meriad:

This news bite is an old one, but still hilarious:

New Doctor Who stopped at Heathrow airport with sonic screwdriver

Matt Smith, the latest actor to play Doctor Who in the BBC series, was stopped at Heathrow airport for taking a sonic screwdriver through security.

The 27-year-old actor was stopped as he passed through a security scanner before a flight to Belfast.

Officials pulled the new timelord to one side, believing the gadget to be a weapon, according to The Sun.

A source told the newspaper: “Matt’s a huge fan of the screwdriver so didn’t think anything of carrying it with him on the plane. It’s basically just a fake prop and doesn’t exactly do much.

“But going through the X-ray scanner it probably looks like a weapon, albeit something you’d see in Star Wars.

“Matt was very polite and explained what the screwdriver was. But the guards just looked puzzled. Fortunately he had some Doctor Who promo material on him so was able to show them who he was.

“Once the penny dropped and they had a proper look at the screwdriver, they let him through.”

It was revealed yesterday that Smith has already broken four sonic screwdrivers while getting to grips with his new role.

The new timelord told the Radio Times he keeps the tools – most commonly used in the series for unlocking doors – with him all the time for extra practice.

He admitted: ”I’ve broken four of them … I like to have it about my person at all times, just twirling it around and flicking it. It’s all part of the magic, isn’t it?”