Fans around the world wait patiently, skeptically, with an aching awareness that this could all be terrible, for the return of Doctor Who. It’s been a rough couple of years. The delicate kintsugi continuity of an already tenuous universe has spent the last few seasons being used as a very British racquetball.
So there’s a nugget of cautious optimism to be found in the show’s heavy-handed return to the good old days. David Tennant is back, teeth as familiar as ever. Russell T. Davies, the man who granted the series a new regeneration cycle almost 20 years ago, returns as showrunner. If the Disney co-funded future of Doctor Who has one watchword, it’s “familiar.” “Familiar” and “expensive.”
And nothing looks more familiar or expensive than the Doctor’s new sonic screwdriver. It’s a beloved corner of the show’s lore, fixing everything until it doesn’t and lighting up in ways that make you think “Man, I’d sure love to own a very spendy replica of that.” New Doctors often warrant a sonic screwdriver redesign, and in keeping with 14’s nostalgia-heavy debut, this latest take seems to be a shiny reimagining of old ideas.
TARDIS-evocative headpiece and clampy bits: 12th Doctor’s sonic
Peter Capaldi’s 12th Doctor never got the love that he deserved, even with stories like “Heaven Sent” and “The Magician’s Apprentice/The Witch’s Familiar” giving his run a commanding spread in any given “10 best episodes of Doctor Who” listicle. He had to wait a couple of seasons to get his own sonic screwdriver, rocking 11’s hand-me-downs through series 8 before ditching it for sunglasses. Following an identity crisis, he eventually nabbed a redesigned accessory at the end of series nine, with astonishingly few of the breakable moving parts that keep collectors and cosplayers coming back for seconds.
Echoes of Capaldi’s sonic can be spotted in 14’s gadget, thanks to the chrome, mechanical details, and especially the four-sided headpiece, evoking the outline of the TARDIS. Why are we describing the blinky screeching sci-fi magic wand like it’s an Otto Dix painting? Because shut up, that’s why.
Mandibles and end cap: 11th Doctor’s sonic
One of the more controversial design choices in Doctor Who’s recent years was the 11th Doctor’s sonic. Beefiness aside, it featured a set of extendable metal mandibles, which, while adding extra kinetic flare, came with an almost insect-like severity.
The idea clearly grew on fans. Nobody’s big complaint about the Moffat years is the shape of the sonic. Now, the mandibles are back, along with 11’s classic polished brass detailing on the device’s end cap.
Handle guard and extendable bits: 10th Doctor’s sonic
Probably the most instantly recognizable addition to the 14th Doctor’s sonic is the prominent cracked ceramic handle guard. It’s the same design that adorned the device used by Tennant’s 10th Doctor, made all the more easy to spot since, you know, Tennant is the one waving the thing around again. Additionally, the new sonic has that classic extendable feature that’s been missing since 12 threw his old gizmo at an evil child at the beginning of series 9.
Looking surprisingly breakable: 9th Doctor’s sonic
If you are a self-certified, typical Doctor Who zealot, you’re probably already shouting at your screen about how the 10th Doctor’s sonic was the 9th Doctor’s sonic, too. That’s true, but there’s one specific feature that the 9th Doctor’s slight variation had that 14’s seems to have, too: looking super duper breakable.
Check out the behind-the-scenes extras for Christopher Eccleston’s season of Doctor Who and you’ll find out that his sonic screwdriver was almost impossibly breakable – so much so that, according to pop culture legend, the production team switched it out for a much sturdier licensed toy replica in later seasons. It’s a quality that the new sonic looks downright lousy with, what with its half dozen or so tiny LEDs and litany of moving parts. Nice to see that the old traditions are still alive and well.
Suspiciously absent: 13th Doctor’s sonic
So here’s the kicker: With the new Doctor’s sonic calling back on so many instantly recognizable design choices from the past, it’s borderline suspicious that Jodi Whitaker’s 13th Doctor doesn’t seem to factor in at all. Her sonic, home-brewed from Sheffield steel and featuring more prominent crystals than a Shirley MacLaine home tour, was certainly a departure from the sonics of the past.
So you have to wonder: Does that allude to some larger theme? Is 13’s absence in the design a hint that her tenure, like season 11 of SNL or the year 2020, was “all a dream — a horrible, horrible dream?”
We’ll find out. Doctor Who returns this November.
