am I just reading things in that aren't there?

Most assuredly; there was no death / rebirth thing, just the usual temporal hi-jinx framed with cod-Morricone driven overkill. So - business as usual really and a very entertaining start to the new season, though you would think they could have come up with a more convincing Nixon and a more original looking alien menance - at least one without such dumb looking claws.

What doesn't add up is that over the last 50 years the Doctor has had a fair few regenerations and yet 200 years hence it's still Matt Smith...