Hello all. I've just had someone challenge me. I was told that in doctor who, while talking about the 11th doctor, stopped using the actual prop and started using the TOY version of the sonic screwdriver on set because it was cheaper..... What. This is false, very much so. Right????
Doctor who used a toy as a sonic Screwdriver?????
- Thread starter Kronos20
- Start date
Tom
Well-Known Member
I don't know if it's true in this particular instance, but this is a very common occurrence. In In the Raimi Spider-Man movies, they ended up using the Unobtanium Green Goblin pumpkin bomb replicas because they were so accurate to the originals and cheaper. They also used a bunch of off-the-shelf toys for the Power Rangers Operation Overdrive series. Search for the props at PropStore.com and they have some for sale, informing us that they're store-bought officially-licensed toys. Also, in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. series, they used the eFX replica Coulson badges later in the show because they were cheaper than commissioning new ones.
Tom
Well-Known Member
Ok--just talked to Lee Epperson, a huge Doctor Who prop collector. He said, "David Tennant used a toy sonic in the 50th Anniversary episode."
I hadn’t heard the toy story, but Tennant used an MFx Replicas sonic (see this thread - clarification - 10th sonic DW 50th).
Sean
Toys were used in Certain instances. When the Sonic Screwdriver blows up in Matt Smiths hand in his first episode that was a toy. The War Doctor sonic screwdriver in the 50th anniversary special was a modified toy. The sonic screwdrivers in the cup on Capaldi's desks at the college is a mixture of fan made and toys. The sonic screwdriver Nardol uses in that episode (a 5th Doctor version) is a toy. So it does happen, but the main Sonic Screwdriver has never been a toy... you're both right... kind of...
JPH
Sr Member
Um, if it was a "toy", then how come they still removed screws/opened locks?
RoccatiDaniele
New Member
I don't know if can be some useful information but the 12th Doctor's second sonic screwdriver a lot of times was the toy version. During series 10 toys were frequently used, this can be clearly seen also in the Prop Store photos of the broken sonic that went on auction last year.
Terrasolo
Sr Member
Lee is incorrect here. As masterjedi322 correctly noted, they used an MFX metal replica, not a toy. This has been confirmed by Neill Gorton of MFX, and set photos, as well as the episode itself.
In the Matt Smith and Capaldi eras a CO toy was used a few times for scenes where the sonic would be dropped, to save the real prop from damage. Episodes like in Rings of Akhaten and Deep Breath. I'm sure there was more, but the CO toy was never used for anything long term, and never became the full time prop. It was used for stunts only, and by the nature of filming, a couple close ups for those same scenes.
In The Eleventh Hour, they did not blow up a CO toy, they blew up a resin stunt prop that was made using mods from the CO 9/10 sonic prototype (which was 1:1 scale with the real prop, unlike the CO toy that was released for sale). These molds were given to the show for use in Series 2, however, they never used them in Series 2 or 3, but they were used to make stunt props during Series 4.
For Series 1-3, Mark Corduroy made stunt props himself, without the use of molds from CO. One of his stunt sonics can be seen in The Lazarus Experiment when the Doctor throws Martha the sonic.
Also, the old story that Tennant used a CO toy in The Christmas Invasion is false. He very clearly uses the Wide Slider Aztec.
And as others have noted, some fan made and official replicas, as well as CO toys appeared in Series 10 on Capaldi's desk, and even Nardole used a CO 5th Doctor sonic. And the War Doctor's sonic was made from a CO 4th Doctor sonic.
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