When Doctor Who came back in 2005 it had a twenty-first century makeover, and so did the sonic screwdriver. It was chunkier, more manly, and had a very nice blue glow on the end. And it began to be used in a lot of interesting ways, though quite often the tag ‘door handle’ given to it by the Third Doctor still came into play.
What a nice blue glow the new look sonic has!
Good for sealing doors
My Sonic Screwdriver! End of The World – The sonic screwdriver opens the shades to reveal the view of planet Earth outside the space station. Then it locates the metal spider and he attempts to stun the spider with it. Later The Doctor uses it again to break into the control section of Platform One, and to operate the sun filters and locks on the rooms where the Steward and Rose are trapped.
Opening the shades
I was on another ship that was unsinkable. Ended up clinging to an iceberg
Welcome to platform one, indeed!
The Doctor, Jabe and Sonic Screwdriver in an intimate moment.
Something inside here!
Catching a Spider
Oh, it would be you! World War Three – The Doctor first opens the cabinet room with the sonic screwdriver and then threatened to triplicate the flammability of the port with his sonic device.
Cabinet Room, no trouble
Triplicate the flammability... In The Long Game The Doctor uses the sonic screwdriver to obtain a credit wafer on Satellite Five, then to open up the wall panel to get access to the computers. Rose uses it to get The Doctor out of the manacles on Floor 500. Later, he destroys the tape on the answering machine at Adam’s house.
Credit card? Who needs one of those?
Never underestimate plumbing
Just press the button
Oh, right, this button!
That's enough of that, thank you. Father’s Day – The Doctor charges up the battery from the mobile phone to use in his plan to bring the TARDIS into the church.
Just charging it up a bit.
Yep, that should do it The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances – The Doctor opens the back door into the nightclub with the sonic screwdriver. Later it deals with the padlock on the hospital gates and then serves as a medical scanner.
Door, music, laughter..
Gates of the Albion Hospital
No problem
Very handy medical scanner The Doctor and Jack got macho about their sonic devices, and The Doctor defended his screwdriver against a blaster that needs batteries. Later he tried to resonate concrete, which would have been a great trick if Jack hadn't teleported them out of the room first.
It's Sonic. I am soniced up!
Rose, I'm trying to resonate concrete
Mending barbed wire is easy with a sonic
See what I mean? Boomtown – The Doctor proves very good at disrupting transporter beams with the sonic screwdriver when Margaret tries to make her escape.
The Doctor's really good at teleports
I could do this all day. Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways – The Doctor destroys the Big Brother House camera, then opens the door through to the Gamestation. He later uses it to scan the station and discover there is too much power just for broadcasting. Finally, he uses it to send the TARDIS back to Earth remotely, sending Rose home.
Take that, BB Camera
Another door to unlock
Another space station to scan
A hard decision to make
Goodbye, Rose. Christmas Invasion – The Doctor wakes up from his coma long enough to blow up the manic Christmas tree and then to chase off the killer santas.
Can't a Time Lord get any sleep around here?
Take that, christmas tree
Remote Control Santas 0 - Sonic Screwdriver 3 On New Earth the sonic screwdriver is hardly ever back in The Doctor’s pocket. He uses it to open up the way into intensive care, then to open the cells in which the patients are kept. Later, he uses it like a weapon to order Cassandra out of Rose. When Cassandra is occupying his body she doesn’t know how to open doors with it. But later The Doctor is back to door opening and operating lift mechanisms with it.
Intensive Care?
Certainly looks intensive.
Get out of her, Cassandra
What, this thing?
Another door!
Going down, fast
And a lift door to open this time. For a change. In Tooth and Claw, the sonic screwdriver makes a brief appearance to lock the door against the werewolf. But it is obviously not a good idea to wave it around in front of Queen Victoria, who is already suspicious of The Doctor.
A great big heavy lock to seal shut. School Reunion – The Yale lock on Mr Finch’s office door yields as easily as the mortise lock on the door in Victorian Torchwood House. The sonic screwdriver no longer has a problem with merely mechanical locks. Later it proves useful in repairing K9. The next day The Doctor gives it to Sarah Jane to look at the school computers, but she can’t make it work. Rose can, prompting an interesting debate. It doesn’t work on the computer server or the oil drums as they have been deadlock sealed.
Yale locks fall to the Sonic
K9 is put back together with sonic power
Just a little more tinkering
Here, take this.
This thing isn't working
It worked first time in my day
Works for me!
Biting off more than he can chew
Anything but a deadlock seal!
Another deadlock seal! Girl in The Fireplace – the sonic screwdriver first makes a great lighter for candles. It then locates the monster under the bed and The Doctor uses it as a weapon to duel with it. Later he threatens to disassemble the clockwork creature with it. He also reconnects the fireplace in Reinette’s bedroom to get back to the ship.
Let's put some light on the subject
There, that's better
Monsters under the bed
En Garde, Monster
Duelling Sonic
Don't think that will stop me!
There's a loose wire. Need to get a man in. Age of Steel – Rise of the Cybermen – The Doctor first gets his sonic screwdriver out to deactivate the ear pods that Pete Tyler was wearing. Later he uses it to ward off a cyberman patrol when he, Rose and Pete are hiding from them. He detects the source of the earpod signal with a sonic screwdriver scan of Battersea Power Station. The Doctor opens and then seals the hatchway from the cooling tunnels with the sonic screwdriver. It then gets used to open the chest panel of the cyberman that used to be Sally Phelan, and then to euthanize it. Finally, he throws it to Pete Tyler to cut through the rope ladder allowing them to escape.
Take that, pesky earpods
Warding off Cybermen
There's the power source
The Zeppelin on Battersea Power Station
sealing the hatch
Opening up a cyberman!
Sleep now.
Pete knows what to do Idiot’s Lantern – The Doctor uses the sonic screwdriver to examine faceless Grandma Connolly’s brain waves. He then uses it to break into the cage where the faceless people are and as a torch to look at them. He detects the power source in the portable TV and the other power source in Magpie’s shop, and uses it to stop the Wire from taking his and Tommy’s minds.
They've taken her mind
Another door to unlock
Portable power source
Another power source around here somewhere
Armed and dangerous In Impossible Planet the sonic screwdriver appears only once, used as a weapon to defend The Doctor and Rose from the encroaching Ood.
We must feed... Love and Monsters – The sonic screwdriver fixes what is left of Ursula onto the paving slab.
Elton, Fetch a Spade Fear Her - The sonic screwdriver actually only appears once in this story. The Doctor stops the scribble monster from attacking Rose with it.
I'll give you a fiver if you tell me what it is! Army of Ghosts – The sonic screwdriver first causes the spectacular cracking of the Torchwood window to prove The Doctor’s point in such a spectacular way. Then it has a more unpleasant role, deactivating the earpods and revealing that three of the Torchwood staff were already dead and under cyber control. The sonic screwdriver also points the way to the cyberman base within Torchwood tower, tracing the power source.
Doesn't that look pretty
I just love the sound of breaking glass
The Doctor is really sorry
But he has to do this
There's a power source around here.
It's in here somewhere
Why, doctor, it's such a big one
Can I hold it? In Doomsday, The Doctor points out to the Daleks that
the sonic screwdriver is a harmless tool that doesn’t kill or
maim, but is VERY good at opening doors. He then opens the sealed
doors into the vault to allow the cybermen to attack. Later, the sonic
screwdriver boosts the power to the projection between worlds so that
he can talk to Rose on Bad Wolf Beach.
sonic screwdriver
harmless, doesn't kill, doesn't maim
VERY good at opening doors!
It's a door handle
you look like a ghost
turning up the power
Coming through better now. Runaway Bride – The Doctor first pulls out the sonic screwdriver to make the payphone work without money. He then used it to get money from a cash machine, then to make the machine go crazy and throw out money as a diversion. Later he used it to find internet information on a borrowed phone, presumably without cost to the owner of the phone. Having thus thrown the communications and banking networks of Britain into confusion he then used the sonic screwdriver and an amplifier to create a sonic sound that shook the robot Santas to pieces. It then located the source of the Santa remote control – in the sky.
Who needs reverse charge when you can reverse polarity!
Who needs an ATM card!
WAP Phone Soniced
Sonic Screwdriver Plus Sound System Equals Big Noise
It's Up There Later, at HC Clements, the sonic screwdriver became a key to the sub-basement. Then it reverts to door handle when The Doctor needs to open a bulkhead door.
Sonic Screwdriver - Lift Key
And Finally a Door to Open Confined to bed, The Doctor didn’t get any chance top use his sonic screwdriver at the start of Smith and Jones, but with the Judoon on the march he tried to get into the computer database with it. Door handle mode again opened the x-ray room door. He uses it to boost the x-ray machine, but finds afterwards that it has been burnt out and has to get through the rest of the day without it. He gets a new one by the evening, though, and invites Martha to test drive it with him.
Sonic Computer Hacking Tool
Emily Pankhurst Isn't Getting This
Another Door to Open
Sonic Boost For The X-Ray Machine
Just A Little Adjustment
My Sonic Screwdriver! Ruined
I Love My Sonic Screwdriver
I've Got a Brand New Sonic Screwdriver
And It Needs Test Driving Shakespeare’s London had few places where a sonic screwdriver could be useful. But in Gridlock the undercity of New Manhattan provided challenges enough. The Doctor used the sonic screwdriver first to operate the video screen and find Sally Calypso’s weather report. Then it’s door handle time again as the sonic screwdriver gives The Doctor access to the motorway. It then gets used again and again to open the hatches as The Doctor drops between the gridlocked cars to reach the bottom level of the motorway. In the Businessman’s car he uses the sonic screwdriver to augment the downdraught and clear away the smoke so that he can see the Macra. Finally, of course, it is the tool he needs to reroute the last power in the Senate to open up the motorway roof and let everyone fly up to the sunshine.
There You Go - Weather Report And ANOTHER Door
Opening The Hatch
Another Hatch
And Another
And Another
Doing Something To The Engines
No Wonder The Driver Looks Worried
Saving The People Of The Motorway In Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks the sonic screwdriver first opens up the manhole cover from the sewers to the theatre. Then it is used to create the device The Doctor makes out of the old radio and various bits and pieces to identify the planetary origin of the alien remains. Later he uses it in conjunction with what was left of the radio to create a noise that incapacitated the Daleks long enough for everyone to escape. He tries to lockdown the Empire State Building elevator with it, but the Daleks already have it deadlocked. Of course, it is the only tool that can remove Dalekanium from the spire, but he drops it. Luckily, not too far. Martha gets it back to him. In the theatre, he uses it to send a signal to the Daleks, telling them he is here for a final showdown. Finally he fires up a Bunsen burner with it to make the medicine to save Laszlo.
Manhole Cover To Open
Radio To Tinker With
Weird Stuff From Outer Space
Come On, Think!
Ah, Now I've Got It!
Making Sonic Noise
Trying to Open The Lift Door
Dalekanium On The Spire
Sonic Screwdriver To The Task Running Out Of Time
Doctor, You Lost Your Sonic Screwdriver
Sending A Signal To The Daleks
I'm Here! Come And Get Me!
The Doctor Is In In Lazarus Experiment, The Doctor needs the sonic screwdriver to stop the Lazarus machine from overloading. He then uses it to trace Lazarus’s DNA pattern to the roof. He gives it to Martha to open the doors of the building and get everyone to safety. She gives it him back when they are trapped in the Lazarus machine and he uses it to rewire the works so that the power reverberates outside instead of inside the capsule, reverting Lazarus to Human. Again it locates Lazarus’s DNA pattern in Southwark Cathedral and there, The Doctor uses it to augment the pipe organ and cause sound vibrations that kill the Lazarus monster.
Stopping The Experiment
Tracing The Lazarus DNA
Open The Door, Martha
I'm Trying!
Here's Your Sonic Screwdriver Back
Nice Shoes, By The Way
No, He's Not in Martha's Hair
This Way
Sonic Music
All Stops Out 42 begins with The Doctor setting up Universal Roaming on Martha’s mobile with the sonic screwdriver. Later it is used in medical analysis mode to examine Korwin.
Superphone
Medical Analysis
He's Got A Bit Of A Temperature In Human Nature/Family of Blood, John Smith doesn’t know what the sonic screwdriver is. Martha tries to jog The Doctor’s memory with it, but unsuccessfully.
What Is This?
Do You Know What It Is?
Does This Bit Open? In Utopia, the sonic screwdriver is the tool needed to kick start the power to the rocket ship’s booster engines. Later, The Doctor tries to get into the laboratory but it has been deadlocked sealed. Even the sonic screwdriver won’t get him into his own TARDIS when The Master has locked it. But he can use it to fuse the controls so that The Master can’t go anywhere but the end of the universe or 2008 with it.
Sonic Power To The Rescue
A Deadlocked Door
Locked Out Of The TARDIS
Let Me In!
Oh No, You Don't! In Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords, The Doctor uses the sonic screwdriver to augment Jack’s vortex manipulator and get himself, Jack and Martha back to Earth in 2008. He then traces the hypnotic signal to the mobile phone network using the sonic screwdriver. Next it is a sonic welding tool as he creates the three perception filter keys.
Keep Still or Your Hand Will Fall Off
Checking The Phone
Carefully Does It
Don't Sneeze Until I'm Done Here, of course, we also have to mention The Master’s laser screwdriver, which is everything the sonic isn’t. It is used as a weapon to hurt and control and even kill people, and is ineffective against a Time Lord with Humanity on his side.
Who'd Have Sonic
No! It's Not Fair Finally, the sonic screwdriver is used to deactivate Jack’s vortex manipulator and stop him causing trouble in other times and places before he goes off back to Torchwood.
Can't Have You Running Around Unchecked, Jack! |
 |