I personally find the Kenneth Brannagh directing thing deeply reassuring, because it ups the odds of epically entertaining faux-Shakespearean shenanigans, which is roughly 75% of the reason I <3 Thor (the other 25% is the Norse mythology pr0n, when a suitably educated writer is on the scene).

re: Black Guy Dies First. All they have to do is have a few eps where the surviving guest stars are the POCs for a change. And then not kill them on the second round. It's very simple.

We need an episode where displaced aliens show up and are like "Can someone give us a ride? It seems to be a really bad idea to stick around here."

Hee, that would be great. It would be fun if the Doctor gave his "second chance" speech and the aliens were all "Oh, okay. Can you give us a lift?"