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Looking back, we reflect on the TV offerings of the past year, a handful of shows emerge not for their brilliance, but for their notable failures. From cringe-inducing spin-offs to confusingly bad docuseries, here are the programmes that had us utterly bewildered or simply reaching for the remote.

The 'Sex and the City' Sequel

Where to begin with this love/hate follow-up? Burdened with dreadful scripts, painful arcs (justice for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the show fought to justify its existence. For a moment, as the third series began, it looked like it had at last hit its stride. Then came an episode centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. No wonder the creator declared this would be the last series. It ended on a bum note; the lingering shot of Miranda’s toilet flooded with poo was just way too on-the-nose. Yet, viewers certainly found joy picking apart every single “wtf?” episode. And as Carrie – once again single – twirled around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t release a small sob?

The Kim Kardashian Drama

‘Is Kim Kardashian an actress? The answer is a resounding no.’

But that was practically the smallest of this drama's problems. The recipient of a very rare no-star review, it was hard to know where to begin enumerating the flaws. The laughably leaden dialogue? The mind-numbing veneration of wealth and materialism? The almost deliberate parade of tropes? Acting so poor they felt borderline malicious? Suffice it to say “each and every one” and never speak of this series again. Except, a second season has been commissioned, so we’re probably going to have to.

The Charlie Sheen Documentary

Considering the legal troubles, domestic violence allegations and parental failures, it’s fair to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not that you’d truly have known it from this three-part documentary which chuckled along at Sheen’s various bouts of self-destructive hedonism while failing to tell us anything we didn’t already know. Instead, it felt as if this volatile personality was being pandered to, so any pity this show might induce should be saved for the people who have had to endure close contact with this charismatic but dismissive egotist.

The Iris Affair

Naturally we knew it was preposterous from the outset: a drama about a supercomputer known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either save the world – or annihilate all of humanity. We stuck with it out of sheer love for its stars … but by the end, it felt like even they had given up trying. One barely reacted when his character died, and the other ultimately slicing Charlie with an axe … in super slow-motion. That's what you call giving up the ghost.

MobLand

Dodgy characters meeting in empty boxing gyms? The Prodigy’s Firestarter jackhammering away in club scenes? The late 90s called and demands its crime drama back.

In truth, that is unfair on the crime shows of the late 90s. Many look a bit dated now, but at least they didn’t endure the ignominy of having to accommodate baffling accents. But there were many other problems. Primarily that it was just really dull; a dispute over drug-selling territory between various London picaresques which seemed a bit basic.

The Meghan Markle Series

Given the degree to which she provokes the ire of the nation’s performatively angry commentators, it’s almost easy to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s televised ventures into twee homemaking as intentional provocations. But then you watch them and are compelled to concede that in this case, they may have a point. It’s like watching a homeware catalogue come to life; a meme for wine o’clock with ideas of grandeur; a procession of snoozing dogs, humming beehives, sentimental sayings and pointless crafting “hacks” you’ll forget instantly. All underpinned by vast, mostly unearned wealth. Ugh.

The Beckham Documentary

There are obviously fascinating things to be discussed about both Victoria Beckham and her journey with career, identity, self-worth. But for whatever reason, this documentary series chose not to say them. Rather, the viewing was like reading a marketing brochure. She clearly has good reason to bridle at what she describes as her “miserable cow” image. But unfortunately, she failed to do herself any helps with this guarded letdown of a series.

The Game Show

It should have been the next cultural phenomenon – except even more extravagant, with a glamorous star as a deceased benefactor and a well-known personality managing her estate. What more could you want? As players battled it out, there was plenty of backstabbing and squabbling. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: it’s still too complicated to detail what precisely was happening. Even more regrettably, we only saw brief appearances of the star via filmed videos. The show ended up smelling of a production that was trying way too hard to live up to something far greater than it.

The Lena Dunham Romcom

How does one follow a show that defined a generation? The expectation was enormous for this glitzy romantic comedy about Jessica, a rosy-eyed New Yorker who arrives in London with a broken heart. The lead actress seized the opportunity by the horns and was joyous to watch, reveling in Jane Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very slick and, paradoxically, was not enough. Plus, the sheer amount of famous friends involved felt uncomfortable.

Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping

Not even good enough to be ‘patchy’.

Given the smart inclusion of gifted younger comics, hopes were high. But unhappily, most of it fell flat. A particular sketch was a single joke stretched to a husk but recurring in every episode. One star seemed too ready to slip into a familiar ranting mode. The writing room sketches, in contrast, simply provoked the thought that they should probably have stayed in there a bit longer.

The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox

This dramatisation of the story of Amanda Knox was overseen by Amanda Knox and pretty much solely presented the viewpoint of Amanda Knox. So, while there undoubtedly is an interesting drama to be made about the tragic 2007 murder, this isn’t it. The material needed to be handled with care. Instead, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right tone, lumbering from oddly jaunty, slightly stylised farce to ultimately, real-life horror. Twisted? Perhaps. A complete mess? Very much so.

Prime Target

We admire the star … but did we buy him playing the most brilliant maths genius since, a man so intelligent he’s on the verge of a breakthrough that could ruin society? Nope! This globe-trotting thriller about government agencies spying on – and killing off – academics frankly got more absurd by the second. Formulaic nonsense.

The Bonnie Blue Documentary

This uncritical portrait followed the online personality renowned for sexual exploits as she prepared for her biggest feat yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we wanted was way more interrogation of her true psychology, plus those of the men in the line. They could at least have interviewed the legendary mum who showed up to drag her son out of the queue. What we got was disturbing imagery and absolutely no interrogation of her infamy whatsoever. And to think, the filmmaker has a teenage daughter too.