Thirteenth Doctor's sonic screwdriver

Thirteenth Doctor's sonic screwdriver

Talk

Due to losing everything in her pockets following her regeneration and fall, the Thirteenth Doctor lost her previous incarnation's sonic screwdriver (and sonic sunglasses). As a result, the Doctor chose to build one of her own in a workshop in Sheffield. This one was far simpler in appearance than the last screwdriver with a simple steel body, and a crystal on the tip that glowed amber while in use, taken from a Stenza transport chamber. (TV: The Woman Who Fell to Earth ^[+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 11 (BBC One, BBCA, Space and Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2018).)

Comparing it to a Swiss Army knife, but without the knife, the Doctor explained that it functioned not only as a screwdriver, but as a scanner and a tin opener, and it could be used for diagnostics. (TV: The Woman Who Fell to Earth ^[+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 11 (BBC One, BBCA, Space and Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2018).) Following its loss, the Fourteenth Doctor remembered it as the Swiss Army sonic. (COMIC: Liberation of the Daleks)

It had a self-rebooting feature, allowing it to restore power if drained. (TV: The Tsuranga Conundrum ^[+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 11 (BBC One, 2018).) It could not work on machinery if the power cells were fluctuating. (TV: Kerblam! ^[+]Pete McTighe, Doctor Who series 11 (BBC One, 2018).)

When a Thijarian remnant sample overloaded the sonic, for having too many inputs, the Doctor noted that this had never happened before. This was because of the immeasurably high density of this substance, containing the remains of Thijar and all their ancestors. (TV: Demons of the Punjab ^[+]Vinay Patel, Doctor Who series 11 (BBC One, 2018).) On another occasion, the sonic could calculate such an impossible density, but that "density [blew its] mind". (TV: The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos ^[+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 11 (BBC One, 2018).)

To the Doctor's extreme surprise, her sonic could be rendered inoperative by recon scout Daleks. (TV: Resolution)

Uses[]

This section's awfully stubby.

The Doctor used her screwdriver to track where her TARDIS had ended up. Following it to Desolation, the Doctor used the sonic as a beacon for the TARDIS engines, allowing the ship to properly materialise. (TV: The Ghost Monument ^[+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 11 (BBC One, 2018).)

When on the Tsuranga, the screwdriver was briefly snacked on by a Pting who drained the device of power. (TV: The Tsuranga Conundrum ^[+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 11 (BBC One, 2018).)

When facing off against a rebuilt Reconnaissance Dalek in the Recon Scout Incident, the Doctor used her screwdriver to briefly override the Dalek's gunstick. (TV: Revolution of the Daleks ^[+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who New Year Special 2021 (BBC One, 2021).) When the Doctor was targeted by Dalek Executioners, she attempted to repeat the trick but found that the Daleks had overcome this weakness. (TV: Eve of the Daleks ^[+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who New Year Special 2022 (BBC One, 2022).)

Following the Thirteenth Doctor's regeneration, (TV: The Power of the Doctor ^[+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who Centenary Special 2022 (BBC One, 2022).) the screwdriver was briefly used by the Fourteenth Doctor only to be destroyed by a psychoplasmic Supreme Dalek at the Dalek Dome. This came to the dismay of the Doctor, who reflected on the screwdriver's construction in Sheffield. Soon after, as part of a deal to retrieve the TARDIS from the Golden Emperor during the 2323 Dalek invasion of Earth, the Doctor had the Old Skaro Emperor craft an identical, replacement sonic which included an integral teleporter.

The Doctor used the screwdriver to override the controls of an escape rocket to collide with the Mathematicians' Moon which sustained the psychoplasmic Daleks in the real universe. The Golden Emperor then wrested the screwdriver from the Doctor's grasp before destroying it, with the Doctor lamenting "not again!" (COMIC: Liberation of the Daleks ^[+]Alan Barnes, DWM Comics (Panini Comics, 2022-2023).) Following the ordeal, the Doctor replaced the screwdriver with a new model. (WC: The Fourteenth Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver ^[+]Doctor Who mini-episodes (BBC Studios, YouTube, 2023)., PROSE: Super Sonic ^[+]Paul Lang, Doctor Who The Official Annual 2024 (Penguin Group, 2023).)