open locks. The difference is that each can only be used once."
This is factually incorrect. The Multitool looks more like a communicator from Star Trek: TOS and is used to override cameras, guns and alarm systems among other things. There is a device called a Lockpick which DOES resemble a sonic screwdriver, but it is a physical lockpick.
As such, I am removing this line from the article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.167.136.139 (talk) 07:48, 21 November 2007 (UTC)
[edit] In-story origin
I looked up this article because I was curious whether the sonic screwdriver was introduced as a new invention, or as something that the Doctor had merely never mentioned before it was introduced. The fact that the first Doctor was locked up by his enemies as a matter of course suggests the former, but perhaps he had just left the sonic screwdriver on a shelf in the TARDIS. Does anyone know if this is hinted at at all? Or is it left ambiguous? 75.73.17.57 (talk) 16:40, 18 January 2008 (UTC)Sergei Alderman
[edit] Series 4 sonic pen
Re: Sonic Pen reference- isn't some of this conjecture or based on rumour that hasn't yet been confirmed? Also, spoileresque? Mentioning it's been seen and is a pen (that much is obvious from a screen cap) would be fine- but giving more details about the character isn't quite appropriate.. RubbishBeard (talk) 00:31, 31 January 2008 (UTC)
- Good point. I've rewritten the paragraph, omitting character name and other details. If someone wants to say it's Miss Foster, who she is and which episode, it needs a cite. --Karen | Talk | contribs 01:29, 31 January 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Torchwood devices
In keeping with the placement of the "sonic lipstick" and "sonic suitcase", shouldn't the sonic devices in Torchwood be placed under "Related devices"? Other than them, the "Doctor Who and related media" section of "Other appearances" seems to focus on spin-off appearances of the actual screwdriver. Daibhid C (talk) 21:46, 28 March 2008 (UTC)
- Agreed. The various sonic screwdrivers seen in Torchwood should be included under "Related Devices" rather than "Other Appearances". Or perhaps the Sarah Jane bit should be moved to "Other Appearances"? Either way, both sections probably need a clean up. Kelvingreen (talk) 22:46, 4 April 2008 (UTC)