The New Sonic Screwdriver Toy - Doctor who - The fan show

Prop! I love the Twelfth Doctor’s new sonic screwdriver. And if - like me - you’ve been itching to get your hands on one since Hell Bent, then don’t worry, the wait is over. Character Options have just released their new sonic. But how do you turn this into one of these? It’s the first sonic ever I believe, with four different modes. Mode 1, you press up. If you want mode 2, you pull back. If you then do a double tap up, you get a completely different version of the green. And if you do a double tap back, you get the blue. Is this a test version? Is that why it’s broken? This was a model and it’s now looking very unhealthy. We create the model in CAD and those are output as basically a model to get painted. And that’s exactly what this started off as. They make a second model that they don’t paint and they use that to cut the steel, to make the great big steel moulds in polycarbonate and ABS and various other things. The first time you run plastic through it, you get this which is basically a non-working version. This is an Eleventh and you can see that it’s a little bit loose, a little bit shaky so that first set of shots are engineering prototypes as they’re called. Eventually, you would actually get to this which would be a final engineering prototype and then you get your first production sample. So what they do is they take the second version of that and they paint it up like the model and they send it to me and say “does it look right?” And then you finally get to a second version of that where things are a little bit better and then finally one that’s in the packaging. Were there any big changes that you had to make in between these? On the prop when we first saw it, we all had the same issue when we were using it. It has a five position switch. So you had off in the middle and then click, click, click, click. It made it quite difficult to actually use it naturally. You don’t want to be mucking around looking at your hand. A lot of the games consoles and stuff uses a system of double taps so that’s all we did. We put a spring switch into the sonic instead so it naturally goes to neutral in the middle. It probably makes it more easy to use. I made my own sonic out of- Bring it out! Blue Peter style out of foil and cardboard. But here it is. It’s always amazing how many people do that like yourself, they literally can’t wait to get their hands on the props. Do you know, the moment it appeared on screen I was like “I have to make this” It’s a lot shorter and fatter. So it lights up if you twist it once and if you twist it twice it flashes. Did you use glue sticks? I did use glue sticks. That’s cool. I commend you for that. Thank you. And I’m not the only one who’s been busy making their own sonic. This amazingly detailed prop was made by Pierre-Jean in France. We thought it was the real thing! James made this brilliant replica from brass, stainless steel, and 3D printed elements. Nate made his lovely prop from 3D printed pieces, a mini flashlight, glow sticks and all finished off with a lick of paint. And Jimi wowed us with this sonic he made by cleverly combining the core of an old sonic screwdriver, plastic, paint and a lot of hot glue. Plus, some girl called Christel – I don’t know who she is - shows you how to make your own Twelfth Doctor sonic screwdriver in this handy step-by-step guide. And finally, if you want a close up look at the the real thing, check out this video from RubberToe Replicas – the guys who build the props in the actual show. Thanks guys for your amazing work. And if you have anything you’d like to share, email dwthefanshow@bbc.com or tweet @dwthefanshow Bye! Should we stop her? No, let her go.