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Episode 92083 and the follow-on episodes have been a good deal of fun. It is interesting to see what actors and actresses the authors see as playing the well-known characters.

JH's choices for Astra are interesting. Angelina Jolie has the build, but my image of Astra's complexion was somewhat lighter. I don't know anyone in the pool of famous young actresses today that really have the build and the presence that I imagine Astra having. If we were willing to go back 30 years, Jane Seymour when she had red hair would have been reasonably close to my vision of Astra. But that is one of the good things about the written word - every reader fills in the gaps in his or her own way.

JH suggested that Christopher Lee as Belboz in an e-mail, and I would agree that is the first person that came to my mind as well. Dennis Hopper would have been a candidate to play Reaibn in the Eye of Hazeus episodes. I did mention Gilder, the Governor of Corona, in one of the episodes without having an actor in mind. Are there any ideas?

I don't know anyone in the pool of famous young actresses today that really have the build and the presence that I imagine Astra having.

No, I struggled with that, which is why I fell back on Ms Jolie even though she's really a bit too old for the part. I thought that her performance in the Lara Croft film would make her a natural choice. Sigourney Weaver would have been even better, but is definitely too old.

I came up with Natalie Portman for Exotica; Emma Watson could be another possibility, or she could play Belinda.Somehow I think that I've missed ever seeing anything that Dennis Hopper was in. I thought that Johnny Depp might be a good choice for Robert Billingsley. John Simm might also do a good job. And possibly John Hurt as the voice of the Dragon (he's been providing the voice for a dragon in a British TV series called "Merlin" and doing it very well - he has the right sardonic quality).

After further thought, I wonder if Christopher Lee might be too tall to play Belboz, whom I've always envisaged as fairly small. Lee has a commanding physical presence.

Talking about a commanding physical presence, I saw a picture of Christina Hendricks yesterday and I wondered if she might be an alternative candidate to play Astra. I don't think that I've ever actually seen a show that she's been in, so I can't comment on her acting ability.

Finally. for Gilder how about Matt Lucas? I don't know if he's known at all in the US, but he's a British comic actor who has successfully played a couple of roles that suggested that he might be right for the part.