Doctor Who: 10 Most Ridiculous Uses Of The Sonic Screwdriver

3. To Write Nyssa Out of the Story

Story: "Kinda" (1982) - Peter Davison Usage Rating: Letts - Need someone removed? Let's do it! Nyssa Scale: 5 - Oh, the irony.... I knew that this one was going to be on the list, but I didn't come up with the "Nyssa scale" until later. So, truly, in this case..... the full "5" rating is completely justified. To those who haven't seen "Kinda", you're missing out. It's an astonishingly character driven piece, and spotlights a companion (Tegan) in a way that arguably hadn't been done since the 60's. So in that spirit, it's sad that such an original and well-written piece also sidelines a companion in a way that screams "We have NOTHING to do with you - Go away." Nyssa is diagnosed as having been unnerved by the events of the previous adventure ("Four To Doomsday" - It was probably having to do with having heard the aborigine didgeridoo drone on the Urbankan ship several times over). The Doctor decides the best thing to do is set up a Delta wave and use it to urge her to sleep. (Mind you, Eccleston was ready to KILL EVERYTHING with a Delta Wave towards the end of his run in "The Parting of Ways", so maybe Davison really was getting sick of this whole "three kids along for the fun" deal he had going.) So, Davison rigs up the Sonic to do the deed... And removes Nyssa from the ENTIRE story. As with the previous listing, this is done so matter-of-factly that it almost beggars belief. Nyssa just.....leaves and goes to sleep. It must be said, the story's economy and setup does sit much better with just two companions for the Doctor. (The script had been kicking around since it would've been the 4th Doctor, Romana, and K-9's problem.) There's an irony here though... This is, once again, a story under the producership of John Nathan Turner. The man who saw the Sonic Screwdriver as a tool that made everything "too easy". It was only under his producership that the screwdriver solved a problem for the story's sake and flow AND also ENTIRELY removed someone from the narrative to do it. Tom Baker may have used that Screwdriver to get out of a jam now and then, but John Nathan Turner's far more guilty of abusing that device's power than Pertwee or Baker ever were.
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In a parallel universe where game shows' final jackpots and consequent fortunes depend on knowledge of obscure music trivia and Jon Pertwee/Tom Baker Doctor Who episodes, I've probably gone rich, insane, and am now a powermad despot. But happily we're not there, so I'm actually rather pleasant. Really.