Opposable Thumbs / Gaming & Entertainment

It only does everything: Ars reviews the sonic screwdriver

Who doesn't need a sonic screwdriver? The applications are limitless, the …

Captain Jack: "Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks, 'Oooh, this could be a little more sonic?'"

The Doctor: "What, you've never been bored? Never had a long night? Never had a lot of cabinets to put up?

The quote above comes from the Dr. Who episode "The Doctor Dances," and it neatly sums up the fun of the sonic screwdriver. It's not an item, it's a plot device that does anything and everything the story requires. It can hack a computer, open a door, and cure wounds. On one memorable occasion it repaired barbed wire. When I began watching the new seasons of Dr. Who with my son, it quickly became apparent that we had to have one for the house. After a bit of searching, we settled on this model, because it did cool things.

The real Sonic Screwdriver is immensely powerful. So how does the toy stack up?

There really is a bit of magic in here

When I was a kid I loved toy lightsabers and blasters from Star Wars, but those were just weapons, and what fun is that once playtime is over? The sonic screwdriver is basically everything. It's a toy that completely unlocks the imagination, even if the most it really does is light up and make the noise from the TV show. By sliding the button up and down you can extend the tip, and the top lights up with a blue light. It takes three of the small, disc-shaped batteries that are always too expensive in the shops.

Sonic Screwdriver

But it does move, and it does light up, and it does make a neat sound. For children, that makes it Serious Business. It does things, and it can get things done. If you fiddle with it and have a serious look on your face, they'll take the journey with you. If your kid falls down and skins their knee, you frown, wave the Screwdriver over it, and they'll feel better. It's a flashlight for when they're scared in their room. Ask them to use it to turn on the television when you're hiding the remote control in your hand to really blow their minds.

As the embedded video also reveals, you can add a tip that writes in invisible ink, and the blue light at the top of the screwdriver will reveal the hidden writing. My son is just insane for anything that lets him send and reveal secret messages, so the Doctor Who connection is icing on the cake, or perhaps the cake underneath all that icing.

While the toy is plastic, it's worth noting that the original prop used on set was significantly smaller than the sonic screwdriver seen now, and was prone to breakage. The producers of the show were so impressed by the design and size of this toy, they used that mold to create a new, larger screwdriver to give to David Tennant. In other words, the toy version is a 1:1 replica of what you see on the screen, down to every detail except the finish.

For $25 or so this is a relatively inexpensive piece of equipment, the secret writing feature is bound to be a hit, and it's worth the look on the faces of other fans when something goes wrong and you whip out your sonic screwdriver to fix it. In reality the toy does not do much, but in your imagination? It does everything.

It's... sonic

Also, if you're here to say the design with the silly clamps is better, you can get the heck out of my comments.

Expand full story

You must to comment.