Doctor Who ?

[6Foot2]

Sonic Screw Driver is the biggest Dr Who copout. Should have remained destroyed after 'The Visitation'

 

There was one time when it was noted that it would not help:

 

[6Foot2]

I dont know about that.. I see your Sonic Screw Driver and raise you psychic paper

 

Has its limitations:

 

 

Loved that line when I first saw it.

[X-13]

Tardis Schematic [Non-Canon: Fan generated image]

 

Aladdin quote [Non-Serious: nerd generated joke]

[sonofsanta]

Caught up with this last night on iPlayer, gone through the last five episodes in the last week as I'd dropped out halfway through the season from the godawful writing. Problems stopped being solved intelligently and instead were getting trite acts of deus ex machina to resolve the plot - e.g. "look at this leaf, and all the futures it holds!" I'm a man who likes a fairy tale sort of plot as much as anyone (if not more), but it stopped being clever.

 

However, having now seen the last episode, all I can really say is

OMFG JOHN HURT AS THE DOCTOR THAT IS THE COOLEST GODDAMN THING

Probably one of the best actors they could have gotten in for the role, particularly with the storyline of regret they seem to have lined up.

 

For my money: he's a regen between McGann/Ecclestone or just an older McGann, and is indeed the incarnation who pulled the trigger on the whole Time War thing. I don't think he's the pre-Hartnell incarnation that took the TARDIS because we saw Hartnell taking it this week, and they've been dropping enough hints about the Time War again recently (with the big book and all).

 

I am also sick of the sonic screwdriver - fine if all it was used for was opening doors quickly, but it is used for everything. Some writers on the series are better than others, but some use it to do bloody everything.

[X-13]

use it to do bloody everything.

 

Which is what it was designed to do.

 

Despite being referred to as a screwdriver, it's not a single purpose tool.

Edited May 21, 2013 by X-13
How I do grammars?

[sonofsanta]

Which is what it was designed to do.

 

Despite being referred to as a screwdriver, it's not a single purpose tool.

 

In-world it may well be a multi-purpose tool capable of everything, but it doesn't change the fact it's lazy writing and a crutch used in too many episodes. It's starting to develop into the Superman problem - how do you set up an adequate threat to the Doctor when he can sonic screwdriver his way out of any situation?

[LiamH]

In-world it may well be a multi-purpose tool capable of everything, but it doesn't change the fact it's lazy writing and a crutch used in too many episodes. It's starting to develop into the Superman problem - how do you set up an adequate threat to the Doctor when he can sonic screwdriver his way out of any situation?

 

Deadlock seals's seemed to be quite common in past episodes (the evil sat nav ect)

[X-13]

In-world it may well be a multi-purpose tool capable of everything, but it doesn't change the fact it's lazy writing and a crutch used in too many episodes. It's starting to develop into the Superman problem - how do you set up an adequate threat to the Doctor when he can sonic screwdriver his way out of any situation?

 

Don't get me wrong, I agree.

 

The whole "eh muh gerd, its a screwdriver. How it scan? How it computer?" annoys me though.

 

Deadlock seals's seemed to be quite common in past episodes (the evil sat nav ect)

 

See also: Wood.

[sonofsanta]

Deadlock seals's seemed to be quite common in past episodes (the evil sat nav ect)

 

All of which have seemed as arbitrary as the screwdriver in the first place I can't think of enough specific examples to illustrate my point, but where the translation & psychic paper are hand-waving for the purposes of TV - I don't want everything subtitled, nor ten minutes of every episode spent on the Doctor justifying his presence to this week's local schmucks - the screwdriver is essentially a magic wand, in form as well as function.

 

The whole "eh muh gerd, its a screwdriver. How it scan? How it computer?" annoys me though.

 

The science of it doing anything and everything doesn't massively interest me, just say it's sonicy-wonicy instead of timey-wimey and be done with it, but it's become a bit habitual for the Doctor to pull it out in every situation and wave it around.

 

It occurs to me that similar fun could be had with Doctor Who as can be had with Harry Potter: change every mention of "sonic screwdriver" to "wang" and wait for hilarity to ensue.

[X-13]

but it's become a bit habitual for the Doctor to pull it out in every situation and wave it around.

 

Sometimes it's approptiate.

 

Mostly for the scan and explain bits.

 

1) Whip it out

2) [noise]

3) "It's blah blah blah"

4) Get on with the episode

[rich_tech]

It has become the Dr Who "Utility Belt" of Batman fame I think, too overused by far nowadays.

[Garacesh]

I do agree, Smith is using it way more than Tennant did, which was a little bit of an annoyance at first, but I guess I've just stopped caring xD

As a quick gloss-over instead of wasting 20 minutes, it's great, to the same degree as the Psychic Paper.. But there's just a little too much of it right now. It feels like he's scanning everything just because he can. Although, example of a perfect moment to use it, the standoff against Skaldac(sp?) was, imho, how it ought to be used.

Edited May 21, 2013 by Garacesh