Where are the UK dramas like 'The Shield', 'Mad Men', 'Damages', 'Lost', 'The Wire' and 'Lie To me'?

 I've spent much of the last month catching up on the first 5 seasons of 'The Shield', the US Drama about a gung-ho 'Strike Team' who target L.A.'s gangs within a unique sort of politically experimental neighbourhood police unit. Having long been a huge fan of The Wire, I always saw this series as 'Wire-lite' for some stupid reason, and ended up missing one of the most gripping drama series of the last decade. Maybe the core themes are similar, as both look at urban and moral decay, vanity, corruption, race issues and, of course, crime. Stylistically, however, they are as far apart as the American states in which they are set and the people indigenous to either series reflect this'.

   The shaky, hand held 'documentary style' camera movements used to annoy me, when I was only aware of the show through a few clips I'd seen, but now feel an essential part of the show. Where 'The Wire' was a slow burner, giving fair amount of coverage to cops and criminals(as well as city hall, school, and newspaper offices in the last 3 seasons) 'The Shield' has its wonky focus squarely on the Strike Team, almost all the time. It may be more traditional in portraying the 'heroes' side more vividly, but then again there is enough shades of grey within the characters themselves that the show never feels unbalanced for that. Besides, the Wire tended to drift away from the cop characters to portray its other characters' souls being swallowed by the realities of ambition in a corrupt system, and the Shield seems to be showing something similar while staying around the cops. In particular the rise of David Aceveda; initially the Chief of The Barn(Police Station in Farmington) before steadily making his way to the Mayor's office throughout the rest of the show's run has me wondering if he was ever a well-intentioned but morally doomed Anakin Skwalker figure or if he had designs to be LA's answer to the Emperor all along.

The American Television concept of individual 'seasons' allows for something we in the UK don't have in our homegrown drama so much; a clear sense of departure for each stage of an epic storyline, where at the end of every 13 or 25 or whatever amount of episodes the show and its cast and crew reach a plateau of dramatic pause from which to launch the next phase of an ongoing storyline. Sure, we have 'series' and something to be proud of in 'Dr. Who' and the recently wrapped up 'Life On Mars'/'Ashes to Ashes' programs, but not much comes close to gaining the popularity of say 'Lost','Fringe', 'Damages','Glee' or even the dull and uninspiring 'Desperate Housewives' . i'm sitting here trying to think of something to prove myself wrong, but nothing's coming to mind. 'Sherlock' was great earlier this year, but 3 episodes? Come on, man. 'Skins' started out really well, but I lost interest in the middle of series 2. 'Torchwood' had potential, but a puzzled home audience never really took to the Dr. Who-for-adults premise. Even 'This Is England 86', the best British TV show I can remember that is rumoured to be returning lasted only four episodes and was initially a sequel to a movie.
  Speaking of other mediums, the 'season' mentality has seeped into comics with Grant Morrison considering the first phase of an epic Batman  tale 'Season One' and is currently taking the Batman brand around the world(In the comic), with Bruce Wayne finally admitting to at least bankrolling the caped crusader's fight against crime as the lead in to 'Season Two'. Comics veteran Steve Gerber was working on his '2nd season' of     a creator owned comic when he passed away in 2007. Bigger tales have become  a trend in the movies more these days as well, with franchises like the Harry Potter, Matrix and Underworld(and many more)being conceived of as long tales with smaller internal arcs to propel them forward and enrich the initial narrative, rather than the occasional money maker being cheapened by a hasty sequel.
 Back to my main point:- I don't understand why there is so much reluctance to invest in better and longer stories, especially when the talent is here as proven by the success of things like 'Misfits' or 'Dead Set'; actors such as Tim Roth, Dominic West, and even Hugh Laurie in 'House' seem to do well in these shows. The main UK shows are churned out in 6 to 13 parts per series, except the rubbish soaps which are about 4 times a week and even prime time viewing, unlike the USA where they are mainly afternoon 'story' fodder. Maybe its a cultural thing, the Americans are more willing to believe in fantasy, and we are more likely to watch anything miserable; as long as its dressed up as 'believable'. I don't know, its just an observation.