Holy Missed Links! Shona, I forgot to click over to this wealth of material after I read through the thread. Bookmarked for extensive perusal, thanks. Here's a piece from shona's link, an abstract of their thesis:

Abstract

There is a widespread sentiment that panspermia is uninteresting because it does not answer fundamental questions about the origin of life. The strongest version of panspermia asks entirely new questions. While barriers to the acceptance of panspermia are falling and evidence supporting it is accumulating, the mere possibility of panspermia unhinges the Darwinian account of evolutionary progress. The new theory removes an issue dividing science and religion, but it requires an amendment to the big bang theory.

Now, let's have another look at Hoyle!

Is the egg off my face, yet?

[edit: the Hoyle site] Gee, thanks, shona, my optometrist will love you!