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Looking back, we reflect on the television offerings of the past year, a handful of series emerge not for their excellence, but for their spectacular failures. Ranging from cringe-inducing sequels to confusingly poor docuseries, here are the programmes that left us utterly bewildered or simply reaching for the remote.

The 'Sex and the City' Sequel

How to start with this love/hate spin-off? Burdened with woeful writing, painful arcs (justice for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the show struggled to justify its existence. For a moment, as the final season began, it looked like it had at last hit its stride. Then arrived an installment centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. No wonder the creator declared this would be the last season. It concluded on a bum note; the closeup of Miranda’s loo full of poo was just way too symbolic. Yet, viewers undeniably found joy dissecting every single “wtf?” episode. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – danced around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t release a small sob?

The Kim Kardashian Drama

‘Is Kim Kardashian an actress? Of course she can’t.’

But that was almost the smallest of this drama's issues. The recipient of a very rare no-star assessment, it was hard to know where to begin listing the flaws. The laughably leaden writing? The tedious glorification of wealth and consumption? The almost deliberate parade of tropes? Performances so poor they felt almost malicious? Let’s just say “all of the above” and forget about this series again. However, a new season has been commissioned, so we’re likely going to have to.

The Charlie Sheen Documentary

Given the legal troubles, domestic violence claims and parental failures, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a troubled figure. Not you’d truly have gleaned it from this three-part docuseries which smirked its way at Sheen’s various bouts of self-destructive excess while struggling to tell us a single thing we didn’t already know. Instead, it felt as if this loose cannon was being pandered to, so any sympathy this show might evoke should be reserved for the people who have had to endure proximity with this charismatic but flippant egotist.

The Iris Affair

Naturally we understood it was preposterous from the get-go: a drama about a supercomputer known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either save the world – or destroy all of humanity. We stuck with it out of sheer love for its stars … but by the end, it felt like even they had stopped bothering. One barely reacted when his character died, and the other ended up slicing Charlie with an axe … in painfully slow-motion. That's what you call admitting defeat.

The Gangster Drama

Shady figures meeting in empty boxing gyms? A certain band's Firestarter blaring in club scenes? The late 90s called and wants its crime drama back.

Actually, that is harsh on the gangland dramas of the late 90s. Many look a little old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t endure the embarrassment of having to accommodate baffling accents. But there were plenty of other issues. Primarily that it was just really dull; a conflict over narcotics territory between various cockney picaresques which seemed a bit basic.

The Meghan Markle Series

Considering the degree to which she provokes the ire of the nation’s performatively angry commentators, it’s almost tempting to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s various ventures into quaint homemaking as intentional provocations. But then you view them and are forced to concede that actually, they may have a point. It’s like watching a homeware catalogue come to life; a poster for evening drinks with delusions of grandeur; a procession of sleeping dogs, buzzing beehives, sentimental sayings and pointless crafting “hacks” you’ll forget instantly. All underpinned by vast, largely undeserved wealth. Ugh.

The Beckham Documentary

There are clearly fascinating things to be said about both Victoria Beckham and her struggles with vocation, self-image, self-worth. But for some reason, this three-part series opted not to say them. Instead, the experience was akin to consuming a sales catalogue. She obviously has good reason to bridle at what she describes as her “miserable cow” image. But sadly, she failed to do herself any favours with this guarded letdown of a series.

The Game Show

It had the potential to be the next big hit – except even camper, with a famous star as a deceased benefactor and a sharp-tongued personality managing her inheritance. What more could you want? As contestants competed, there was plenty of betrayal and arguing. But the rules quickly became bewildering: it’s even now too confusing to detail what precisely was happening. Even more disappointingly, we only saw brief appearances of the star via prerecorded videos. The series ended up smelling of a programme that was trying way too hard to live up to something way beyond it.

The Lena Dunham Romcom

How do you succeed a show that captured a generation? The pressure was immense for this glitzy romantic comedy about Jessica, a hopeful New Yorker who arrives in London with a broken heart. The star took her biggest role by the horns and was a delight to watch, reveling in Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very glossy and, paradoxically, was insufficient. Plus, the sheer amount of famous cameos involved felt icky.

Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping

Not even good enough to be ‘patchy’.

Given the smart inclusion of talented emerging comics, expectations were high. But sadly, most of it didn’t land. A recurring sketch was a single joke stretched to a dry pulp but repeated in every episode. One star seemed too willing to slip into a well-known irate mode. The writing room sketches, meanwhile, simply inspired the thought that they should probably have stayed in there a while longer.

The Knox Dramatisation

This retelling of the story of Amanda Knox was executive produced by Amanda Knox and pretty much exclusively presented the viewpoint of Amanda Knox. So, while there undoubtedly is an interesting drama to be made about the tragic 2007 murder, this was not it. The material needed to be treated sensitively. Instead, the series struggled painfully to find the right tone, lumbering from strangely breezy, slightly mannered farce to ultimately, real-life horror. Twisted? Perhaps. A total mess? Very much so.

Prime Target

We love the star … but did we believe him playing the greatest maths genius since, a man so smart he’s on the brink of a discovery that could destabilise society? Nope! This international thriller about government agencies targeting – and killing off – academics frankly got more farcical by the second. Silliness-by-numbers.

1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story

This uncritical portrait followed the content creator renowned for explicit exploits as she undertook her most extreme challenge yet. What on earth would possess her? What we wanted was far greater examination of her actual psyche, plus those of the men in the queue. They could at least have interviewed the now-famous mum who showed up to drag her son out of the queue. What we got was disturbing shots and absolutely no interrogation of her infamy whatsoever. And to think, the filmmaker has a young daughter too.