Hey, lady! Fancy meeting you here! I almost couldn't believe my eyes.
"How much better I could have framed my points" is always a recurring thought every time I read through some of these old threads -- that or a cringe at the point I was attempting to make in the first place.
We watched the show too here at Chez Underhillo. My not so little anymore hobbit really grooved on the idea of a constant animal companion that you could talk to.
Your info about Pullman being knighted made me think of Wodehouse:
"Do they knight birds like him?"
"Oh, yes, sir. A gentleman of Mr. Trotter's prominence in the world of publishing is always in imminent danger of receiving the accolade."
"Danger? Don't these bozos like being knighted?"
"Not when they are of Mr. Trotter's retiring disposition, sir. He would find it a very testing ordeal. It involves wearing satin knee-breeches and walking backwards with a sword between the legs, not at all the sort of thing a sensitive gentleman of regular habits would enjoy."