Tom Baker Sonic Screwdriver SHOCKING EVIDENCE!

[Straker]

Except for the fact that the screen shot you've posted seems to ME to show the silver bullet and the red/maroon emitter ring, with the black magnet. Closeups from the scene where it's destroyed also showed the red ring, If I Remember Correctly.

That is indeed a red bullet but the typically black magnet looks red to me and the halo is also red. These differences are why TLP usually say there have been many variations to the sonic over the years.

 

[Jack T Chance]

You might be right, I may be seeing that wrong. I have watched most of the Baker series in fast forward over a period of four hours, that can not be good :lol

Okay, the destruction scene... of course, this is the injection-molded plastic replica, packed with SFX explosives. But one assumes it was painted to match the real hero prop...

Silver bullet, red ring, black magnet.

That is indeed a red bullet but the typically black magnet looks red to me and the halo is also red. These differences are why TLP usually say there have been many variations to the sonic over the years.

Well, according to several sources, most notably series Producer John Nathan Turner, there was only the one prop (not counting the exploding SFX dummy above.) What's very obvious to all of us is that it was refitted numerous times over the years. Paint added, paint stripped away, the emitter head revamped and/or replaced. There are stories of Tom Baker constantly damaging the thing on set, especially the emitter head, so I imagine they had to replace that piece frequently!

Of course, I'm just rehashing stuff that you probably already knew. :$

 

[SgtFang]

Has anyone tried sending the Thunderbird pics around to vintage tool dealers/ collectors in the UK to see if anyone can identify it?

That's how I found the Armitage Shanks Handwheels years ago.

-Sarge

 

[Straker]

Okay, the destruction scene... of course, this is the injection-molded plastic replica, packed with SFX explosives. But one assumes it was painted to match the real hero prop...

Silver bullet, red ring, black magnet. Well, according to several sources, most notably series Producer John Nathan Turner, there was only the one prop (not counting the exploding SFX dummy above.) What's very obvious to all of us is that it was refitted numerous times over the years. Paint added, paint stripped away, the emitter head revamped and/or replaced. There are stories of Tom Baker constantly damaging the thing on set, especially the emitter head, so I imagine they had to replace that piece frequently!

Of course, I'm just rehashing stuff that you probably already knew. :$

Sorry, I just noticed I said it was a red bullet in that picture and I in fact meant to say silver XP sorry folks, brain fhart!

I meant the emitter magnet thingie was red in that picture and even the one that explodes looks red to me. But yes, we've gone over it all before, but we'll go over it again and again if we have to till we figure this thing out once and for all! XD

 

[Straker]

Has anyone tried sending the Thunderbird pics around to vintage tool dealers/ collectors in the UK to see if anyone can identify it?

That's how I found the Armitage Shanks Handwheels years ago.

-Sarge

That's not a bad idea. Anyone in the UK willing to give that a try to some of the older tool shops? If you do, only show the Thunderbirds pic and don't mention Doctor Who or Sonic screwrivers. XD

 

[Asp9mm]

I think we can rule out the screwdriver theory. On all the screwdrivers - static, traditional, automatic, push and electric, there is always a knurled part for grip when turning the body, or attaching the heads. This prop has nothing and is totally smooth, which is something a screwdriver certainly wouldn't be.

So to recap. The only thing we are 100% sure of is the emitter head rear being a magnet :lol

Straker, I know what you mean about the slot not being visible on the base unit because of the angle of the picture, but the recessed ring is not visible either, and that runs all the way around. This suggests to me that it is a covering.

Blimey, I'm coming to the conclusion that this age old ID'ing problem is a grail quest.

 

[Straker]

I think we can rule out the screwdriver theory. On all the screwdrivers - static, traditional, automatic, push and electric, there is always a knurled part for grip when turning the body, or attaching the heads. This prop has nothing and is totally smooth, which is something a screwdriver certainly wouldn't be.

So to recap. The only thing we are 100% sure of is the emitter head rear being a magnet :lol

Straker, I know what you mean about the slot not being visible on the base unit because of the angle of the picture, but the recessed ring is not visible either, and that runs all the way around. This suggests to me that it is a covering.

Blimey, I'm coming to the conclusion that this age old ID'ing problem is a grail quest.

sucks too because whenever we have a theory, we can usually come up with a reason for why it isn't that. XD

 

[greatwazoo42]

This is turning into a fantastic read. Thanks gang.

 

[Ectropy]

I contacted Mat Irvine, formerly of the BBC Visual Effects Department, in an attempt to obtain more info on the classic sonic screwdriver.

Mat produced many props and models for Doctor Who, the most famous of which is K-9. Most recently, he has been operating the K-9 prop for the new Doctor Who and Sarah Jane Adventures series. Interviews with Mat can be found on several classic Doctor Who DVDs.

Some details of what has been discovered so far about the prop were shared, and I asked Mat if he could fill in any more details. I also asked his permission to post this info here on RPF.

Here is his response:

Hi [ectropy]

Sorry, I'm probably not going to be of much use here. The only contact I recall ever really having with that particular incarnation of the Sonic Screwdriver, was (I think?) during the Pertwee era. Then, as one of the new Assistants in the Visual Effects Department, I added a button magnet (as you surmise) to the top. (Presumably as The Doctor has to pick up something ferrous - though at this stage, don't ask me what!) Apart from that, although the SS was part of the standard equipment we would have taken into any Who studio, that was about it. I can't recall any other modifications done to it, I certainly didn't do - or oversee - any more. You have to remember that - at that time - none of us worked on 'all' Whos, it was purely another programme that the VisFX dealt with. You tended to get allocated your 'fair share' of them, but that was it. (OK, different today when you would - as a freelancer - usually be bought in to work over at least a season.)

Items were indeed bought from when Century 21 ceased business, (though I had nothing to do with this - it was done before I arrived there, though probably only 'just'?), including a lot of 'background' models. Some of which did appear in later Whos, the Draconian spaceship in The Frontier in Space is one that I know definitely WAS ex-C.21. (And virtually un- modified I recall?)

However - whether the basis of the SS also originated from there, that I am far less certain? Frankly I don't think it did - I think it was made 'from scratch' in the Department - although OK I fully admit I could be wrong? Possible Ian may remember, but we have the slight difficult in that he now lives in Bulgaria, and doesn't have email! (Well didn't as of recent attempts at contact.) I *may* have to contact him via snail- mail at some time in the near future, (about something else completely), so could ask him then - but I can't give you a time-scale for this.

Another point to remember is that these are 'working props', and changes are made all the time. A director wants 'this feature added', so it is - the fact that it was never there before, well....
I have this problem, (if it is as such), with K-9 where changes, some subtle, others not so, came and went all the time. It drives 'perfectionist' collectors / builders of replicas, mad, but sorry, that's the situation!

Cheers

PS - said I wasn't really going to be of any help....


mat

This confirms Jack T Chance's button magnet theory [post=1038305][LINK][/post], but I still believe that the prop originated from the Thunderbirds movie.

 

[Asp9mm]

I find that the problem you get with finding out infomation from so long ago is that people have forgotten and sometimes give out incorrect information based on some fuzzy memory.

You have to remember that this episode in someones life was as unimportant in their day to day work, as the trivial tasks we perform day to day, and that it would have been forgotten one week later. I have spoken to two peole that worked on a prop in the recent Casino Royale film and got very different stories, and they both worked on it at the same time. It just is not important enough to them to remember such a thing.

 

[Jamanticus]

I think we can rule out the screwdriver theory. On all the screwdrivers - static, traditional, automatic, push and electric, there is always a knurled part for grip when turning the body, or attaching the heads. This prop has nothing and is totally smooth, which is something a screwdriver certainly wouldn't be.

So to recap. The only thing we are 100% sure of is the emitter head rear being a magnet :lol

Straker, I know what you mean about the slot not being visible on the base unit because of the angle of the picture, but the recessed ring is not visible either, and that runs all the way around. This suggests to me that it is a covering.

Blimey, I'm coming to the conclusion that this age old ID'ing problem is a grail quest.

Where do you get the 'totally smooth' part?

There is definite texture on the Thunderbirds prop on the rear half of the handle, although like you say, that has a good probability of being tape added to cover the slit. The cylinder just before the spiraling appears to have a series of vertical grooves running through it, although that could just be the lighting.

I can't tell anything from the Who screencaps about whether those features are still present though. Not very good at this attention to detail stuff yet.

EDIT: Not that I'm trying to say that it's a screwdriver or not. Just wanted to see whether there are or are not textures that could be used as grips on the prop.

 

[mobius303]

Wasn't there a scene in Genisis of the Daleks that had a Magnify glass with a handle that looked like the sonic sitting on a table next to the actual sonic?

I am off to watch that episode now.

I like the thread and am watching with much interest.

 

[greatwazoo42]

Now wouldn't it be a kick in the lederhosen if someone actually came forward as OWNING that sonic that came from the Thunderbirds prop and was willing to share pictures.

 

[Jack T Chance]

Now wouldn't it be a kick in the lederhosen if someone actually came forward as OWNING that sonic that came from the Thunderbirds prop and was willing to share pictures.

Yes, it would! And I'm sure the authorities would LOVE to speak to that person, seeing as they own STOLEN PROPERTY!!

The original prop was nicked from John Nathan Turner's personal collection 20 years ago, or more, and has never been seen since. Seems to me that whoever owns it now, they KNOW they own stolen property, and are laying really low as a result.

 

[greatwazoo42]

...and if it weren't such a national treasure, well to us at least, I'm sure they'd come out since the statute of limitations should have run out by now.

 

[Jack T Chance]

...and if it weren't such a national treasure, well to us at least, I'm sure they'd come out since the statute of limitations should have run out by now.

True. But there's no statute of limitations on FANBOY NERD RAGE! :angry

Seriously, as soon as the identity of the culprit was revealed, that person would probably be faced, in very short order, with an angry mob of Doctor Who fans ready to lynch him!

 

[Asp9mm]

True. But there's no statute of limitations on FANBOY NERD RAGE! :angry

Seriously, as soon as the identity of the culprit was revealed, that person would probably be faced, in very short order, with an angry mob of Doctor Who fans ready to lynch him!

And that is why I'll never ow... I mean, and that's why we'll never know

It a great thread though, so many views.

 

[OB10]

Re: Tom Baker Sonic Screwdriver - FOUND!

i remember when someone found a grenade at a gunshow that was kind of similar to obi's handgrip, it wasnt the exact model....but was close enough. so people started searching and low and behold what did we find?

well we found it, quite quickly actually with everyone on the lookout for that particular item.....

so to flat out dismiss this line of thought due to your interpretation of what it looks like compared to the picture of one particular model....that just seems....i dont know...

Awe, you're talking about me again! :$ I love when people do that! :lol

(Yeah, I know it's an old post. That's the tricky bit with being a time traveler!)

 

[Asp9mm]

Looking over these pictures, the licenced classic sonic looks pretty good to me. Has anyone bought it who can comment? I'm sorely tempted, and the display is great.

 

[Ectropy]

Looking over these pictures, the licenced classic sonic looks pretty good to me. Has anyone bought it who can comment? I'm sorely tempted, and the display is great.

I have both the Sixteen 12 sonic and one from Russ' recent group buy. I'm planning to take some side-by-side photos and posting here this weekend.