Doctor Who Eve Of The Daleks: 10 Huge Questions After The New Year Special
8. When Did The Doctor Ever Defeat Daleks With The Sonic?
When she first meets the Dalek, the Doctor confidently
declares she can jam its weaponry with the sonic screwdriver, something she and
the Dalek agree she has done before. The Daleks have now learnt to deal with
this potential weakness. But has the Doctor’s eccentric little gadget, once a
symbol of peace, ever been so effective against Dalekanium? Has it ever been
able to kill a Dalek?
The sonic screwdriver has been waved around more than ever during Chibnall’s time as showrunner. Indeed, the only time we’ve seen the sonic used to jam Dalek weaponry is in Resolution. The War Doctor and the Tenth and Eleventh Doctor destroy a Dalek inside the Gallifrey Falls painting with the combined force of three sonic screwdrivers, but nowhere else has it been so effective against the armoured mutants, at least on screen.
Even after the Daleks have learnt to defend themselves against
the sonic, it still plays a vital role in helping the Doctor defeat them once
again. The Doctor uses it to bounce human life signals off walls, something she
calls ‘sonic ventriloquism’. Next time they come back for the Doctor, they’ll
have found an answer to that piece of sonic trickery, no doubt. But it might
just be time for another rest for the overused gadget. That and the old psychic
paper while we’re at it. Now there’s a challenge for you, Russell…