Am I going crazy or would it be a good idea to stick a 'Gadgets' thread at the bottom of the Companions: Original Series section? The sonic screwdriver has been a good and faithful Companion to ALL the Doctors except One and Six (both of whom should quite possibly be barred from full Doctorhood on the grounds that they DIDN'T have a sonic, not to mention their general unpleasantness). And it's certainly evolved over the years, from humble screw-removing tool to bloody PSYCHIC magic wand. (Alright, it's failed to exhibit much of a personality along the way, but then neither did Dodo Chaplet.) And then there's the psychic paper, and Hartnell's magic ring, and Matt's monster-identifying machine, and suchlike...

Sure, that would be interesting. The Doctor has also improvised many devices that would fit the category quite well. Can K9 be considered a gadget?

He certainly IS a gadget, albeit one with his own section so we can't discuss him here. Which is fair enough - UNIT has its own section AND plenty of separate threads for its more important members.

So why didn't Five build himself a new sonic as soon as the Terileptils blew up his 'old friend'? 'You went hands-free, didn't you? I can save the universe with a kettle and a piece of string and look at me, I'm wearing a vegetable!' is a great description of what happened, but not exactly an explanation. Least of all for why Colin never got round to it either, OR McCoy until shortly before he died. (Well, it could have been ANY time between Survival and the telemovie, but I don't remember any of the millions of books and audios covering this period mentioning it.) Whereas McGann built himself a sonic suitcase out of some atavistic urge even when he was amnesiac.

Didn't Six have a sonic lance, like the sonic screwdriver but bigger? Seven fiddled with Ace's radio, so it could detect spaceships, but that's not quite the same.

I'd say Five didn't replace the same the screwdriver for the same reason as he didn't clone Adric: a replacement just wouldn't be the same as the real thing. Of course, one as rather less personality than the other, but people can get sentimental over goldfish.

On the wider topic, there are a handful of gadgets the Doctor uses repeatedly, like the screwdriver and the ring, and then there are the one-off creations, like the 'Time Monster' contraption, which tend to be rather more bizarre. We're a lot more likely to see Bessie crop up in the new series than we are any of the one-offs.

Nor is the Doctor the only one who uses gadgets. There's the Master's TCE, and assorted other weird devices, though spaceships and transmats probably don't quite count as gadgets.

Didn't Six have a sonic lance, like the sonic screwdriver but bigger?

Ah yes, so he does:

http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Sonic_lance

In what way was having a stupid sonic lance BETTER THAN A SONIC SCREWDRIVER? It borders perilously on the Master's 'Laser screwdriver - who'd have sonic!' territory.

I'd say Five didn't replace the same the screwdriver for the same reason as he didn't clone Adric: a replacement just wouldn't be the same as the real thing.

Come on! Five, like ALL Old Who Doctors, was TOTALLY British-stiff-upper-lipped compared to blubbing snogging emotive Docs 9-11. If Ten could wipe the tragic look off his face, toss his poor melted sonic over his shoulder and rush off to get a new one the moment he'd saved Earth...if Eleven could not even bother with the tragic look but give a chirpy 'Thanks dear' as the TARDIS promptly grew him a replacement...why couldn't Five build/buy/beg/borrow/steal himself a new screwdriver? I mean, there's frequently A UNIVERSE or at least A PLANET at stake, and that sonic is vital. VITAL, I tell you!

And by the way, I suspect that the REAL reason he didn't clone Adders was that he was scared it WOULD be too much like the real thing...

And five minutes after the poor dear hero went splat, the Doc was suggesting they all have a nice holiday to cheer themselves up so really, the mourning period for A SCREWDRIVER should have been EVEN BRIEFER...

We're a lot more likely to see Bessie crop up in the new series than we are any of the one-offs.

Yeah, I'm in no hurry to see that tea-leaved contraption again, but where the hell is Bessie?? Maybe THAT was why the Doc was so rude to Mace and the whole of UNIT - he was expecting them to proudly wheel out his car, a la Battlefield. And they just couldn't be bothered.

Nor is the Doctor the only one who uses gadgets. There's the Master's TCE

Ah, yes. There's definitely a story as to how he managed to miniaturise himself while messing around to allegedly make the deady weapon even more deadly...

spaceships and transmats probably don't quite count as gadgets.

Have hastily looked up the definition on-line. It says 'A gadget is a small, unique-use mechanical or electronic device'. Well, the word 'small' is open to interpretation. Any spaceship's interior is SERIOUSLY small compared to the TARDIS's.

The sonic is hardly "unique use." It's more like the swiss army knife of gadgets.

I'm pretty sure that Three had several different gadgets, but people (including later writers) assumed they were all the sonic screwdriver, which is why the real sonic acquired its swiss army knife abilities.

The sonic is hardly "unique use." It's more like the swiss army knife of gadgets.

Oh. Yeah. Well, it sort of started off unique use and then, um, evolved or regenerated or something.

OK, I'm not sounding very convcincing. It would be nice if someone could think of a better word for this section. Something that would cover the Scarf as well. After all, it's probably the most faithful Companion apart from the TARDIS, and I'd love to discuss why the HELL Tom went from defending it with his LIFE in Androids of Tara to trying to get it arrested for murder in Leisure Hive. (Well, maybe he just didn't appreciate the boring maroon way it had regenerated.)

'Accessories'? That would look a bit odd in a Companions section, but then aren't they ALL (as Axis of Insanity put it) accessories for the busy Time Lord about town?

I'm pretty sure that Three had several different gadgets, but people (including later writers) assumed they were all the sonic screwdriver, which is why the real sonic acquired its swiss army knife abilities.

Oh! That would explain a lot.

It would be nice if someone could think of a better word for this section. Something that would cover the Scarf as well.

'Device' maybe?

Accesories for me. Would also include cat pins and celery sticks.

Accessories doesn't real fit larger items, like Bessie. The scarf and the celery are inseparable from their Doctors, so can be best discussed on their section.

I'd say, keep this section for recurring gadgets - the screwdriver, Bessie, the TCE - and stick another somewhere for technology, where we can talk about all the assorted transmats, space ship, ray guns, and a myriad unique devices, and the possible science behind all of them, and links between them.

Work on the Sonic Screwdriver continues.

How about "Gimme Some Spock"?

DWM: 'Once the Doctor starts to encourage the cult of his own mystery by wearing question marks on his lapels...the effect is to reduce the mystery drastically. There's nothing eccentric or enigmatic about artificially cultivating a sense of one's own eccentricity. Clothes, in this case, are in danger of unmaking the man.'

Good point. Of course, as far as clothing's concerned, a few question-marks don't utterly destroy a Doctor from his first moment the way THAT COAT does...

"Gadjets, gizmos and devices" has a nice ring to it.

Well, I'm trying out Accessories at the moment to see how it looks. The Cat Badge isn't really a gadget, gizmo or device, and I'd like to discuss how totally I FAILED TO NOTICE it (thanks to THAT COAT) when it MIGHT have gone a small way towards redeeming Colin in my eyes (at least until he tried to EAT a cat in Two Docs). Plus - did the badge regenerate in between stories or did the Sixth Doctor pin a new one on EVERY TIME he went out to face the universe? And if he was THAT keen on cats, why didn't he just...get one?

"Accessories"? Sounds like a trendy scarf or new earrings.

An appropriate description of ALL the Doc's pals...

Ha! Sarah sets the sonic screwdriver to 'theta omega' in Android Invasion. So how come she acts in School Reunion as if it only had ONE setting in the Good Old Days?

According to DWM, Bessie has her own 'jaunty theme'! Bless! I better plenty of OTHER Old Who Companions didn't...

EMILY in New Series: Season One: The End of the World: The psychic paper 'shows them whatever I want them to see' - and yet often (Idiot's Lantern springs to mind) it seems to show what THEY are thinking of.

The security guard was thinking he might run into the King of Belgium?

OK, when you put it like THAT it seems unlikely, but the Doctor DEFINITELY looked surprised on learning who he was supposed to be. Maybe the psychic paper has a mind, and a sense of humour, of its own. After all, it DID go on strike when Matt claimed he was universally known as a responsible adult...

'Same screwdriver - same software, different case' - Day of the Doctor. How true is that? After all, Ten got one blown up (Smith and Jones). Eleven got one blown up (Eleventh Hour) and left one with River (Last Night/Silence in the Library).

And in any case, since when has the sonic been able to DRIVE BACK DALEKS? (And we're talking PROPER, New Who, bronze darlings, NOT suicidal Death to the Daleks piles of patheticness or anything.)

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2012-04-19/scientists-invent-real-doctor-who-sonic-screwdriver

Ah, but can it put up cabinets...?

Although younger viewers will be more familiar with Doctor Who's sonic screwdriver as a tool for unlocking doors and repairing electronic equipment, episodes from the classic series have seen it used as a medical scanner.

Haven't they got that backwards?

Of course, a working tricorder was made around 20 years ago, but who's keeping score. ;-)

Although younger viewers will be more familiar with Doctor Who's sonic screwdriver as a tool for unlocking doors and repairing electronic equipment, episodes from the classic series have seen it used as a medical scanner.

Haven't they got that backwards?

My god, why didn't I NOTICE that!

OK, I know exactly why. Cos I think of Old Who as Old Who and New Who as 'Classic, all-time classic, only for this have the generations of my fathers lived' etc etc (though for how much longer is a moot point)...

Should Capaldi be seen driving Bessie?

Oh. YES.

As long as they don't change the numberplate to WHO 12.

DWM: 'There's a throwaway suggestion [in Time Monster] that Bessie might be similarly "alive". The Doctor has souped the sprightly yellow roadster up with so much Time Lord technology, perhaps it has developed a consciousness of its own, too' - in which case, how did the poor darling cope with being mothballed all those years...?

'The Doctor's groovy new gadget was surely a shoo-in to be top of every Christmas list come December, especially after a memorably dramatic debut in which the Doctor uses it to vanquish a fearsome enemy in a titanic struggle to the death. Just kidding – he uses it to open the valve on a gas outlet pipe. Still though – sonic, eh?' - Space Helmet for a Cow.

Bessie is 'often wrongly referred to as a roadster' - what d'you MEAN, she's not a roadster! OF COURSE she's a sprightly yellow Edwardian roadster! This is my ENTIRE CHILDHOOD you're messing with, Sunshine!

'I'm over screwdrivers. They spoil the line of your jacket. These days I’m all about wearable technology.' - TRAITOR!

Peter Capaldi: 'I think those fans of the sonic screwdriver should not fret. Fear not. Don't lose any sleep.' - TOO LATE! Sleep has ALREADY been lost! You BETRAYED the Sacred Screwdriver! And even after your stupid shades got snapped in half, you went and built another pair! That's not just a flirtation, that's an extra-marital affair! What next, a new TARDIS?

Um, what I MEANT to say is...excellent news!

How about we just get rid of both sonic screwdriver AND sunglasses. Both are ridiculous.

If we got rid of everything ridiculous from Doctor Who we'd hardly have anything left!

He can keep the guitar....

Bessie is 'often wrongly referred to as a roadster' - what d'you MEAN, she's not a roadster! OF COURSE she's a sprightly yellow Edwardian roadster! This is my ENTIRE CHILDHOOD you're messing with, Sunshine!

Ah. DWM claims that the Oxford English Dictionary defines a 'roadster' as a two-seater.

Well, Terrance Dicks has single-handedly redefined that word and the OED will just have swallow it the way they did 'Dalek' and suchlike.

Sonic Screwdriver makes it into the dictionary

What took them so long?

Has the Doctor ever put out a fire with a sonic screwdriver?

Lit a fire, yes, put one out...not that I remember.

'Swiss Army sonic, now with added Sheffield steel!'

JODIE! can't remember WHO SHE IS but can remember EVERYTHING about her sonic screwdriver - to the extent of being able to make a new one from SPOONS?

I knew it was an integral part of the Doc's identity but even I didn't realise it was THE most integral part...

It's either an evolutionary advantage, or part of whatever Rassilon did to Gallifreyan DNA, but it makes sense that retaining complex technical skills would be a higher priority than personal information... especially when your entire personality has just be re-written, anyway.

Maybe it's like those people that suffer a head injury, have massive amnesia, but can still play concert-level piano or whatever? Those memories are in different parts of the brain.

Although that doesn't explain why Capaldi couldn't remember how to fly the Tardis (too busy complaining about his kidneys?)

Time Lords who aren't the Doctor don't seem to go through ANY of this nonsense when regenerating (see: the General, Romana, the Master) so I'm not sure Rassilon would have bothered ensuring that technical skills took precedence over personal info for the tragic minority who are just rubbish at it.

TARDIS Eruditorum:

'The idea that the sonic screwdriver encourages lazy scriptwriting...[is] bewildering...it seems to suggest...that the purpose of Doctor Who is to watch the Doctor do clever things with locks. If anything, the sonic screwdriver discouraged lazy scriptwriting because it made it harder to justify putting the Doctor in an endless sequence of captures and escapes' - Dammit I KNEW JNT murdered that sonic in vain...

Don't worry, RTD brought it back.

Russell T God brought a LOT of things back, Worship Him!, but oh the wasted years before He did...

Wasted years?

Yeah, 16 of them

it was comparable to being stuck in France for that long (The Hawk: Fifteen years in France teaches a man to hate! Fifteen years of eating frogs! Fifteen years of wearing perfume! Fifteen years of saying perdon!)

DWM: 'The first sonic was created for 1968's Fury from the Deep, but...when it came ot the location filming "the actual prop was left behind at the BBC, so the whistle from a life jacket was used instead"' - ARE YOU ••••••• KIDDING ME! What a diastrous start for Our Hero's second-most-faithful Companion...

Personally I think Bessie's hidden away in the TARDIS.

According to UNIT: Assembled, the Brig left her to Benton.

But then I don't really believe a word of the UNIT audios.

The End of the World: The psychic paper 'shows them whatever I want them to see' - and yet often (Idiot's Lantern springs to mind) it seems to show what THEY are thinking of.

The security guard was thinking he might run into the King of Belgium?

Well, Dalek Universe: The House of Kingdom has the following exchange when the Doctor whips out the psychic paper:

ANYA KINGDOM: Grand High Prince of Skaro?
DOCTOR: Ooh, your imagination works in strange ways.
MARK SEVEN: What are you talking about? It says 'The Doctor'.
DOCTOR: And your imagination could do with some work.

So definitely what the viewer not the Doctor is thinking...Also, if the psychic paper can't be bothered to be consistent when two people are looking at it at once, how the hell does it get AWAY with it?

Skaro has a Grand High Prince!?

Since when??

It most certainly does NOT, and if it DID it sure as hell wouldn't be the Doctor. It's just what Space Security Agent Anya Kingdom saw when she looked at the psychic paper. Which, as the Doctor pointed out, makes her a real weirdo. (And seriously - it's shortly after Masterplan. No one's gonna give a citizen of SKARO unrestricted access to whatever they want...(Unless humans conquered it for a while and settled there and set up a MONARCHY??) so the paper's being rather weird too. Probably got carried away after the success of that King of Belgium stuff.)

Maybe the psychic paper has a mind, and a sense of humour, of its own

Yup. The Witchfinders novelisation: 'The ways of the paper were mysterious, but sometimes it played a blinder.'

So definitely what the viewer not the Doctor is thinking...

Yeah, it also specifically mentions the paper 'channelling the seventeenth century prejudices that James beamed out.'

Maybe the psychic paper has a mind...of its own...definitely what the viewer not the Doctor is thinking...

Yup. Out of Time: The Gates of Hell:

SOME FRENCH GUY OR OTHER: Commander... Fleming?

TENTH DOCTOR: Mmmmm, ah, yup, apparently, that's what it says!

Maybe the psychic paper has a mind...of its own...definitely what the viewer not the Doctor is thinking...

Except in Empty Child when it's very definitely what the misfortunate-person-flashing-the-paper is thinking...

JACK: Captain Jack Harkness, One Three Three Squadron, Royal Air Force. American volunteer.
(He hands her his ID card.)
ROSE: Liar. This is psychic paper. It tells me whatever you want it to tell me.
JACK: How do you know?
ROSE: Two things. One, I have a friend who uses this all the time.
JACK: Ah.
ROSE: And two, you just handed me a piece of paper telling me you're single and you work out.
JACK: Tricky thing, psychic paper.
ROSE: Yeah. Can't let your mind wander when you're handing it over.
(She gives it back.)
JACK: Oh, you sort of have a boyfriend called Mickey Smith but you consider yourself to be footloose and fancy free.
ROSE: What?
JACK: Actually, the word you use is available.
ROSE: No way.
JACK: And another one, very.

Psychic paper would be great fun in a family reunion.

Maybe the psychic paper has a mind...of its own...definitely what the viewer not the Doctor is thinking...

Except in Empty Child

Well, for what it's worth, Darksmith Legacy confirms that the psychic paper 'would show the man something he was expecting to see, something that would explain why the Doctor was here.'

And it's certainly evolved over the years, from humble screw-removing tool to bloody PSYCHIC magic wand.

Never mind the bizarre revelation that the sonic's psychic, what about the bizarre revelation that the sonic's voice-activated??

(Deep Breath:

CLARA: You should make that thing voice-activated. Oh, for God's sake, it is, isn't it?
DOCTOR: I don't want to talk about it.)

Re the psychic paper: So definitely what the viewer not the Doctor is thinking...

Yup, Flux backs this up:

JERICHO: The Institute of Psychic Investigation?
DOCTOR: Looks like it. Interesting.

Should this thread be in the Companions section? I can understand the TARDIS being here, since it's sentient. But the other stuff?

'The other stuff' is some of Our Hero's most faithful Companions!

And don't tell me the sonic screwdriver doesn't have more character AND popularity than, say, Mel Bush...

Even a Philips screwdriver does.

The End of the World: The psychic paper 'shows them whatever I want them to see' - and yet often (Idiot's Lantern springs to mind) it seems to show what THEY are thinking of.

The Resurrection Casket: 'It was a blank sheet of slightly psychic paper tuned so that it showed people whatever the Doctor wanted them to see' - at last! A clear explanation!

Later in The Resurrection Casket: 'It shows you what I want you to see. Or in this case, what you expected to see. Probably that's cheating' - *sigh*

The End of the World: The psychic paper 'shows them whatever I want them to see' - and yet often (Idiot's Lantern springs to mind) it seems to show what THEY are thinking of.

Back to Earth: Station to Station: Nine whips out the psychic paper, proclaiming 'John Smith, Railway Inspector.' Saffron: 'It says you're scared and there's something wrong with this place' - aha! So it DOES show you what you and/or the other person feels, not you want it to!

'My psychic paper's misbehaving' - *sigh* OK, FINE, not conclusive then...

JODIE! can't remember WHO SHE IS but can remember EVERYTHING about her sonic screwdriver - to the extent of being able to make a new one from SPOONS?

I knew it was an integral part of the Doc's identity but even I didn't realise it was THE most integral part...

Oh, integral isn't IN it. Adventuress of Henrietta Street:

The sonic is one of the things the Doctor's dividing up in his will 'that were of symbolic value as if they were parts of his own flesh.'

'All the horror, the affection, the heartbreak, the trust, the mistrust and the importance that [the sonic screwdriver] represented' - BLIMEY.

The End of the World: The psychic paper 'shows them whatever I want them to see' - and yet often (Idiot's Lantern springs to mind) it seems to show what THEY are thinking of.

Yup. Sword of the Chevalier: 'He saw what he wanted to see, I'm such an idiot' - the Doctor when the psychic paper proclaims him the country's most famous tenor.

OMG the new sonic screwdriver has its own little film...

...I mean, it's a nice screwdriver and all, but NCUTI GATWA didn't get his own little film...

I mean, it's a nice screwdriver and all, but NCUTI GATWA didn't get his own little film

Exactly!
Another case of the fauxteenth Doctor hogging Ncuti's limelight again! Also I don't like the screwdriver - it looks too much like a deliberate mashup of the 10th/11th doctor versions. Like thart build-your-own-sonic toy. More ham-fisted nostalgia-bait.. besides (much like on Matt Smith's version) what are those claws even for?

I like the knurled knobs, and the general steampunk look of it.

the fauxteenth Doctor

*Wince* Hadn't heard THAT one before.

No doubt you will be issuing a full apology to our beloved Fourteenth Doctor once he's had a few episodes. (Well, three anyway.)

*Wince* Hadn't heard THAT one before.

I kid!.... mostly. It's just that, after the sadness of Jodie's dearture, I had my excitement for Ncuti rudely curtailed by a double-whammy of Repeat T Davies and Deja-vu Tennant*, and the inevitable tsunami of Jodie haters using it as 'proof' that Jodie/Chibnall/women Doctors (including the fugitive) had 'failed' or 'ruined the show' and RTD was here like Jesus to raise the corpse of Who from the dead - i.e. return it to white men. Eg, I've noted that there's a slight (but noticeable) increase in people admitting to liking the current Tardis since RTD kept it and it can no longer be hated as purely Chibnall's fault. I think that's why I hoped that Tennant would be using Jodie's sonic, to see how many hypocrites wanted it now they didn't have to risk being accused of cosplaying/liking 'the girl Doctor'.

I'm just being a little cynical (and occasionally deliberately contrarian when confronted with people who still haven't fallen in love with the 13th Doctor). I AM excited to see Donna, and Wilf! But after seeing 13 with Ace and Tegan I can't help but wish Donna had got to see her!


*still kidding, but I can't resist a pun.

"...deliberately contrarian when confronted with people who still haven't fallen in love with the 13th Doctor."
Why? A certain person here hasn't 'fallen in love' with the Sixth Doctor and never will, so why should anybody feel compelled to like the same Doctor(s) as you or I? Episodes have been watched, judgments have been made, and a second viewing isn't going to improve the stories or companions.
I've been there and I don't stress about it anymore. Your enjoyment shouldn't be based on BBC viewership ratings, just your own satisfaction.

after the sadness of Jodie's dearture, I had my excitement for Ncuti rudely curtailed by a double-whammy of Repeat T Davies and Deja-vu Tennant

Best. Rude. Interruption. EVER.

and the inevitable tsunami of Jodie haters using it as 'proof' that Jodie/Chibnall/women Doctors (including the fugitive) had 'failed' or 'ruined the show' and RTD was here like Jesus to raise the corpse of Who from the dead

Russell T God was TOTALLY here like Jesus to raise the corpse of Who from the dead, even to those of us who love, worship and adore JODIE! n'Jo.

I've noted that there's a slight (but noticeable) increase in people admitting to liking the current Tardis since RTD kept it and it can no longer be hated as purely Chibnall's fault

WOW. That is...telling.

I think that's why I hoped that Tennant would be using Jodie's sonic, to see how many hypocrites wanted it now they didn't have to risk being accused of cosplaying/liking 'the girl Doctor'

By the sound of it...might be better if we DON'T get to put a number on it.

I can't remember - was the sonic fine at the end of Power? I really hope Tennant doesn't get to symbolically DESTROY it before getting his new one...

I'm just being a little cynical (and occasionally deliberately contrarian when confronted with people who still haven't fallen in love with the 13th Doctor).

MORE than fair enough.

A certain person here hasn't 'fallen in love' with the Sixth Doctor and never will, so why should anybody feel compelled to like the same Doctor(s) as you or I?

I guess it's the suspicion (or, in the cases of many Fans, the FACT) that JODIE! is less-loved owing to her XX chromosomes. Which is just so depressingly stupid.

I myself have had my moments - mercifully few and far between - when I blasphemously felt that maybe JODIE! was coming across as another bland blond Davison even as she was desperately trying to be an adorable, crazily fast-talking Tennant, so of course if anyone feels that way x1000 that's their prerogative and their loss. But there's simply no way they could come up with any reason to hate her the way I have good reasons to hate Old Sixie.

Well, unless you're bearing a grudge about that whole misfortunate WIPING OUT THE UNIVERSE thing...

Episodes have been watched, judgments have been made, and a second viewing isn't going to improve the stories or companions

A second viewing FREQUENTLY improves stories or Companions. Or, if not the second, the fifth or tenth...

Your enjoyment shouldn't be based on BBC viewership ratings, just your own satisfaction.

There's no way I'm EVER gonna look at rubbish-viewing-figures and NOT start foaming at the mouth with a) panic that Who will be cancelled and b) the desire to genocide the Unbelievers.

"A second viewing FREQUENTLY improves stories..."

Unfortunately NOTHING is going to change my mind about episodes like 'The Dominators', 'The Horns of Nimon', 'Mindwarp', 'Love and Monsters', and 'Orphan 55', for various reasons.

Oh, well OBVIOUSLY not Dominators, Mindwarp or Orphan 55 (I mean, I've only seen Orphan 55 three times but I'd put a LOT of money on it), but Horns can be fun if you're in the right mood (i.e. really drunk) and Love & Monsters is a JOY once you realise you're in for something rather...untraditional.

Steve, I moved your last post to the Love & Monsters section.

The Star Beast:

I know we've been saying this since New Who first blessed us with its presence, but the sonic screwdriver is getting ridiculous. Though if it's been upgraded to THIS insane extent I completely fail to see why it hasn't been upgraded to deal with deadlocks. Also, why it can no longer shatter glass like it did in Army of Ghosts...

OK, that's one weird-looking sonic, but - awwww! - 'My favourite thing about the sonic is this message that is written in Gallifreyan symbols and it is a Rwandan proverb. It translates to "the sharpness of the tongue defeats the sharpness of the warrior."'

It translates to "the sharpness of the tongue defeats the sharpness of the warrior.

I don't know if anyone has told Ncuti and the production team yet, but it rather embarrassingly doesn't.
They've apparently used a fan-made Gallifreyan script, and omitted/misplaced a few lines/circles which cause it to read: "the tatpnes fo the tongue bifeets the tatpnes fo the wariots"
https://www.reddit.com/r/gallifreyan/comments/18f1p7x/comment/kcscbpo/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

BLESS!

Why on Earth is Fourteen CHEATING on the sonic with the non-sonic variety (Wild Blue Yonder)?

'It hates being interrupted' - Eleven re the sonic screwdriver in Rebellion on Treasure Island. When did he start anthropomorphising the thing...

Maybe the psychic paper has a mind...of its own...definitely what the viewer not the Doctor is thinking...

Except in Empty Child when it's very definitely what the misfortunate-person-flashing-the-paper is thinking...

Well, chalk up another vote for the viewer in The Ten Days of Christmas:

'As Celia led the way along the corridor, the Doctor looked down at the psychic imprint that SHE [my caps] had left on the paper.'

Which Doctor Who Gadget Do You Need?

I'm EXTREMELY gratified to announce that I need the TARDIS.

Quiz - However, in whatever incarnation, the Doctor always has a few tricks and gadgets up their sleeves.

Really?
1st - a ring
2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11 - a sonic screwdriver
4 - K-9
9, 10, 11, 12, 13 - psychic paper
12 - sonic glasses

Very few tricks and gadgets, it seems.

2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11 - a sonic screwdriver

Aren't you forgetting 7 (by the time of his death anyway), 12, 13, 14, 15...? (Admittedly by 15's time the claim that thing's a 'screwdriver' is looking...dubious.)

9, 10, 11, 12, 13 - psychic paper

Also, Season 6B Second Doctor (World Game PDA).

Also, Fourteen:

DOCTOR: Oh, I know some roads even the taxi drivers don't. Trust me. (psychic paper) Grand Master of the Knowledge.
SHAUN: That says Grand Mistress.
DOCTOR: Oh, catch up.

Very few tricks and gadgets, it seems.

There's Six's laser...lance...thing (or something).

And as for tricks, there's transmigration of object (Ambassadors of Death, Greatest Show in the Galaxy) and super-speed (or, um, whatever-the-hell Eccy was doing with those fans in End of the World), and escapology (every Doctor ever waffling on at embarrassing length about Harry sodding Houdini) and Venusian Aikido (Three and Thirteen).

I am shocked, SHOCKED I TELL YOU, that a prime gadget was not mentioned!

4 - THE SCARF! He didn't always just wear it, and it's last act was to trip the Master. Too bad HE didn't fall from that radio telescope!

7 - His umbrella. Not utilized as a gadget very often, but he did use it some times.

2. Those cards from 'The War Games' that he used to contact the Time Lords would be considered a 'gadget' or 'trick'.

Apparently, I also need the TARDIS.

Emily - Aren't you forgetting 7 (by the time of his death anyway)

I remember very little of the TV movie. I thought the sonic was destroyed during 5's run and we didn't see one again until 9.

I think 6 only used the lance in one story, although I did consider his beautiful coat. ;-)

And then 3 in The Time Monster made up somekinda wine bottle and tea mobile that somehow messed up the Master's time experiments. ;-)

I am shocked, SHOCKED I TELL YOU, that a prime gadget was not mentioned!

4 - THE SCARF!

I of course mention the Sacred Scarf in the Gadgets synopsis.

7 - His umbrella. Not utilized as a gadget very often, but he did use it some times.

And it's even shooting drugged darts in Atom Bomb Blues! *Shudder*

I remember very little of the TV movie.

Ooh, time for a rewatch you lucky lucky person!

I did consider his beautiful coat.

Which beautiful coat would THAT be.

The colorful one, of course. :-D

I know you don't want to believe it, but I am one of the few people who likes Colin's coat. So loud and garish, it fits the Doctor's persona so well.

Two gadgets I forgot about, both used by 3 (although one was used by 4 & 7 that I remember).

Bessie.

The Whomobile.

I know you don't want to believe it, but I am one of the few people who likes Colin's coat

It's not so much that I don't want to believe it (though obviously I don't want to believe it), it's just that if I ever DO believe it, my mind will burn, and I will die.