Doctor Who: 10 Worst Twelfth Doctor Moments
9. Those Blasted Sonic Sunglasses
Starting in series nine, The Doctor replaced his iconic sonic screwdriver with what he referred to as “wearable technology” in the form of a pair of regular looking black sunglasses. These sonic sunglasses worked similarly to the screwdriver, with a few added bells and whistles to justify this downgrade.
One of the most noticeable problems with the glasses was that, unlike the screwdriver, their effects weren’t visible. Doctor Who is ordinarily a visual program that has always drawn attention to its colorful sci-fi/fantasy moments. Also, unlike the screwdriver they weren’t exclusive used by The Doctor, making them far less special. Clara, Ashildr and Osgood all donned the specs during the limited number of episodes in which they appeared.
In series 10, the glasses committed their greatest sin. After the events in Oxygen rendered The Doctor blind, instead of having him deal with the extent of losing one’s vision, he popped on his magic glasses, thus cheapening the experience. While they didn’t restore his vision, the tech provided him with enough guidance to dramatically lessen the full extent of his blindness. Sadly, if the writers had allowed The Doctor to go 100% blind, the sheer vulnerability of such a powerful character could've made the Monk Trilogy a much stronger arc.