1968–1982 and 1996

The first sonic screwdriver from Season 6, Episode 3 of The War Games (1969)

The sonic screwdriver made its first appearance in the serial Fury from the Deep (1968), written by Victor Pemberton. It was used thereafter by the Second Doctor as a multi-purpose tool, with occasional variations in appearance over the course of the series.

Its abilities and overall appearance varied greatly during the classic series. The name implies that it operates through the use of sound waves to exert physical forces on objects remotely. During the Second Doctor's tenure, it functioned much as its name implied—using sonic waves to dismantle equipment or to bypass locks. In addition, it was used as a welding torch in Episode Five of The Dominators (1968). In the audio commentary for The Sea Devils (1972), Michael Briant claims to have suggested it as a one-off gadget in 1968.^[2]

During the Third Doctor's tenure, producer Barry Letts was adamant that the device should not become a cure-all for the series and limited its use to avoid writers becoming over-reliant on it. During this time, the device underwent significant design changes. In The Sea Devils, the Doctor used it to detonate landmines; Michael E. Briant explains that this was feasible, stating that the sonic waves shook the mines. In The Three Doctors (1972–73), the sonic screwdriver is almost unrecognisable, being a unique, one-use prop with a plastic red spherical head. In the DVD commentary, Letts himself remarks on the thickness of the prop and the fact that it belies the idea that it was the regular one, prompting Katy Manning to question whether it was indeed a sonic screwdriver.^[3] This was due to the serial being produced out of transmission order: the original sonic screwdriver prop went missing during the recording of Carnival of Monsters (1973), requiring a new prop to be built for the rest of the season;^[4] The Three Doctors was recorded after Carnival, but set before it, so the screwdriver could be seen to revert to its previous appearance for one story after The Three Doctors before receiving a more permanent redesign thereafter.

During the first three years of the Fourth Doctor's tenure, producer Philip Hinchcliffe further reduced the use of the sonic screwdriver. Exceptions include Robot (which was the last story to be produced by Barry Letts), where it was again used to detonate mines, and as a "miniature sonic lance"^{[note 1]} to cut out a lock. Aside from unlocking doors, the device was greatly downplayed during the Fourth Doctor's second and third seasons. It saw a resurgence once Graham Williams took over as producer in 1977. In the final story of season 15, The Invasion of Time, the Fourth Doctor conceded, "Not even the sonic screwdriver can get me out of this one."

It featured regularly in season 16 during the Key to Time saga. The Doctor's Time Lady companion Romana constructed a sonic screwdriver of her own similar to the Doctor's. It is depicted as being smaller and sleeker than the Doctor's, and he was sufficiently impressed with her design that he attempted to swap screwdrivers with her in The Horns of Nimon (1979–80). By season 18, both script editor Christopher H Bidmead and producer John Nathan-Turner were eager to downplay the device as much as possible.

The sonic screwdriver was written out of the series late in season 19, in the Fifth Doctor serial The Visitation (1982). It is destroyed by a Terileptil to prevent the Doctor from escaping a holding cell; in response, the Doctor sorrowfully remarked, "I feel as if you've just killed an old friend." Eric Saward later explained in a 2005 DVD interview^[5] that this was done on the instructions of producer John Nathan-Turner. Saward had written out the sonic screwdriver, believing that the Doctor had "a cupboard full of them" in the TARDIS. On the basis that a device that could help in any situation was very limiting for the script, Nathan-Turner decided that it would not return.^[6] The Tenth Doctor joked about the Fifth Doctor's lack of sonic screwdriver in the mini-episode "Time Crash" (2007), commenting that he "went hands-free" and could "save the universe using a kettle and some string." The device did not appear again for the remainder of the original series.

In the Doctor Who TV Movie (1996) and "The Night of the Doctor" (2013), the Seventh (TVM), Eighth (both), & the War Doctor ("The Night of the Doctor") were seen to have a new sonic screwdriver with a telescopic mechanism: similar to its predecessors but with subtle differences such as a gold/brass band on the handle, a flat base and a red emitter tip.

2005–2010

A redesigned sonic screwdriver appears in the new series, with a blue light in addition to the sound effect. In its first incarnation, the prop used in the new series was fragile and prone to breakage. Over the course of the next two years, the props were continually repaired and modified, with some additions being a new thumb slider design and different colours of wires used in the clear channel when extended.

For series 4 (2008), a new design of Screwdriver was commissioned by the BBC. Nick Robatto was hired to make two new props. These featured the final slider design, and redesigned body ridges, among other smaller changes. This design debuted in 2008's "Partners in Crime" and continued to be used until the Screwdriver's ultimate destruction in 2010's "The Eleventh Hour". This later design has gained the nickname "Series 3–4 Sonic" (relating to the fact that at the start of Series 3, in "Smith and Jones", the first Sonic Screwdriver was supposedly destroyed), even though strictly speaking it first appeared in Series 4.^[7]

In contrast with Nathan-Turner's attitude that the sonic screwdriver should not be used as a cure-all, the new production team gave it even more functionality than previous versions. Some of the uses in the new series include: repairing electronic equipment; re-attaching materials such as barbed wire; detecting, intercepting and sending signals; remotely operating the TARDIS; burning, cutting, or igniting substances; fusing metal; scanning and identifying substances; amplifying or augmenting sound; modifying mobile phones to enable "universal roaming"; disabling alien disguises; resonating concrete; reversing teleportation of another entity. It is sometimes used to disassemble robotic enemies or turn other objects into weapons; healing cuts and wounds. In "The Parting of the Ways" (2005) and "Utopia" (2007), it is used to operate the TARDIS controls remotely; when the Doctor attempts to counteract the Master's theft of the TARDIS, it is used to limit the TARDIS' destination. In "Doomsday" (2006), the Doctor states that the sonic screwdriver does not kill, wound or maim; however, it is sometimes brandished in a threatening manner, such as in "The Christmas Invasion" (2005), "The Impossible Planet" (2006), "The Runaway Bride" (2006), "The Lazarus Experiment" (2007), "The Day of the Doctor" (2013), and The Infinite Quest (2007). In "World War Three" (2005), when confronted by a group of Slitheen, the Doctor threatens to "triplicate the flammability" of a bottle of port wine with the sonic screwdriver, though one of the Slitheen realises he is bluffing. In "Closing Time" (2011), ringed energy beams are seen emitted from the device, giving it a more weapon-like appearance, particularly when used to disable a weakened Cyberman at a distance.

In "Smith and Jones", the sonic screwdriver burns out after the Doctor uses it to amplify the radiation output of a hospital X-ray machine. In the "Series Three concept Artwork Gallery", when referring to the burnt out sonic screwdriver, Peter McKinstry says "the green crystal structure visible under the shattered dome refers back to the TARDIS console crystal. It's the same technology – the TARDIS's little brother."^[8] Though initially saddened at the loss of the screwdriver, the Doctor obtains a new one at the conclusion of the episode.

The sonic screwdriver is unable to open a "deadlock seal", used as a plot device to prevent an easy solution. Russell T Davies once mentioned that he would never make the sonic screwdriver the solution to an episode. In "Silence in the Library" (2008), while trying to open a wooden door, the Doctor tells Donna that the sonic screwdriver won't work because the door is made of wood, a fact later restated in "The Hungry Earth" (2010); when Rory complains about this, the Doctor counters to not "diss the sonic." The sonic screwdriver's inability to work on wood is clarified in "In the Forest of the Night" (2014), when the Doctor states that the sonic screwdriver works by manipulating the moving parts in various machinery: since plant tissue lacks said moving parts, it is unaffected by the sonic screwdriver. In "The Parting of the Ways" (2005), the Doctor mentions that when Emergency Program One was activated, the sonic screwdriver would receive a signal from the TARDIS. In "Forest of the Dead" (2008), he claims that a few hair-dryers can interfere with the device, though he states that he is "working on that".

2010–2015

In "The Eleventh Hour" (2010), the malfunctioning sonic screwdriver is destroyed when the Doctor tries to signal the Atraxi ships. The Doctor later receives a new one, which emerges from the newly regenerated TARDIS console. The Eleventh Doctor's sonic screwdriver is larger than its predecessor; it has a green light and metal claws that extend with a flick of the wrist. It is shown to have been created by the TARDIS as part of its automatic regeneration.

In "A Christmas Carol" (2010), the Doctor advises a young Kazran Sardick to pursue romance while implying that in a similar situation in his own past he had instead gone to his room to "design a new kind of screwdriver." Also in that episode, the sonic screwdriver gets split into two pieces, one of which ends up inside a flying shark. The remaining piece is said to be signalling its other half in an effort to repair itself. The Doctor uses this to send a signal through the half inside the sky shark to open up the clouds. Afterwards, the half not in the shark is left with Kazran Sardick. The Doctor tells Kazran that he can call him for help using the Sonic; though Kazran declines to do so. The Doctor had duplicates of this screwdriver, which he continued to use throughout his travels.

In "Let's Kill Hitler" (2011), it is explained that instead of having settings, this version operates through a psychic interface, basically doing whatever the user thinks of while pointing and holding down the button. This version of the screwdriver also appears, although never officially announced, to have a flashlight setting, as the Doctor is seen to have it emitting a continuous glow while not uttering the classic sonic noise. Also in the episode, the Doctor uses another modified version of his sonic, which he calls a "Sonic Cane". It is similar to a Tuxedo cane, except the top replaced with the upper portion of his screwdriver, with a metal ball cut in fourths attached to the claws.

Ahead of the 50th anniversary special, a mini-episode entitled "The Night of the Doctor" (2013) was produced in which the Eighth Doctor uses the sonic screwdriver twice. The Doctor uses his telescopic screwdriver previously seen in the TV movie, rather than his updated steampunk version which had been used in numerous Big Finish audio dramas.

For the 50th anniversary special, "The Day of the Doctor" (2013), another version was seen in the hands of John Hurt's War Doctor. The design was similar to the one used by Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor. This time the halo and bullet tip had been removed, replaced by a red light as well as a large red dial added to the base. Character Options released a version of this sonic screwdriver on 23 November 2013 at London's ExCel labelling it "The Other Doctor's Sonic".^[9] It was established as a plot point in that episode that the sonic screwdrivers employed by various Doctor incarnations all use the same software, something the War Doctor exploited by running a calculation over a course of several centuries with the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors seeing the calculation completed through their models. It is also directly implied after the fact that the sonic screwdriver has actually been a part of every doctor's retinue, despite its disappearance for doctors six & seven; the Tenth Doctor says to the Gallifreyan high command, as all thirteen doctors are about to change history by saving the planet, that the calculations for doing what's about to be done have been "running all my lives." In addition, when combined, the screwdrivers of the War, Tenth, and Eleventh Doctor could create a sonic force field blast to repel and destroy a Dalek.

"The Magician's Apprentice" (2015) shows that the sonic screwdriver can create "an acoustic corridor" so that the Twelfth Doctor can communicate with a boy trapped in an extraterrestrial mine field. However, when the Doctor discovers that the boy is actually a young Davros, he abandons the boy, leaving the screwdriver behind, though it is revealed that he did save young Davros after all. Davros is shown to have kept the screwdriver in his possession ever since, and the Doctor tells Clara that he no longer has a screwdriver. By that time, the screwdriver had been withered and damaged by time and was seemingly useless.

2015–2017

In "Hell Bent", the TARDIS gives the Doctor a brand new sonic screwdriver. The new screwdriver has a TARDIS-blue shaft with gold and silver highlights. The upper half is a rectangular light grid that, when switched on, has four different functions: green light with low-pitched sound, blue light with high-pitched sound, green lights that pulse with a pulsing sound, and a blue light chasing pattern with a pulsing sound. The new sonic screwdriver is meant to represent the TARDIS. The Doctor first uses it in "The Husbands of River Song" (although he also employs the sonic sunglasses earlier in the episode). The new screwdriver has seen use in the spin-off show Class, where the Doctor increases the voltage of flood lights to expel the Shadow Kin and partially close a rift in space-time. He is shown to have working copies of every version of the Sonic Screwdriver ever seen before in a cup on his desk in "The Pilot." Nardole uses the Fifth Doctor's version when sealing bulkhead doors to keep out Daleks later in the episode.

2018-2022

In "The Woman Who Fell to Earth", the Thirteenth Doctor is depicted constructing a new sonic screwdriver out of scrap metal and an orange glowing device from an alien travel capsule. She proudly proclaims that the new screwdriver is forged out of "Sheffield steel". This iteration of the sonic screwdriver glows throughout its body with an orange light when activated. It was destroyed by a Dalek in part seven of the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip "Liberation of the Daleks" while in the Fourteenth Doctor's possession.

2023-

A redesigned sonic screwdriver, made of steel and brass with a long metal protrusion made its debut at the San Diego Comic Con on July 19, 2023. The screwdriver features a blue light and is expected to be first seen in the 60th Anniversary Specials, used by the Fourteenth Doctor.^[10]

In the first of the specials "The Star Beast", this screwdriver is shown to have upgraded functionality, such as being able to draw out maps and graphs, and also being able to create energy shields to block a corridor.

The screwdriver plays no part in the second special "Wild Blue Yonder", as the Doctor leaves it plugged into the TARDIS to help the machine repair; the TARDIS takes off by itself, with the screwdriver, shortly into the story.

Licensed media

Red Nose Day

• In the Red Nose Day special, The Curse of Fatal Death, the final regeneration of the Doctor, played by Joanna Lumley, enthusiastically remarks that the sonic screwdriver "has three settings" when it starts vibrating.
• In a comic The Catherine Tate Show sketch, Catherine Tate's teenage character Lauren Cooper accuses her English teacher (played by David Tennant) of being "the Doctor". After much provocation, the teacher uses the sonic screwdriver to transform Lauren into a Rose Tyler action figure.

Unlicensed media

• The unlicensed fan fiction novel Time's Champion speculates that the Sixth Doctor has re-built the sonic screwdriver. He used a similar device in The Nightmare Fair, a script which was never produced for television but has been adapted twice.
• In the video game Daleks (published for operating systems of the early 1980s), the Doctor can use the sonic screwdriver to teleport and to defend himself against the Daleks.

Public appearances

• Matt Smith used the Eleventh Doctor's sonic screwdriver to turn on the Christmas Lights in Cardiff in November 2010. Its appearance was cheered by the crowd. During the Doctor Who panel at San Diego Comic Con in 2018, Jodie Whittaker produced the new sonic screwdriver, prompting applause from the audience.

Doctor Who

• The Doctor has used other sonic devices similar to the sonic screwdriver, including the "door handle" of Inferno (Liz Shaw having one of her own) and a pen-sized white noise generator in Four to Doomsday.
• In the 1965 episode Trap of Steel, the Doctor uses an apparently ordinary screwdriver to examine the metal of the Drahvin spaceship and other tasks.
• In the 1979 serial City of Death, Count Scarlioni's henchmen use a "sonic knife" to cut the glass in front of the Mona Lisa.
• In the 1985 serial Attack of the Cybermen, the Sixth Doctor uses a "sonic lance".
• In the 2005 episodes "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances", Jack Harkness uses a "sonic blaster", referred to by Rose Tyler as a "squareness gun", capable of "digitising" structures by disintegrating them and then reversing the process, among other functions. The device resurfaces in "Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead", now wielded by River Song. Steven Moffat confirmed in an episode of Doctor Who Confidential that the device was the same one.
• In "Smith and Jones", Martha Jones sarcastically asks if he's got a "laser spanner" as well as a sonic screwdriver, which he apparently did until it was stolen by Emmeline Pankhurst, described by the Doctor as a "cheeky woman".
• In "The Sound of Drums", the Master reveals his laser screwdriver. Unlike the sonic screwdriver, it is used as a weapon that can kill as well as artificially age its target, using technology developed by Lazarus Laboratories originally seen in "The Lazarus Experiment". It includes isomorphic controls, allowing only the Master to use the device. The design of the prop was meant to imply that the Master constructed it on Earth, and it was deliberately made larger than the Doctor's sonic screwdriver.^[11] Like the Doctor's screwdriver and Sarah Jane's lipstick, the Master's laser screwdriver was also created as a children's toy with sound effects. The laser screwdriver reappears in The Doctor Falls when the Master encounters his later female incarnation, Missy. Again, his screwdriver acts as a weapon, the Master using it to destroy a Cyberman and to kill Missy, shooting her in the back after she stabbed him in the back.
• In the series 4 episode "Partners in Crime", the antagonist Miss Foster is shown using a sonic device identified as a sonic pen, which the Doctor describes as having identical functionality to his screwdriver. It could, however, open deadlocked windows and compartments in the Adipose building that the sonic screwdriver couldn't. After confiscating and briefly using it, the Doctor throws the sonic pen into a bin. The sonic pen took the form of a sleek, black and silver fountain pen with a blue light at the top and was made into a toy version which was paired with the sonic screwdriver.
• In "Silence in the Library", Professor River Song possesses a slightly bulkier sonic screwdriver, which she claims the Doctor gave to her in his future. The Doctor mentioned that he does not give his screwdriver to anyone. In the following episode, Professor Song mentions that her screwdriver is augmented with a "red setting" and "dampers". It also contains a hidden neural relay linked to River Song, saving her at the episode's conclusion—the purpose for which the future Doctor gave Professor Song the device. A toy version is available. It was revealed in "The Husbands of River Song" that it was the Twelfth Doctor who gave it to River.
• In "Journey's End", Sarah Jane Smith is seen using her own sonic screwdriver, or sonic lipstick to open a door on the Dalek Crucible.
• In the Christmas special The Next Doctor, Jackson Lake, who believes himself to be the Doctor, carries a regular screwdriver which he claims to be sonic. When the Doctor asks "How is it sonic?", Lake replies, "It makes a noise," which he demonstrates by tapping it against a door frame.
• In the series 6 episode "Let's Kill Hitler", the Doctor has a sonic cane which appears to have the same functions as the sonic screwdriver.
• In the series 6 episode "The Girl Who Waited", future Amy Pond has a "Sonic Probe" that she made herself. She claims she calls it a probe and not a screwdriver because that's what it is, and to signify that she has come to hate the Doctor. Later after she has forgiven him, she calls it a sonic screwdriver.
• Blue Peter announced that there will be three Sonic devices that will feature in Series 8 of Doctor Who, designed by Blue Peter watchers.^[12] The first device is a Sonic Gauntlet for Jenny Flint that will feature making locks fall apart, radioactivity counter and receiver dish, that will allow you to watch shows.^[12] The Second device is a Sonic Lorgnette for Commander Strax that has medical applications, such as X-ray, diagnostic lens (check for illness), and thermal lens.^[12] The third device is Sonic Hat Pin for Madame Vastra that can be used as a remote control for her carriage and it can also be turned into a Sonic Sword with the flick of a switch.^[12]

The Sarah Jane Adventures

In the Doctor Who spin-off series, The Sarah Jane Adventures, Sarah Jane Smith uses a "sonic lipstick", which is a gift the Tenth Doctor gave her alongside a new model of K9 and her scanner watch. It functions much like the sonic screwdriver, used primarily for opening and closing locked doors, and for disabling and re-enabling machines; like the sonic screwdriver, it remains ineffective against deadlock seals and wooden objects.^[13] A toy version is available.

• In Enemy of the Bane, Mrs Wormwood (Samantha Bond) possesses a sonic device disguised as a ring called the "Phonic disruptor".

Torchwood

• In the Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood episode "Fragments", genius Toshiko Sato's backstory reveals that she stole faulty designs from the Ministry of Defence and UNIT, which she used to construct a sonic device, referred to as a "sonic modulator", to trade to a terrorist organisation in exchange for her mother. The device is confiscated by UNIT, which imprisons Sato until she is pardoned and recruited into Torchwood by Jack Harkness.
• In the episodes "Day One" and "End of Days", Captain Jack Harkness uses a green device somewhat similar to a sonic screwdriver. Its origins and function are unknown.
• Toshiko uses a "lockpick" device in a number of episodes which replicates the door-opening function of the screwdriver.
• In Children of Earth, Gwen Cooper uses a similar device, which she refers to as a Gizmo, to deactivate CCTV cameras.

BBC books

• In the Eighth Doctor Adventures novel Alien Bodies, the Time Lord Homunculette has a sonic monkey wrench.

Notes

Citations