I'm a fan of Capaldi's short-lived sonic screwdriver. Great list. What I'd like to see next for the sonic screwdriver is for actually to do wood but a specific type; one that's super rare or found only on one planet.

The shot of Ten "shooting a laser beam" at the Cybermen from 'The Age of Steel' wasn't the sonic screwdriver, it was the recharging TARDIS power crystal. 🤦

Hold on just a minute. The Cybermen did try wood. However, the 11th(ish) Doctor tricked that Cyberman into self-destructing even though the sonic screwdriver doesn't work on wood.

I'm surprised that Romana's sonic screwdriver wasn't mentioned. Correct me if I am wrong, but I remember it being more advanced than what the doctor had at the time.

Interestingly, the screwdriver is literally anything but a weapon. It does basically everything apart from attack things. As River once said: River: "What are you doing?" Doctor: "I'm helping!" River: "You've got a screwdriver go build a cabinet!" Doctor: "That's really rude!" If the screwdriver really was a weapon it wouldn't be used by more pacifist doctors like Tennant and Capaldi. And instead each version of the screwdriver reflects the personality of the Doctor it belongs to. 9 and 10's being minimalist and rustic, like scrap thrown together. 11's being large and showy, 12's being futuristic and academic (hence the marker) and later becoming epic sunglasses (don't dis the shades) when 12 is blind and slowly deteriorating into a sort of unhinged depression. And then 13's being practical and multipurpose "like a sonic Swiss army knife only without the knife. Only idiots carry knives." Again, not a weapon. I think Tennant sums it up best in "Doomsday": "It doesn't wound, it doesn't kill, it doesn't maim. That's why I like it. But I'll tell you what it does do. It is very good... at opening doors."

They explained the wood thing in the 50th special. It was about the time it took to match the frequency resonance or something like that. Thats why the war doctor scanned it, the 10th was still processing and the 11th was able to do it. Obvs it wasnt locked anyway but still. It makes more sense that it can do it but it takes so long its unusable than the lack of communication with the trees having anything to do with it. Especially as that episode decided that trees DO communicate...

was not expecting the Thunderbirds to be in this. Fair play

Surely if Ace was to get a Sonic device, it would have to be slightly larger than a screwdriver, say more baseball bat sized.

Hey love the videos, I think the Sonic isn't a weapon and I'm gonna use a line from the 10th doctor in Doomsday to tell you why..... "Doesn't kill doesn't Wound doesn't maim, but ill tell you what it DOES do, it is very good at opening doors". In my opinion the sonic doesn't do any of that so its not a weapon. Its a tool to aid in my eyes 😊

i'm really very sorry to interrupt our programming, but Ellie doing Thunderbirds was just too cute for words..

Ellie, not only do I have the Thunderbirds theme stuck in my head it's actually my ringtone! 🤯🚀

Is the sonic a weapon? Welp, in the words of the 10th Doctor,”Oh, yes. Harmless is just a word. That’s why I like it. Doesn’t kill, doesn’t wound, doesn’t maim.”

I've been a Thunderbirds fan since I was a kid in the 60s as well as a Doctor Who fan. A few years ago my wife found me a 3rd Doctor's screwdriver for Christmas. Now I know why there was something familiar about it.

Awww love that the sonic is related to the TARDIS, so cute and love your "urhhhs" in this 😅

According to the “War Doctor” he say in the 50th Anniversary special “why are you pointing your screwdrivers like that, it’s a scientific instrument not a weapon.” Or something to that effect. So it’s a SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT 😊😊😊

"the sonic has always maintained the same basic design" well THAT didn't age well did it

Loved Sarah jane's sonic lippy (actually had the set with the watch as a kid) also not mad at having thunderbirds are go go round my brain as i love that song especally as it pays hommage to the puppet version of thunderbirds (as did the live action film as puppets were used for some close up shots )

A wonderful episode featuring the erudite elegant and effervescent Ellie Littlechild 😁

Young me loved the 2000s thunderbird movie and that song, haven't thought about it in so long

Ace should have a Sonic baseball bat.

4:44 i love the round things

Always love your lists!

One thing you forgot to mention is that the sonic screwdriver is one part of a larger, standard, TARDIS maintenance and repair kit (ref. A Doctor Who Technical Manual from the early 1980’s).

I think Ellie was having a bit too much fun with this one. Can’t say I blame her, though. TOYS! TOYS! TOYS! What’s you fav. Screwdriver? I would guess River’s for her. 4 or 11/12 for me.

The Sonic didn’t open the TARDIS doors from the outside not because they were manually locked with the mechanism shown in the clip you used, but because the doors were *deadlocked* from the TARDIS console. I don’t know if this is a thing with the editor using the wrong clips, because it also happened when it was stated thr screwdriver could shoot lasers, and the clip showed something that was NOT the screwdriver.

I assumed that the 9th and 10th doctor's sonic worked through settings because in "The Doctor Dances" the doctor gave the sonic to Rose and told her a setting, which she did by extending it a specific amount. After "Let's kill Hitler" I just assumed that the Doctor's screwdriver was updated with new technology when he got this new one. Also, side note, 13th's sonic doesn't seem like it has a psychic interface because of how cobbled together it feels and the fact she only had human technology with a bit of Stenza tech but I don't see a way to change the settings on it.

A "weapon" is defined as something intended to cause bodily harm or physical damage, and the Doctor has explicitly stated it's not for that purpose - he even says "Harmless is just the word: that's why I like it! Doesn't kill, doesn't wound, doesn't maim." It's not a weapon, it's a tool.

The sonic screwdriver a weapon? Well, a regular screwdriver is not intended as a weapon, but can be used as one. I think the same goes for the sonic screwdriver.

I want to point out, the 11ths had a psychic interface, the visual dictionary says 9-10s has gallifreyan circuitry which makes a dial or some similar adjusting device where small movements can make a huge change, hence why 9 tells Rose to use setting 1412B (or some such number) to reattach the barbed wire

About enemies not creating vast wooden armies to defeat the Doctor... I know it's not an army per say, but isn't this exactly what the Cybermen did to try and sneak past Trenzalore's defences in Twice Upon A Time? :)

1. Do we count the “sonic baton” used by the conductor during Doctor Who Night at the BBC Proms? 2. My head canon: the First Doctor did have a sonic screwdriver as seen in “An Unearthly Child.” (You didn’t think he was using a penlight to find the Tardis door keyhole, did you?) 3. The vulnerability to wood: Since I’m a comics nerd, i’m always reminded of the Golden Age Green Lantern, whose power ring also couldn’t affect wood. 4. I *love* the idea that Pertwee’s Sonic has a Thunderbirds connection!

according to the Doctor Dances, the SS has a twisty number setting with specific numbers performing different unique functions.

Ellie, Fantastic Pod!

Yes, it’s also a weapon. It’s in the name; screwdriver. As a tool, it can make/remove, assist with tasks, and indirectly kill too. I personally always like 9/10’s sonic the best as both design and an example to being the true definition of its small-term usefulness and deadlines.

"STOP IT" Omg Ellie hahaaaaa!!! Great video. Forgot Romana's sonic though.

0:10 actually it wasn't the screwdriver iin this episode, il was the thing that gave the TARDIS enough power to leave the parallel planet (2x05 and 2x06)

The fact that the real "sonic screwdriver" was designed for Doctors to use is just icing on the cake!

My favourite was when the 3 Doctors were locked in the Tower of London, when they realized they were technically all carrying the same Sonic. So they used the time that had passed in their lifetimes to run a programme to figure out how to unlock the door... ...which they hadn't even checked, to see if it was locked, as Clara asked disbelievingly! I wonder what the new "desktop" is going to look like?

A weapon? "What are you going to do, assemble a cabinet at them?"

I appreciate the Busted shoutout

"Pays homage to just about every single previous version of the prop" *goes on to list the whopping amount of two previous versions* XD

Just noticed that the new 14th Doctor's sonic screwdriver has a similar build to River Song's sonic trowel. Coincidence?

Is the sonic screwdriver a weapon? IMO, its a tool that can be used as a weapon. A regular screwdriver, used to turn screw, can be used as a weapon. Similarly, a hammer. And thank you, Ellie, for "Stop it!" Best laugh Ive had today! : )

Loved Capaldi’s sonic sunglasses

From what I remember the tenth doctor firing at the cyberman in the cyberman episodes, that wasn't the sonic screwdriver, that was something to do with the tardis's power thing

No. The sonic is not a weapon. It is a tool, designed to assist. A perfect fit for a man with two hearts, who travels around in a living machine, that has “for help and assistance ” written on the outside…. This is paraphrased from something Moffat once said, and I consider it to be the only useful thing he contributed to the show during his time as show runner.

“Doesn’t sound doesn’t kill doesn’t maim” not a weapon

3:02 Guy with a degree in Theoretical Physics here, with some personal headcanon about The Doctor's magic wand. What is "sonic"? Sound, right? What is sound? Pressure waves. What are waves? Oscillations. What are oscillations? Back and forth movements. Literal wibbly-wobbly! At a quantum level, _everything_ is wibbly-wobbly, oscillating, waving. So if the sonic screwdriver can emit, stimulate, resonate with, and detect quantum oscillations, then it can interact with matter and energy at the quantum level. So it can detect the quantum states of the semiconductors in computers, it can resonate concrete, it can set up vibrational modes in screws. The psychic interface means you point and think, and it feeds back to your brain as if you'd seen, heard, or smelled the information.

I'm surprised that there wasn't a mention of Romana II's Sonic Screwdriver, which was featured in "Horns of Nimon" way back in the Classic era's 17th season.

5:01 in the words of the war doctor “they are screwdrivers not instruments of war, what are you going to do?! Assemble a cabinet at them?!!”

I know there's a bunch of comments here but I hope you see this. Also I know this is the wrong video but it's your most recent. Why is no one talking about how Donna won the lottery? In her final moment on screen the doctor gives her a lottery ticket as a wedding present. Donna states it's a triple rollover. I know it doesn't say she won but it really would be a bad present if she didn't. Anyway I hope RTD addresses this. Thanks

The sonic used in the classic series was destroyed by Tereleptils in the story "The Visitation", because producer John Nathan-Turner thought it was being over used and wanted the writers to find other ways to get the Doctor out of trouble. So the Sixth and Seventh Doctors didn't have one. It's interesting that Seven was going to make one for Ace. I had never heard that. In Larry Niven's Tales of Known Space series of books, police use "sonic stunners" to knock out criminal suspects. Sometimes these are equipped on drones, or mounted on walls near gates. I always wondered if the sonic screwdriver had that capability. Romulans

5:03 Anything can be used as a weapon if used with the intent to harm. I recommend not dwelling on that thought for too long, though, as it can take you to some pretty dark places. On the flip side, for similar oddly similar reasons, anything can be used as a musical instrument. That you _can_ dwell on for as long as you like, and that takes you to some really cool places!

The subtext of a man in a box cruising the universe and picking up women and wielding his sonic screwdriver needs to be mentioned.

I had made the same mistake before thinking it was the sonic screwdriver that the Doctor used in the Age of Steel to fire the beam at the Cybermen. No, it's a Tardis power cell. It's the same device he used previously to store regenerative energy to begin the charging process so the Tardis could get back to their universe. The sonic screwdriver never fires an energy beam out of it. It's always only sound.

To your question 'is the sonic screwdriver a weapon?'-The sonic is a tool, but tools can be used as weapons

Ha! Your plan has been foiled, Ellie. I don't know what that Busted song sounds like, so it's not stuck in my head. And you would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for the fact that I don't know any music from those pesky kids.

It really REALLY needs to open deadlock seals

Imagine a sonic screwdriver made out of wood. But it still doesn't work with wood 😂

Wouldn't we all love to hear The Doctor say, "Sonic Knickers!"?!?

At this point I’ve stopped calling the device the "Sonic Screwdriver" and privately been dubbing it the "Muguffin Multi-tool".

Little attention to detail, Tennant holds the Sonic like Pertwee when he locks the Tardis in Utopia trying to stop the Master before the cliffhanger.

the sunglasses were why i dipped as a fan lmfaoooo

Of course The Doctor would argue that the Sonic is not a weapon, but that's like arguing that a hatchet isn't a weapon because you don't use it that way. It's all perception.

"They're scientific instruments, not water pistols" according to one learned expert in the field

trees do communicate though, all plants do

Love the shades

Hi Elle I love your videos. To answer your question. Is a sonic screwdriver a weapon? A normal screwdriver is definitely a weapon I asked chat GPT for a few examples and it was able to give four below, so on the basis that anything can become a weapon if used as one, including an ordinary sheet of paper and a pen being mightier than the sword. A sonic is definitely a weapon, but mostly just a tool. In 2015, a man in Chicago was charged with first-degree murder for allegedly killing his roommate with a screwdriver during a dispute. In 2017, a man in the United Kingdom was convicted of murdering his partner by stabbing her multiple times with a screwdriver. In 2018, a woman in California was arrested and charged with murder for allegedly using a screwdriver to kill her husband. In 2020, a man in India was accused of fatally stabbing his coworker with a screwdriver during an altercation.

A sonic screwdriver is no more a weapon than an analog screwdriver.

I don't know if you make this comparison in the video, but it makes me think of KNIGHT RIDER's K.I.T.T.'s ability to unlock doors & manipulate radio-signals etc. Maybe KNIGHT RIDER is a 'prequel' to Doctor Who?

we need an episode of the dolphin series about the tardis

I really like how it was established that the Doctor's sonic screwdriver doesn't work on wood, but they released a toy called the Trans-Temporal Sonic Screwdriver that had a get this, a "wood" setting.

I liked the sonic glasses because they made sense. They acted as a HUD for the info the sonic picked up.

The Sonic is as much a weapon as hairspray or oil on their own. But, combine it with something else and it could definitely do some damage.

I have to chuckle when people object "it doesn't work on wood!" when the sonic is used on a wooden door/window, because doors and windows usually have locks made of metal inside them. There's no reason, therefore, why the sonic screwdriver couldn't be used to unlock a wooden door/window on that basis.

No, the sonic was never used to cook a turkey. LOL!

Sonic screwdriver aren't weapons, I would call them simply a tool. 10th outright said 'Doesn't kill, Doesn't wound, doesn't maim, doesn't harm'

I can be used as a weapon. In the 50th they used it against the Daleks, in Fall of the Doctor it was used against the Cybermen and it was also used as a sonic counter during Matt Smiths era. You'd have to imagine that anything based on sonic technology could have destructive possibilities. And the Doctor has even treated it like one before as they did when 10 and 11 came face to face with the War Doctor.

I would say no because war doctor once said here we go at the pointing again. They're scientific instruments, not water pistols, which would technically indicate weapons a little bit of a stab in the dark, but hey.

Explicitly not a weapon, it’s a tool. Like a normal screwdriver, it can be USED as a weapon, but it’s a tool. Also, where’s Romana’s screwdriver here?

Should we start pitching episode titles for if the sonic screwdriver has the whole energy shoved into a human body thing to it like the tardis did

A sonic screwdrivers could be used as a weapon much in the same way a normal screwdriver could be used as a weapon

I liked the sonic glasses

My head canon is that the Sonic outsources some of its processing capabilities to the TARDIS and they're basically tethered to some extent. Would be neat to see that explored more!

The sonic screwdriver sounds a whole lot like the Green Lantern ring

We have the same name! Hey Ellie!

Is the sonic a weapon? Nah! The War Doctor kinda pointed that out with "What are you going to do, build a cabinet against them?" And didn't River point out while fighting The Silence, "You've got a screwdriver!" Besides, the Doctor shuns weapons. Cheers....

You forgot Romana made her own sonic screwdriver and Nyssa made her own also

Remember the wooden cyberman? Can’t remember exactly what happened but didn’t the Doctor just upgrade the screwdriver to work on wood?

It's a weapon in the same way a stick is a weapon. Sure, you can smack it against something, but it has far more other uses than just that.

definatly a tool, that like manny tools in history can double as a weapon (think wood axe, pitch fork, meat cleaver, sledge hammer) can be a realy dangerous tool

I think Captain Jack's sonic blaster would count as a variation.

Honestly if one of his enemies did manage to make an army of wood to fight him It'd have to be fireproof wood, cause I could totally see the doctor just creating a flame thrower Wood still burns

Did you know that the sonic screwdriver was actually part of the TARDIS standard tool kit? according to the BBC printed manual that I had as a kid in the late 70s the TARDIS's all came with a standard toolkit which included a sonic screwdriver, amongst other nice tools). This book would have been written during John Pertwee's time by which time the sonic had become cannon in the Doctor Who world.

Why am I now tempted to make a sonic trowel? It's not even the sonic device in question.

4:42 and the best part yet: it _does not_ resemble a marital aid!

My Sonic Screwdriver (11th's model) is also a Screwdriver with bits inside.

THE SONIC SUNGLASSES ARE FANTASTIC!!!!! 🥲🥹

What about Iris Wildthyme's sonic corkscrew from the extended media?

Sometimes it's a little over used, but it can be fun.