THE CONCEPT ARTWORK

Concept artist Dan Walker was entrusted with designing a new sonic screwdriver to accompany the new Doctor, having previously created artworks for the version used for the show's revival in 2005.

“Wanting the Eleventh Doctor's sonic screwdriver to tie in with the design of the new TARDIS set, Dan Walker started to work in the copper colour from the walls of the set and also the green lighting from the console. This concept also shows how the sonic would open and how it would look when fully extended. The new sonic was also to be a little larger. Edward Thomas wanted it to have a secondary control, so Dan worked in a flip bottom which would reveal a red button.” - excerpt from Impossible Worlds by Stephen Nicholas & Mike Tucker

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CREATION

With just one week remaining before filming was due to begin on Doctor Who, prop maker Nicholas Robatto was handed the final concept artworks for the Eleventh Doctor’s new sonic screwdriver. The brief was clear: replicate the concept design as closely as possible, and aim for a similar scale to the Master’s Laser Screwdriver, which Robatto had previously built.

The new sonic was to feature a thumb-activated extension and a rotating emitter at the top. While the extension mechanism was achievable within the limited timeframe, the spinning feature, Robatto admitted, would have required a miracle.

What followed was a relentless week of early mornings, late nights, and an entire weekend dedicated to bringing the prop to life. Given the time constraints, the rotating function had to be abandoned in favour of perfecting the sliding mechanism and the iconic opening claw action - a technical challenge that proved no small feat. As Robatto himself would later describe, "working out the mechanism for the opening claws was putting my head in the shed.”
Early development sketches and prototype builds show Robatto experimenting with the internal layout of the sonic, racing against the clock to deliver a functioning prop to set by Monday morning. If it bore any resemblance to the original concept, that would be a welcome bonus.

Unlike some of the later versions of this design, the original build featured entirely hand-machined resin components. These included the white grip section, green resin cores, green resin neck, and green emitter. The resin blanks were supplied by Penny Howarth, who provided cast pen-blank style segments in distinctive swirled green and off-white finishes. Each blank was then individually hand-turned by Robatto, giving every early sonic screwdriver its own unique characteristics.

The Hero #1 prop was completed late on Sunday night. It stands apart from its later counterparts in several key ways. Most notably, the sliding aluminium cage section could extend the full length of the upper half of the prop, revealing both green resin cores and neck, which deployed the claws automatically on extension. This full-extension feature was shared with only one other original filming prop.

Additionally, it lacked a microswitch on the leather-wrapped handle, which was a detail that was added in later. Instead, activation was achieved solely via a big red button, discreetly integrated into the pommel, hidden under a hinged end cap.

DELIVERY DAY: SOUTHERNDOWN BEACH, JULY 2009

The very first usage of the Eleventh Doctor’s new sonic screwdriver came not in a studio - but on the windswept shores of Southerndown Beach in South Wales, better known to Doctor Who fans as Dårlig Ulv-Stranden, which roughly translates to “Bad Wolf Bay.”

On Monday, 20th July 2009, prop maker Nicholas Robatto personally delivered the freshly completed hero prop to set for the first day of filming on Series 5. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the chance to hand it to Matt Smith directly. Instead, the sonic was passed over to the standby props team, and Robatto gave them a quick rundown on how to handle it and change the battery.

Matt Smith received the prop shortly after, where he gave it a look, had a bit of a play... and then accidentally snapped it in two. Thankfully, it wasn’t as dramatic as it sounds. A quick adjustment to a grub screw later, and the prop was back in action for the rest of the day's filming.

It was also during this first day of shooting that Robatto witnessed, to his quiet horror, Matt’s spontaneous flourish: the now-famous flick of the wrist to extend the sonic. It looked fantastic on camera - but Robatto knew immediately it would come at a cost.

BACK TO THE WORKSHOP

Following the incident on Southerndown Beach, Nicholas Robatto returned to the workshop to reinforce the original hero prop and further work was done to the #1 Prop to make it “Matt Proof”.

The flicking motion that Smith had instinctively added on day one looked great on camera, but it introduced a new level of strain on the mechanism that hadn’t been accounted for in the original build. To strengthen the prop, brass rivets were added to secure the copper struts more reliably, and extra grub screws were installed to reinforce the top collar. A micro switch was also embedded into the leather handle section, allowing for more natural activation during use and reducing reliance on the end cap’s hidden red button.

To prevent the sonic from sliding open unintentionally between takes, a magnet was fitted inside the aluminium cage, designed to align with another magnet mounted in the copper collar. This helped keep the mechanism closed unless deliberately activated. An internal dampener was also added to cushion the impact of the flick.

During this period, Robatto also produced three additional hero props. These included a second extending version, made to the same updated spec with double, and two static closed props. One of these static props was later converted into the torch-mode sonic used in The Beast Below. Later on in the production the extension travel on both of the extending props was reduced from two inches to one to minimise mechanical stress.

QMX

On June 17th, 2010, the Hero #1 and its companion props were officially documented by Karl Derrick for QMx (Quantum Mechanix) as reference for making the prototypes for their licensed Eleventh Doctor Sonic Screwdriver replica, produced in partnership with the BBC and Nicholas Robatto. This documentation session gives us one of the clearest looks at the hero props, capturing them at a point when they were still in active use together on the show.

SERIES 6 - SILENCE WILL FALL

During the production of Doctor Who Series 6, Copper Hero #1 continued to see intermittent use as one of the four hero props. It featured in the official promotional photographs for Series 6 - though one of the copper struts had seemingly fallen off at some point, leaving the prop visibly incomplete during the shoot.

Due to Doctor Who’s non-linear filming schedule, structured around rotating recording blocks, Hero #1 appears sporadically throughout the early part of the series. Whilst it was still in circulation at the time, props are often swapped in depending on scene requirements or actor preference.
By Recording Block 5, a new hero prop - Copper Hero #6 - was introduced. Built as a replacement, it debuted during the filming of "The God Complex" and marked the official retirement of Copper Hero #1 from the series after nearly two years of service.

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THE EXPERIENCE

In February 2011, following its use during the filming of Doctor Who Series 6, the original Copper Hero #1 sonic screwdriver was officially retired from active production and entered into the collection of iconic props that were first displayed at the Doctor Who Experience in London, housed at the Olympia venue.

However, before it was sealed away for this exhibition, Hero #1 had one final appearance as the prop was used for a specially filmed segment starring Matt Smith as the Doctor. This was created for the interactive immersive section of the Experience. In this unique installation, visitors were guided through an adventure in time and space led by the Eleventh Doctor himself.

THE AFTER LIFE

Following the closure of the London exhibition, the prop was relocated to Cardiff, where it became part of the Doctor Who Experience in the purpose-built exhibition space in Cardiff Bay. It was reunited with it’s extending sibling, Copper Hero #2 which by this point had become the Sonic Cane.

The screwdriver remained in Cardiff until the attraction closed its doors in September 2017.