I didn't mind it until they turned it into a soap. I enjoyed the old days, 8pm Tuesday/Thursday, 30min shorts so no faffing about worrying about who is shagging who, just cutting straight to the chase (quite literally in many cases!) and getting on with the standalone plot for that episode.
Still remember the episode when DC Martella got shot dead and there was a massive vendetta, police ramming the villains off the road etc. All a bit tame by todays standards I suspect but at the time it was very dramatic.