Why only 8 episodes?

[almh]

I think in the UK they pretty much have as long a series that the BBC will commission - Beeb tend to do a lot of five part dramas which are then shown during a week, each weekday, such as Moving On (which was a series containing five mini dramas each day, one of which included RA...) and they did the Anne Frank Diaries as well. They also do a load of one-offs, and quite a lot of series with about 6 episodes+, and the longest running series which doesn't go on for a year, as far as I know, is Doctor Who with 13 episodes per series. Then there are also the ones that seem to never end (and in fact don't...) which are soaps... I have got a rant about soaps, but it was getting very off topic so I shall now leave and post it elsewhere...

So, a basic summary, I think that Beeb only commissioned 8 episodes because it wanted to, but the writers decided to continue with their plan for 10 episodes, and squish it all in...