“There, that should do it.”

The Seventh Doctor never had a sonic screwdriver of their own before the classic run of Doctor Who was put on indefinite hiatus in 1989, but Sylvester McCoy’s involvement with the production of Doctor Who: The Movie allowed for an opportunity to correct that.

Released in 1996, Doctor Who: The Movie was intended as a relaunch and continuation of the show and while poor ratings didn’t warrant an ongoing series renewal of Doctor Who at the time, the film is notable for returning The Doctor's sonic screwdriver to tv screens for the first time in fourteen years and for featuring the Seventh Doctor regenerating into Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor. 

This functional hero prop sonic screwdriver was custom made for the production and was based on measurements from a pre-existing 800-Trekker replica. However, it does differ from the 800-Trekker as it features a spring-loaded, push-button activation allowing it to extend, a feature not seen on other classic era sonic screwdrivers. 

Only one hero sonic screwdriver prop was production created for filming on Doctor Who: The Movie and this piece of Doctor Who history represents the oldest classic design sonic screwdriver filming prop used by The Doctor confirmed to still exist.