Actually, I can see Roddenberry doing this. "Hey guys, write this into the script! We can market it as a toy! I'll sell it along with those IDIC medallions!"
Captain Kirk and the....sonic screwdriver?!
- Thread starter Severance
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Actually, I can see Roddenberry doing this. "Hey guys, write this into the script! We can market it as a toy! I'll sell it along with those IDIC medallions!"
There is no "screwdriver-like device" in "Assignment: Earth." There is a pen-like device that puts people to sleep, works as a communicator, sensor, and remote control, and reputedly has a kill setting. At no point does it drive screws.
And the pen/servo was part of the original A:E pilot proposal written in November 1966 -- sixteen months before the sonic screwdriver first appeared in Doctor Who. Once and for all, the idea that Gary Seven's servo was based on the sonic screwdriver is totally, profoundly wrong.
And the pen/servo was part of the original A:E pilot proposal written in November 1966 -- sixteen months before the sonic screwdriver first appeared in Doctor Who. Once and for all, the idea that Gary Seven's servo was based on the sonic screwdriver is totally, profoundly wrong.
Well, let's see...
DCOTOR WHO at the time of TOS would be personified by the "second doctor" (played by Patrick Troughton, the flute player). Did Troughton's version of the Doctor really use the sonic screwdriver thingy that much? I have never been exposed to any DW eps from that era (1966-69, so his era coincides with TOS).
@ CRA: I'm sorry to say that "The Doctor and the Enterprise" didn't tickle my fancy. The author's portrayal of Tom Baker was pretty good, but the Starfleet characters didn't come across as authentic. It was like the whole thing was a parody of TOS from within a DW serial. I would say that if someone were to make another try at a fanfic hybid of the two franchises, they would have to do a better balancing act between how each franchise presents itself. TOS tends to be more of a naval or nautical action-adventure drama, while DW, what I've seen of it, is framed very differently. It's all about schemes and clashing personalities. DW is more based on fantasy. (To see what I mean, try watching "The Three Doctors" and "The Five Doctors". Both bring these points across pretty clearly.) A fanfic would have to devise a way to bridge the two different approaches in order to speak with either one's voice at a given time.
It would probably be easier than other fanfic attempts, like "the Empire (STAR WARS) versus the Borg". I suppose you could say that if the Doctor could have a relationship with U.N.I.T. in the 1980's, he could just as easily have interacted with the Starfleet (maybe Section 31?) in the 22nd through the 24th centuries. Part of the plot would have to be exploring the relationship between the Time Lords and Starfleet. Why would they contact each other? What would each party accomplish? If a fanfic writer answered that, it might make more sense.
DCOTOR WHO at the time of TOS would be personified by the "second doctor" (played by Patrick Troughton, the flute player). Did Troughton's version of the Doctor really use the sonic screwdriver thingy that much? I have never been exposed to any DW eps from that era (1966-69, so his era coincides with TOS).
@ CRA: I'm sorry to say that "The Doctor and the Enterprise" didn't tickle my fancy. The author's portrayal of Tom Baker was pretty good, but the Starfleet characters didn't come across as authentic. It was like the whole thing was a parody of TOS from within a DW serial. I would say that if someone were to make another try at a fanfic hybid of the two franchises, they would have to do a better balancing act between how each franchise presents itself. TOS tends to be more of a naval or nautical action-adventure drama, while DW, what I've seen of it, is framed very differently. It's all about schemes and clashing personalities. DW is more based on fantasy. (To see what I mean, try watching "The Three Doctors" and "The Five Doctors". Both bring these points across pretty clearly.) A fanfic would have to devise a way to bridge the two different approaches in order to speak with either one's voice at a given time.
It would probably be easier than other fanfic attempts, like "the Empire (STAR WARS) versus the Borg". I suppose you could say that if the Doctor could have a relationship with U.N.I.T. in the 1980's, he could just as easily have interacted with the Starfleet (maybe Section 31?) in the 22nd through the 24th centuries. Part of the plot would have to be exploring the relationship between the Time Lords and Starfleet. Why would they contact each other? What would each party accomplish? If a fanfic writer answered that, it might make more sense.
Except, as already stated, they didn't have satellite TV back then, so Americans wouldn't have seen a British show at the time it came out. To the best of my knowledge, American audiences didn't see any of the Troughton episodes until at least the late 1980s. I think there were some local broadcasts of Pertwee and Tom Baker episodes in New York and the vicinity in the '70s, but nationwide PBS distribution of the series began in the early '80s with the Tom Baker run and continued forward through Peter Davison and (maybe) Colin Baker before finally looping back to Hartnell, Troughton, and Pertwee (and then continuing to cycle through, eventually adding the later Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy seasons as they became available). And of course at the time there were only five surviving Troughton serials ("Tomb of the Cybermen" hadn't been recovered yet).
Bottom line, it's been proven six ways from Sunday that there's no possible way there's any connection between Gary Seven's servo and the sonic screwdriver. The servo was conceived well before the sonic screwdriver was introduced, it had far more functions than the SS had until later seasons, and the makers of near-simultaneous television productions on opposite sides of the Atlantic would've had no way of knowing about each other's creations, let alone copying them. Everything about this notion is ignorant and wrong. It's astonishing how many different kinds of thoroughgoing wrongness are combined in this single idea.
Okay Christopher, we get ya loud and clear. The question is, should we continue with the direction the thread has taken, about a fanfic rewrite of "Assignment: Earth." involving Doctor Who in place of Gary 7, or keep obsessing about whether or not there was cross fertilization between the two series? Guess it's up to the OP and the Mods?
I have no problem with the former, although I'd think that would belong in the fanfic forum. As for the latter, I don't see any point in continuing to speculate about something that's already been proven wrong and impossible in every particular. It's not even a "whether or not" question; it's simply a "not." So it would be a waste of time to resurrect a thoroughly disproven "whether."
The sonic screwdriver was featured in only three Troughton adventures, "Fury from the Deep," "The Dominators," and "The War Games." In those episodes, it was used only to drive screws, open doors and hatches, and in one case as a cutting torch to cut through a wall. At the time, it wasn't a special prop, just a simple penlight. So it wasn't a major feature of the Troughton era. It didn't really become the trademark implement we know, or gain a broader range of functions, until the Third Doctor's era.
Which makes sense when you think about it, because the Third Doctor was far more gadget-oriented than the Second. Troughton was more of a feckless cosmic tramp whose preferred response to danger was running away, followed by outsmarting it. Jon Pertwee was more of a man of action and brought a certain James Bond flavor to the series, with lots of high-tech gadgets. So the sonic screwdriver fits into the Pertwee era more readily than the Troughton era.
Which is part of what I've been saying all along -- that people who see Gary Seven's servo as similar to the contemporaneous sonic screwdriver are projecting anachronistic traits onto the latter device, qualities it didn't acquire until years, even decades later. The sonic screwdriver of 1968-9 was quite dull and unimpressive compared to Gary's servo. I doubt it would've stood out in anyone's mind as something worthy of imitation.
Which makes sense when you think about it, because the Third Doctor was far more gadget-oriented than the Second. Troughton was more of a feckless cosmic tramp whose preferred response to danger was running away, followed by outsmarting it. Jon Pertwee was more of a man of action and brought a certain James Bond flavor to the series, with lots of high-tech gadgets. So the sonic screwdriver fits into the Pertwee era more readily than the Troughton era.
Which is part of what I've been saying all along -- that people who see Gary Seven's servo as similar to the contemporaneous sonic screwdriver are projecting anachronistic traits onto the latter device, qualities it didn't acquire until years, even decades later. The sonic screwdriver of 1968-9 was quite dull and unimpressive compared to Gary's servo. I doubt it would've stood out in anyone's mind as something worthy of imitation.
I'm no authority DOCTOR WHO, but if I understand what I've seen from the Baker years correctly (90% of my exposure to the franchise) the sonic screwdriver was more of a tool. Contrast that with Gary Seven's servo, which seemed to be more of a weapon. The servo seemed capable of specifically incapacitating and hypnotizing people who became its targets ("You're tired. Go to sleep.")
I remember the Doctor using his toy to detonate landmines in "Robot" and to disable a Sontaran probot in "The Sontaran Experiment", but other than that it seemed to be a tool rather than an offensive weapon.
I agree with Christopher that the similarity between these two props is pretty thin. Other than both being roughly cylindrical and handheld/pocketable, the two devices don't really look that much alike.
I remember the Doctor using his toy to detonate landmines in "Robot" and to disable a Sontaran probot in "The Sontaran Experiment", but other than that it seemed to be a tool rather than an offensive weapon.
I agree with Christopher that the similarity between these two props is pretty thin. Other than both being roughly cylindrical and handheld/pocketable, the two devices don't really look that much alike.
Well, Gary's servo is potentially a weapon, but it's usually a very gentle weapon, making people sleepy and apparently somewhat euphoric rather than shocking them unconscious like a phaser. Apparently it has a kill setting, though. It also functions as a communicator, remote control device, and probably a sensor as well. Had Assignment: Earth gone to series, I expect we would've seen it fulfilling the functions of phaser, communicator, and tricorder all in one.
And yes, the sonic screwdriver has always been presented as a tool rather than a weapon. It's specifically designed to be incapable of harming living beings. In a recent episode, the Doctor bluffed about it being a deadly weapon and used it to burn out his opponents' firearms, effectively "shooting" the guns out of their hands. And there have been instances when he's used it destructively against robots and other machines, so it could be seen as a weapon from their perspective. But basically it's a Gallifreyan Army knife.
Here's a list of its uses, some of which border on weaponlike but most of which don't:
http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Sonic_screwdriver
And yes, the sonic screwdriver has always been presented as a tool rather than a weapon. It's specifically designed to be incapable of harming living beings. In a recent episode, the Doctor bluffed about it being a deadly weapon and used it to burn out his opponents' firearms, effectively "shooting" the guns out of their hands. And there have been instances when he's used it destructively against robots and other machines, so it could be seen as a weapon from their perspective. But basically it's a Gallifreyan Army knife.
Here's a list of its uses, some of which border on weaponlike but most of which don't:
http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Sonic_screwdriver
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