Well, it seems like the sonic sunglasses are here to stay for the foreseeable in Doctor Who, and not everyone is pleased with that.
Some fans have taken to Twitter to moan that an integral part of Doctor Who has been taken away. Of course, it’s really integral. From the Fifth Doctor story ‘The Visitation’ in 1982 right through to ‘Survival’ in 1989, it wasn’t seen at all.
But we’re unlikely to go seven years without seeing the sonic again, so for now just enjoy the change. Sure, they’re just a pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarers with a sound effect attached, but then the sonic started out as a pocket torch with a sound effect attached.
Besides, they’re no worse than a sonic cane (seen in ‘Let’s Kill Hitler’), a sonic pen (seen in ‘Partners in Crime’) or a sonic lipstick (seen in The Sarah Jane Adventures).
And they have the advantage of Capaldi looking damn cool in them. They might even be the best glasses The Doctor’s ever worn.
Let’s see if that’s true… *Cloister Bell sounds*
Yes! From the people who brought you ‘The Doctors ranked by Eyebrows’, CultBox sinks even lower, to eye-level in fact, and bring you the 10 best things The Doctor has ever worn on his face(s)…
10. Eleven’s Video Glasses
Integral to the plot of ‘The Girl Who Waited’, the video glasses are worn by Rory, but Eleven gives them a quick spin.
It all seems pretty high-tech, until you remember that you can buy a pair of video glasses off Amazon for under seventy quid, which, unless they’re beamed straight onto your head, is about as sci-fi as watching toast pop up.
9. Five’s Brainy Specs
He doesn’t even need to wear them! He just puts them on because they make him look smart.
His future self admitted it. And if you’re going to choose brainy specs, it’s probably best not to choose ones that look like they’ve been pinched from a dowager’s handbag. Sorry Five.
8. Twelve’s Diagnostic Glasses
They crop up in ‘Flatline’ and I’ve no idea what they do, but they look cool and vaguely techno-punk in a ‘hot-glued together in a bad light’ sort of way.
I suppose Twelve has no use for them now that he has his diagnostic sonic specs. May I have them please? I need to examine my boiler.
7. Eleven’s Reading Glasses
Finally, a Doctor with a use for proper prescription lenses. Technically they’re not his – they’re Amy Pond’s – but she’s stuck in the past so ‘ner-ner-nee-ner-ner’ she can’t have them back.
They also make Eleven look a lot like the little-known actor Matt Smith in the BBC’s 2012 drama Bert & Dickie. Weird, no? Must be that spacial-genetic multiplicity thing mentioned in ‘Journey’s End’, like Gwen in Torchwood and that woman from Season 2 of Broadchurch.
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