Hi Jonny,
yes Chris is a great drummer. We have quite different styles and probably come from different musical backgrounds. Obviously I listened to his drum parts when I joined the band and tried to work out which parts were crucial to the song's composition, and which parts I could take liberties with and do my own thing. I'm a player who likes to play different every night (even if it's only subtleties that only I notice some nights). That way the parts and the fills are always evolving and mutating - including the parts that I composed for the last two PT albums. I put this down to my jazz upbringing.
I don't know what Chris's early influences were, but (from what the other band members have told me) he liked to play exactly the same parts and fills every night. Nothing wrong or right with either approach - it's just two different ways from two different drummers.
If you're very familiar with the back catalogue stuff - you'll get to hear how I approach the older songs when our live DVD is released soon.
cheers
Gavin