I like Matt Smith's Doctor but I feel that upto now he is forever using his sonic screwdriver. It's like it is tied around his wrist with a string. In the Classic series you only saw the Doctor use it to open doors, a trend used by CE's Doctor. DT used it more from opening doors to a sort of weapon. Matt Smith's Doctor uses it for everything from a Star Trek tricorder to a torch to a TARDIS remote control. I much prefer the Doctor to use his grey matter than gadgets wherever possible.
Does the Eleventh Doctor use the sonic screwdriver too much ?
I've felt that the Eleventh Doctor is using the screwdriver less than the Tenth did.
As a side point I like the clumsiness and uncomfortable-ness he has when holding it and using it at time.
As a side point I like the clumsiness and uncomfortable-ness he has when holding it and using it at time.
Why spend time thinking of ways to access data in a computer or building a torch when you can use the handy gadget you already have?
He IS using his grey matter.
He IS using his grey matter.
Erm, I feel he uses it about the same as it has been used since the shows reboot. To try and claim Ten used it less is totally absurd.
You can make a case for saying it has been over used in genral post 2005, but to try and single out this Doctor as being the only one is really silly.
You can make a case for saying it has been over used in genral post 2005, but to try and single out this Doctor as being the only one is really silly.
Originally Posted by CD93:
“Why spend time thinking of ways to access data in a computer or building a torch when you can use the handy gadget you already have?
He IS using his grey matter.”
“Why spend time thinking of ways to access data in a computer or building a torch when you can use the handy gadget you already have?
He IS using his grey matter.”
Exactly...if I had a handy gadget in my pocket that performed an action in a few seconds that would normally take minutes I'd use it too.
I've never got this fuss about the 'over' use of the sonicscrewdriver.
Has never bothered me at all.
I think he used it about 5 times in Eleventh Hour (counting the old one) twice in The Beast Below Once in ViOTD 3 times in ToA 4 times in FaS (I'm only doing this on memory.
The Doctor, Last of the Timelords, the man who has saved the Universe several times over armed with nothing but his trusty old sonic screwdriver. It has a certain ring to it.
Wasn't Patrick Troughton the first Doctor to use the Sonic screwdriver, and didn't he use it as nothing more than an efficient way of screwing or unscrewing screws?
Wasn't Patrick Troughton the first Doctor to use the Sonic screwdriver, and didn't he use it as nothing more than an efficient way of screwing or unscrewing screws?
It's been used way too much since the programme came back
Wasn't that the reason it was destroyed in The Visitation, because it was such an easy cop out for writers?
Wasn't that the reason it was destroyed in The Visitation, because it was such an easy cop out for writers?
If you look at it's entry on the tardis wiki page, it pays to reat the claim of the OP that 11 uses it more than 10...and indeed 9, scroll down to mark V.
http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Sonic_screwdriver
A damn sight more than opening doors and as a sort of weapon....
http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Sonic_screwdriver
A damn sight more than opening doors and as a sort of weapon....
The Doctor's face looking at the burnt version 
Quote:
“Russell T Davies has stated that he had considered having the Master say to the Doctor "My screwdriver's bigger than yours" but thought better of it.”
“Russell T Davies has stated that he had considered having the Master say to the Doctor "My screwdriver's bigger than yours" but thought better of it.”
Originally Posted by saturns rings:
“It's been used way too much since the programme came back
Wasn't that the reason it was destroyed in The Visitation, because it was such an easy cop out for writers?”
“It's been used way too much since the programme came back
Wasn't that the reason it was destroyed in The Visitation, because it was such an easy cop out for writers?”
Argh.
Sorry, but this argument really annoys me. You are talking about a show which has 45 (well, 42) minutes to tell a complete story rather than a multi-part serial and modern audiences demand FAR more than they used to. In that circumstance the screwdriver is invaluable to the writer as a shortcut to save valuable minutes of exposition which would not only slow the story down but take time from other areas. Better still the screwdriver needs no expensive special effects, it's a bulb and a sound effect, so you don't need to spend precious money on a gizmo or effect that'll only be seen once and for a second or two at best.
Now is this a problem? Only if said shortcut is used incorrectly, the most obvious case being to defeat the big bad all on its own. As a quick example, if the Doctor had pulled out the screwdriver rather than the TARDIS power cell during the first Cybermen two-parter of the second season that would have not only been a cheat but stupid. If that had been the solution and it's established the screwdriver is more-or-less immune to running out of power he could defeat every Cyberman with ease, ergo it'd be a stupid use of that particular plot device. So let's take a look at the most recent two-parter shall we?
# To increase a signal strength. (DW: The Time of Angels)
# To scan Father Octavian's Computer. (DW: The Time of Angels)
# To open a mechanical door (unsuccessful when combating the Weeping Angels). (DW: The Time of Angels)
# Opening the entrance hatch of a space ship. (DW: Flesh and Stone)
# Isolating the lighting so that the Weeping Angels could not drain the power. (DW: Flesh and Stone)
# Redirecting all the power to the doors in order to open them. (DW: Flesh and Stone)
# Determining the nature of the cracks throughout time and space. (DW: Flesh and Stone)
# To send a signal through to Amy's communicator to help guide her to the right spot in the forest in order to teleport her. (DW: Flesh and Stone)
# Uploading software, specifically a proximity detector to Amy's communicator. (DW: Flesh and Stone)
Right... out of that lot the only MAJOR plot point that the screwdriver was used for is the nature of the crack and that was more getting valuable info to the viewer in the quickest way possible. ALL of the other instances could have been replaced with a switch, device or other solution and not affected the narrative one iota (actually, they could have used River's tablet computer thing to scan the crack too if they'd wanted). All it would have done is taken five minutes of time to setup and explain that would have meant we lost something else from the episode.
And THAT'S the point, the screwdriver only becomes a bad thing if it affects the narrative. Using it instead of a hoard of little gimcracks that come out of nowhere and vanish immediately is actually beneficial to the story and that's exactly how it's currently being used. While it's fun to see the Doctor McGuyver his way out of trouble it's neither practical or interesting to see him do so ALL the time so for those moments where you just need to move the plot along the screwdriver works far far better AND is more interesting visually to boot.
Sonic screwdriver? Surely a misnomer for the All-sonic and dancing fairy-tale-science deus-ex-machina magic wand. Maybe the Doctor should instead have a power trigger operated cannister of Cillit Bang! I find it sorts out all my woes and wants pretty instantly too and is far more plausible scientifically.
Originally Posted by ennui:
“Sonic screwdriver? Surely a misnomer for the All-sonic and dancing fairy-tale-science deus-ex-machina magic wand. Maybe the Doctor should instead have a power trigger operated cannister of Cillit Bang! I find it sorts out all my woes and wants pretty instantly too and is far more plausible scientifically.”
“Sonic screwdriver? Surely a misnomer for the All-sonic and dancing fairy-tale-science deus-ex-machina magic wand. Maybe the Doctor should instead have a power trigger operated cannister of Cillit Bang! I find it sorts out all my woes and wants pretty instantly too and is far more plausible scientifically.”
If Barry Scott beccomes the next assistant I'm switching off. I love Doctor Who, but there's only so much that I can take.
Originally Posted by 2shy2007:
“I was wondering about that, since when has the Sonic had the ability to heal skin in 3 seconds?”
“I was wondering about that, since when has the Sonic had the ability to heal skin in 3 seconds?”
well it was used as a medical scanner in The Empty Child.
But seriously, new uses for the sonic have been invented pretty much from it's inception onwards. It's hardly as though we have only seen it used for one thing for years and now new uses are being added. Read through the list linked up thread.
