With Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor mere months away from travelling the universe in Doctor Who series 11, we’ve been gifted a closer look at her all-new sonic screwdriver.


UPDATE: Sadly, since this article was first published concept artist Darren Fereday has removed the tweet containing the images. “Had to pull the plug on the artwork,” he explains in a new tweet, thanking those who had commented and liked the tweet.

Had to pull the plug on the artwork! Want to thank everyone who took the time to comment and who hit that like button, over a thousand hits! Love how psyched you guys are for the show and what we've done, and hope you're loving the toy. Much love x — Darren Fereday (@DarrenFereday) August 8, 2018

The rest of the original article, minus artwork images, is below.

Whittaker has already been seen wielding the new gizmo at this year’s Comic-Con, but newly released concept art for the design shows off more detail than before.

For instance, notice the battered texture – could this be another hint that the new sonic will be forged by the Doctor herself rather than given to her by the Tardis?

Also, the art reveals a button close to the golden orange tip, one that doesn’t follow the contours of the metal surrounding it.

However, what really has us excited is what we can’t see. Darren Fereday, the concept artist who released the images, said that he had kept back a shot of the sonic screwdriver seen from below, explaining that the new tool still has “some secrets to her yet”. Mysterious.

Will the new screwdriver have powers we haven’t yet seen before? Does it have something to do with its seemingly detachable lower section? Or that strange orange-yellow glow? The crystal point, perhaps?

Fellow Doctor Who crew member Richard Wells also shared a tongue-in-cheek Ikea-style instruction manual for the new design, which explains the ‘right’ way to handle the sonic.

Concept artist Fereday has been keen to share his work with Doctor Who fans since the series recently finished filming, also revealing on Twitter how he was approached to work on a “crazy” new Tardis interior design.


Doctor Who returns to BBC1 this autumn