RTD Wanted Sonic Screwdriver Changed Because He Was Worried It “Looked Too Much Like A Gun” Before

Ncuti Gatwa’s Sonic Screwdriver is easily the most radical redesign of the Doctor’s favourite gadget yet, with some fans likening it more to a remote control.

It now turns out there was an interesting reason for its distinct look. According to an article in Rolling Stone, Russell T Davies was concerned that the classic sonic fans all know and love resembled a gun too much.

Here’s the main extract from the article:

The Doctor’s trusty sonic screwdriver has been redesigned to resemble a remote control or a flip phone because Davies was worried that the old Sonic looked too much like a gun, potentially encouraging kids to pretend to shoot at one another.

As we can see, there is no direct quote from Davies, so we’ll have to take the article’s word for it for now, but it appears he was quite serious. And it wouldn’t be the first time this new era has seen a controversial change from him for curious reasons.