How does the Sonic Screwdriver work?

[Demonland]

We often see the Doctor scan something with the Sonic Screwdriver and then he looks at it and it appears as if he is reading some kind of display which isn't actually there on the prop. Is it relaying information to him telepathically or even sonically? He seems to be able to decipher something based on the scan and it's output. But how is it relaying that information to him? Also how does the Sonic Screwdriver know whether the Doctor wants to scan something or lock or unlock something as it appears that he does the same thing each time? Is this also some kind of telepathic link that knows how the Doctor wants to use the device for a particular task?

I know it's a TV show and I know that it is often used as a plot device but I want an in-universe answer.

 

[Brent]

Yes, this is odd, and I wonder this as well with the new series. They never did anything like that IIRC on the original series. In fact, the thing really was a screwdriver with the first doctor, his demonstration of its first use was in fact to unscrew a screw with it, sonically, lol.

 

[Demonland]

Yes, this is odd, and I wonder this as well with the new series. They never did anything like that IIRC on the original series. In fact, the thing really was a screwdriver with the first doctor, his demonstration of its first use was in fact to unscrew a screw with it, sonically, lol.

I believe that was the 2nd Doctor and it was first used in his last serial The War Games.

 

[matthunter]

There's no canonical in-universe answer, but if you'll accept speculation, he's linked to it via the TARDIS - we see the TARDIS make him a new one (and the prop designers claimed to have incorporated bits of "coral" into the prop so it "looks like it grew from the TARDIS"). It would also explain why it suddenly went wonky in The Eleventh Hour, since the TARDIS was messed up.

Would also explain why Sarah-Jane had trouble using it in School Reunion - her link to the TARDIS has faded - whereas Rose was able to get it working.

 

[C.E. Evans]

If I'm not mistaken, the Tenth Doctor used his sonic screwdriver like a tricorder a few times in which he aimed it about a room (almost like a handgun, really). In that case, it might be that it vibrates a certain way to let him know where what he's looking for is like a metal detector does. The Doctor might have pre-programmed his sonic screwdriver to detect specific things and vibrate to them specifically.

I could imagine the Eleventh Doctor's sonic screwdriver doing something similar, and perhaps when it's fully deployed, the opened up "arms" act as something of an antenna for better reception or to send out a more intense signal...

 

[DWF]

Simple you point it and push the button.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

It's sonic, he's all sonic-ed up.

 

[FrankR]

I believe that was the 2nd Doctor and it was first used in his last serial The War Games.

Actually that's only partially correct, it was the 2nd doctor, but it first appeared in season 5s Furry from the Deep.
reference:
http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Fury_from_the_Deep

 

[David cgc]

I figure there's some sort of mental interface to it. In "The Doctor Dances," he tells Rose to use setting something thousand and something to repair the fence. So I figure he more or less just thinks what he wants it to do (possibly in the form of a numeric code) as he holds down the button. I guess feedback is something similar.

 

[Brent]

oops, still, the first demonstration of it was to show that it can unscrew an actual screw, heh

 

[FrankR]

oops, still, the first demonstration of it was to show that it can unscrew an actual screw, heh

True, but it was used to drill a hole in The Dominators. (I only know this because I just watched the serial last weekend)

 

[The Wormhole]

I think RTD's rule when it came to the sonic screwdriver was "it can do anything except solve the plot." It seems as though Moffat is conitnuing in that regard.

 

[Sci]

We often see the Doctor scan something with the Sonic Screwdriver and then he looks at it and it appears as if he is reading some kind of display which isn't actually there on the prop. Is it relaying information to him telepathically or even sonically? He seems to be able to decipher something based on the scan and it's output. But how is it relaying that information to him? Also how does the Sonic Screwdriver know whether the Doctor wants to scan something or lock or unlock something as it appears that he does the same thing each time? Is this also some kind of telepathic link that knows how the Doctor wants to use the device for a particular task?

I know it's a TV show and I know that it is often used as a plot device but I want an in-universe answer.

Ever since we saw the Doctor use the sonic screwdriver as a medical scanner in "The Empty Child," I've just assumed that Time Lord technology is partially controlled by telepathy, and that the screwdriver does more complex functions by communicating telepathically with the Doctor.

 

[Peter the Younger]

It does sort of stick in my craw that they turned the sonic screwdriver into the Doctor's magic wand. I would have greatly preferred it if he had some little scanner to compliment it, but then of course you run up against tricorder comparisons. I guess the best explanation is telepathic feedback, with by sound cues (pitch changes?) as a crude backup.

 

[Peter the Younger]

It does sort of stick in my craw that they turned the sonic screwdriver into the Doctor's magic wand. I would have greatly preferred it if he had some little scanner to compliment it, but then of course you run up against tricorder comparisons. I guess the best explanation is telepathic feedback, with by sound cues (pitch changes?) as a crude backup.

 

[Davros]

It reverses the polorization of the neutron flow.

 

[Jayemay]

It's sonic! It's all very... sonic.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Perhaps the just released Doctor Who Tardis Handbook will have a section on how the Sonic Screwdriver operations. The Visual Dictionary's have had diagrams on it as well.

 

[Winterwind]

I also find the "magic wand" approach rather annoying.

I'm just going with the telepathic approach for now, though he do often look at it as if it should have some display.

 

[Sketcher]

Of course knowing the Doctor he might just be pretending there's a display to look smart. Kind of like the "brainy specs".