DA is a second-rate soap opera in a first-rate wrapper. They're sweating to keep a plausible story line going. Even the redoubtable Maggie Smith is reduced to spewing out the occasional one-liner.

"Upstairs, Downstairs" was the pinnacle of that genre. And, they had nearly a hundred episodes in which to bring out the rich character development--for both upstairs and downstairs--that made it so satisfying.