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Looking back, we reflect on the television landscape of the past year, a handful of shows emerge not for their excellence, but for their spectacular failures. From cringe-inducing spin-offs to bafflingly bad documentaries, here are the programmes that had us utterly bewildered or just reaching for the remote.

The 'Sex and the City' Sequel

Where to begin with this divisive follow-up? Burdened with woeful scripts, painful arcs (we demand better for Miranda!), and a mere 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 came an episode centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the creator announced this would be the last season. It ended on a low point; the lingering shot of Miranda’s toilet full of poo was simply too on-the-nose. Still, viewers certainly found joy picking apart every single “what on earth?” episode. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – twirled around her sprawling townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t release a small sob?

The Kim Kardashian Drama

‘Can Kim Kardashian act? Of course she can’t.’

But that was almost the least of this show's problems. The subject of a very rare no-star assessment, it was hard to know where to start listing the flaws. The laughably wooden writing? The mind-numbing veneration of affluence and materialism? The almost deliberate procession of tropes? Acting so bad they felt almost spiteful? Suffice it to say “all of the above” and never speak of this show again. Except, a second season has been commissioned, so we’re probably going to have to.

AKA Charlie Sheen

Given the legal troubles, abuse allegations and parental shortcomings, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not that you’d truly have known it from this three-part docuseries which chuckled along at Sheen’s various bouts of self-destructive excess while struggling to tell us anything we weren't already aware of. Instead, it felt as if this loose cannon was being indulged, so any sympathy this show might evoke should be saved for the people who have had to endure close contact with this charming but dismissive egotist.

The Iris Affair

Naturally we knew it was preposterous from the get-go: a thriller about a AI known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either solve global crises – or annihilate all of humanity. We persevered out of sheer love for its leads … but by the end, it felt like even they had given up trying. One scarcely reacted when his character died, and the other ended up hacking Charlie with an axe … in painfully slow-motion. That's what you call admitting defeat.

The Gangster Drama

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

Actually, that is unfair on the crime shows of the late 90s. Many seem a bit old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t endure the embarrassment of having to indulge baffling accents. But there were plenty of other problems. Mainly that it was just profoundly boring; a conflict over drug-selling territory between various London rogues which seemed rather simplistic.

With Love, Meghan

Given the degree to which she grinds the gears of the nation’s performatively angry commentators, it’s almost tempting to admire the Duchess of Sussex’s televised ventures into twee lifestyle as intentional statements. But then you view them and are forced to concede that in this case, they might have a point. It’s like watching a homeware magazine animated; a poster for evening drinks with delusions of grandeur; a procession of snoozing dogs, humming beehives, sentimental platitudes and pointless crafting “hacks” you’ll not remember instantly. All underpinned by immense, largely unearned wealth. Ugh.

Victoria Beckham

There are clearly interesting things to be said about both Victoria Beckham and her struggles with career, self-image, self-worth. But for some reason, this three-part series opted not to say them. Instead, the viewing was akin to reading a marketing brochure. She obviously has good reason to resent what she describes as her “miserable cow” image. But unfortunately, she failed to do herself any helps with this cagey letdown of a series.

The Game Show

It had the potential to be the next cultural phenomenon – except even more extravagant, with a glamorous star playing dead and a well-known personality overseeing her inheritance. What more could you ask for? As players competed, there was plenty of betrayal and squabbling. But the rules quickly became bewildering: it’s even now too complicated to detail what exactly was happening. Even more disappointingly, we only saw glimpses of the star via prerecorded videos. The series ended up smelling of a production that was trying way too hard to emulate something far greater than it.

Too Much

How does one succeed a show that defined a generation? The expectation was enormous for this starry romantic comedy about Jessica, a hopeful New Yorker who arrives in London with a broken heart. The lead actress took her biggest role by the horns and was joyous to watch, reveling in Jane Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very glossy and, ironically, was not enough. Plus, the abundance of celebrity friends involved felt uncomfortable.

Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping

Not good enough to be ‘patchy’.

Given the shrewd inclusion of gifted emerging comics, expectations were high. But sadly, most of it didn’t land. A recurring sketch was a single joke milked to a husk but recurring in every episode. One star seemed too willing to slip into a familiar irate mode. The behind-the-scenes sketches, meanwhile, simply provoked the idea that they should probably have remained in there a while longer.

The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox

This dramatisation of the story of Amanda Knox was overseen 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 isn’t it. The material needed to be handled sensitively. Instead, the series struggled painfully to find the right tone, lumbering from strangely breezy, slightly stylised farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Complex? Arguably. A complete mess? Absolutely.

The Maths Genius Thriller

We admire the star … but did we believe him playing the most brilliant maths genius in history, a man so intelligent he’s on the brink of a breakthrough that could ruin society? No! This globe-trotting thriller about government agencies spying on – and killing off – academics frankly got more absurd by the second. Silliness-by-numbers.

The Bonnie Blue Documentary

This hagiography followed the content creator notorious for explicit exploits as she undertook her most extreme challenge yet. What on earth would possess her? What we craved was way more examination of her actual psychology, plus those of the men in the line. They could at least have spoken to the legendary mum who showed up to drag her son away from the queue. What we got was horrific imagery and absolutely no critical analysis of her infamy whatsoever. And to think, the filmmaker has a teenage daughter too.