The Way of the Empty Hand (audio story)

 was the ninth story of the fifth season of Big Finish Productions' Short Trips series. It was read by Frazer Hines.

Publisher's summary
The war world of Combatia. A great mechanised planet that traverses the universe, overseen by its benevolent and infallible overlord, plucking up the finest warriors of every world it passes and pitting them against each other to determine which of them is greatest. Their consent is irrelevant - all that matters is the battle. The greatest warrior must be found. Will it be Bloodbane, King of Carnage? Jamie McCrimmon? Gichin Funakoshi? Or the strange little man who calls himself the Doctor?

Plot
to be added

Characters

 * Second Doctor
 * Jamie McCrimmon
 * Zoe Heriot
 * Bloodbane
 * Gichin Funakoshi
 * Markhan
 * Kell
 * Custodian
 * Overlord Corpulus the Magnificent
 * Cyborg
 * Horse

Crew

 * Narrator - Frazer Hines
 * Cover Art - Mark Plastow
 * Director - Lisa Bowerman
 * Executive Producer - Nicholas Briggs and Jason Haigh-Ellery
 * Music & Sound Design - Toby Hrycek-Robinson
 * Producer & Script Editor - Michael Stevens
 * Writer - Julian Richards

Worldbuilding

 * Jamie uses the phrase "Creag an tuire!"
 * The Doctor calms the beasts by playing his recorder.
 * The Doctor says that only a few races have mastered teleportation as it's a tricky science and generates large amounts of heat.
 * Combatia teleports Jamie into deep space, and has a single computer to control everything.
 * The Bright Crusade was composed of a thousand thousand crusaders.

Continuity

 * The Doctor says his Venusian aikido skills are "rusty" and that he should have another go. He practised it throughout his third incarnation. (AUDIO: Year of the Drex Olympics, Voyage to Venus, TV: Inferno)
 * The Overload laments not having captured a Cat-Person. (PROSE: Invasion of the Cat-People)
 * Zoe recalls facing Cybermen, (TV: The Wheel in Space, The Invasion) Ice Warriors, (TV: The Seeds of Death) Krotons, (TV: The Krotons) and the "dreaded" Quarks. (TV: The Dominators)