Like it or not – and it’s quite clear the makers of Upstairs Downstairs don’t like it – Upstairs Downstairs, now in its second revived outing, will still have to contend with comparisons to ITV1’s period juggernaut Downton Abbey.

Master-servant relationships; a house on the brink of war – the similarities are obvious. But, in truth, Upstairs Downstairs is a much more brittle drama than the more emotionally demonstrative Downton.

Coming from the pen of Heidi Thomas – also adaptor of Call the Midwife – it’s an indication of the faith the BBC are putting in Thomas that they are allowing her to dominate Sunday nights like this.

But where Call the Midwife was a home run for the BBC, this first episode in a second six-part series for Upstairs Downstairs feels less likely to be such a hit, despite having the best resources of the BBC behind it.

It is now 1938, and diplomat, Sir Hallam Holland (Ed Stoppard), is certain that the aggressive foreign policy of Chancellor Hitler will lead to war. With lead housemaid, Rose Buck, indefinitely hospitalised, it is up to butler, Mr Pritchard (Adrian Scarborough), to run 165 Eaton Place, as the house adjusts to changes above and below stairs: among them, the death of Eileen Atkins’s Lady Holland and the arrival of her half-sister, the bohemian Dr Blanche Mottershead (Doctor Who star Alex Kingston).

Credit where it’s due: Upstairs Downstairs is willing to bring unfamiliar and even radical elements to period drama – a daughter of the house who has Down’s Syndrome, and, in Alex Kingston’s character, a period lesbian no less. In this first episode alone, there is an act of unintentional animal cruelty which serves to rid the drama of one of the more troublesome members of its cast.

For this relief, we can give thanks that the BBC have not associated Sunday night drama with the kind of mawkish sentimentality you might find in Wild at Heart, Heartbeat, Where the Heart Is – or any other ITV1 drama that has historically worn its heart in its title.

But these days, Sunday night drama is bigger, better and blousier – whether it’s the shameless watchability of Downton or the energy, panache and cerebral brilliance of Sherlock.

Upstairs Downstairs operates with a touch more sang-froid. It‘s not every period drama that features a cameo appearance by Neville Chamberlain, and there are certain scenes in this opener which play out with the antiseptic intensity of a political thriller. But, in operating like this, the programme risks squandering the legacy of affection left by the original series.

Moments of character comedy go some way to redressing the balance: Adrian Scarborough dons a tin hat to prissy and pedantic effect, while Alex Kingston knows her way around a firearm as well as psychoanalytic theory. But even these character touches feel at times like the eccentricities of a privileged, ex-colonial elite.

Ironically, if Thomas wants to know how it’s done, she should turn to her own Call the Midwife, which has fashioned a great big mainstream hit out of the ingredients of nostalgia, charm and a rallying cry for the NHS. The genius of Call the Midwife is that it’s a far less cosy show than it seems: scratch the nuns-on-bicycles surface and there‘s a genuine political sensibility.

On this evidence, the weakness of Upstairs Downstairs is that, in seeking to reject the excesses of pulp drama, it’s willing to sacrifice charm. As such, it may be easy to admire, but it’s not, as yet, easy to love.

Aired at 9.30pm on Sunday 19th February 2012 on BBC One.

> Buy the Series 1 DVD on Amazon.

What did you think of the episode? Let us know below…