Interesting.. I don't think people will particularly mind slightly different lengths. in any case, that cliffhanger sounds great! It's always great to get to the 8th Doctor fast, as the story is really about him so the 7th shouldn't dominate it.

Is the 7th Doctor still going to be killed by the botched operation? Deep down, I was hoping by some miracle you could make it appear as if the snake killed him, making him die a slow death by poisoning... However, this probably isn't possible...