Doctor Who Matt Smith The Eleventh Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver

After reading all of the negative reviews for this product, I was very nearly put off buying it altogether. But, due to my undying love of the series, I couldn't resist taking the plunge.

I've been playing around with it for a couple of hours, and I must say, I'm quite impressed with it.

Upon unpacking it, I realised just how much larger this new version was compared to the previous iterations of the Sonic Screwdriver. Not that this is a bad thing, it has a much better weight and shape to it, far more suited to the human hand. It's far less likely to drop, because you'll never forget it's there. It's not pocket-sized by a longshot, which could pose a slight problem to Doctor Who obsessives that like to take their Screwdrivers around with them. But the extra size adds a certain impressiveness to it.

Now, first gripe. The Sonic Screwdriver toys have NEVER been easy to dismantle and power up. This one is no exception. In fact, it's probably the fiddliest to set up. The manual states that you must "twist the emitter one-tenth anticlockwise, then pull the emitter away from the handle". Due to its nature as a toy, I was very anxious about twisting or turning any components for fear of breaking it. But eventually I managed to get the batteries in fine. This version takes the most batteries out of them all so far, requiring 3 of those little watch batteries rather than 2.

Reassembled, I took some more time to get to grips with the Screwdriver. Now, these toys have never been of high build quality, they've mainly been 'just so'. Due to the enlarged and stretched profile of this iteration, that fact becomes far more apparent. The prongs, or 'claw' at the end of the device feel quite breakable (hence the difficulty in assembling and disassembling it), and the somewhat hollow handle feels very plastic-y. Not a major problem, but it feels less natural than its predecessors.

The tip of the device lights up with a bright green hue. Gone is the ultra-violet functionality of the original Screwdriver, but that doesn't detract from its list of features. Another feature that remains with this toy is the extendible head. However, this version is spring-locked and shoots out at a considerable velocity. I daresay it even feels quite powerful. As the device extends, the 'claw' at the end opens up, giving further prominence to the green light. Below the 'Extend' button is a switch that activates the light and signature 'whirring' sound. However, this button WILL NOT work whilst the device is extended. For when it is extended, you can either press a small black button on the battery column (which is very fiddly and probably not intended for actual use), or a 'hidden' red button at the end of the device. There is a tip on a hinge that will swing away to reveal this button. Despite this seemingly pointless design choice, it'd probably be fun for kids.

There are four different sounds this time around, all of which are unique in their own way. The activate button has a slight delay to it, thereby allowing multiple presses to utilize the different sounds. One press will emit a standard whirring noise, three presses will cause an 'alarm' sound to begin, accompanied with alternating flashes of light from the tip (presumably, this is utilized somewhere later in the New Series, but I haven't seen it). Four presses will make the device appear faulty, as if damaged (which also probably appears later in the Series). Overall, the sounds will be enough to sate a demanding Whovian, despite the delay and slightly muffled tone of some.

Mostly, I'm pretty satisfied with the Screwdriver. Despite some of its build faults and niggles, it's a genuinely fun toy to play with, regardless of how old a Whovian you are. Although I'm certain that someone will eventually have someone's eye out with the rapid Extend feature, it's a whole lot of fun. I disagree with most of the negativity associated with the Eleventh Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver, as I've encountered little to no technical issues whatsoever (although I may in the future, we'll see). But overall, a reccomended buy!

When I heard about this product, the first thing I did was to check it out on Amazon and on the BBC shop. Amidst the one star and five star reviews that seem to plague user generated reviews where ever you look it became obvious there was a problem with the lights and or sound.

These reviews put me off this product greatly but my curiosity got the better of me and I purchased it anyway.
When it arrived I knew at any moment I could face disappointment that so many other customers had experienced and apart from an *absurd* battery system the toy seems to work fine.

However after about one hour the dreaded problems came, the hidden button on the bottom of this toy, that activates the FX when the screwdriver it extended, failed.

It seems I have found a solution for this issue: The toy is not broken, just poorly assembled. Follow these steps to determine whether the product is broken, or in my case, just assembled out of place.

1) Turn the handle one tenth to the right to release the battery slot.
2) Remove the top half of the toy and pull the 'green' bar downward so the screwdriver is no longer extended
3) Look for two small black buttons on the top and bottom of this green bar. Press them. If the sound works and the lights shine, the toy is not broken. [If when pressed nothing happens, try new batteries, if the problem persists, return the product.]

What happens is if the button on the bottom of the lower half of the screwdriver is not lined up exactly with the lower button on the green bar, then the toy will not work.

Some fiddling and gently placing pressure will mean these buttons will line up and the toy will work.

Hope this helps.

Well seeing as the new Doctor Who series is out, I bought this for my cousin who is a massive Doctor Who fan (as am I).

When I read the intructions it told me that there were two exterior 'Activation buttons' that would make the end light up, one on the side and one hidden under a cap at the bottom. I tried both and they seemed to work fine. There is also a switch which extends the end, what they call the 'Emitter'. However, when the end is extended, the button on the side doesn't work.

When I detached the bottom on the screwdriver (which lets you get to the battery case) I discovered the problem. When the end extends, the whole interior, including the battery case, shifts up. This means that the pad/button on the battery case that was being pressed to activate the light before was now in the wrong place. To correct this, the designer had put in a second button lower down so that when the end extends the exterior button will still work by pushing the second button. But the second button itself is too low, so when the screwdriver extends it can never work. This is actually a design flaw by the manufacturer and not a faulty product, so will appear on EVERY one they produce, unless they correct the problem.

Such an obvious flaw which causes the toy not to work in this way is really not acceptable, especially considering that most children will use the button when the screwdriver is extended, as the Doctor does.

£16 for this toy would be a reasonable price considering how much its predecessors costed when first released and considering it's popularity when linked with the show, however with a problem like this it feels like a rip off and as if I've bought some dodgy version of the toy, rather than the way it's advertised on a website like Amazon, which I trust.

Avoid this at all costs, it's a complete waste of money and you are better off waiting for an official version of the screwdriver to come out.