I think they were nice planes with features which were good for pilots and operators alike, such as dial-a-flap.
It was nice back then that it wasn't a duopoly with makers like Lockheed and MD, at the time when British aerospace industry was in decline (so we didn't have much to offer).
I hope the market changes in the next decade that the duopoly is broken again, but airlines seem unwilling to change from convention, even for a Canadian manufacturer.