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Looking back, we consider the TV landscape of the recent year, a selection of shows emerge not for their excellence, but for their spectacular failures. Ranging from awkward sequels to confusingly poor docuseries, here are the programmes that left us utterly bewildered or just reaching for the remote.

The 'Sex and the City' Sequel

How to start with this divisive spin-off? Burdened with dreadful writing, cringe-inducing character development (justice for Miranda!), and a mere 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the series struggled to find its footing. For a moment, as the final season started, it looked like it had at last found its groove. Then arrived an episode centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the creator declared this would be the last season. It concluded on a low point; the lingering shot of Miranda’s loo flooded with poo was just way too on-the-nose. Yet, viewers certainly found joy picking apart every single “wtf?” moment. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – twirled around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t release a little 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 issues. The recipient of a very rare no-star review, it was difficult to know where to start enumerating the problems. The laughably leaden writing? The mind-numbing veneration of affluence and consumption? The seemingly deliberate parade of cliches? Performances so bad they felt borderline spiteful? Suffice it to say “each and every one” and forget about 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 failures, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a troubled figure. Not that you’d truly have known it from this three-part docuseries which smirked its way at Sheen’s various episodes of self-destructive excess while failing to tell us a single thing we weren't already aware of. Rather, it felt as if this volatile personality was being indulged, so any pity this show might induce should be saved for the people who have had to suffer close contact with this charismatic but dismissive narcissist.

The Iris Affair

Of course we understood it was preposterous from the get-go: a thriller about a AI known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either solve global crises – 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 given up trying. One scarcely cared when his character died, and the other ultimately hacking Charlie with an axe … in super slow-motion. Talk about giving up the ghost.

MobLand

Shady characters meeting in deserted boxing gyms? The Prodigy’s Firestarter blaring in club scenes? The late 90s called and demands its gangland drama back.

Actually, that is harsh on the gangland dramas of the late 90s. Many seem a bit dated now, but at least they didn’t suffer the embarrassment of having to accommodate baffling accents. But there were many other problems. Mainly that it was just really dull; a dispute over drug-selling territory between various London picaresques which felt rather simplistic.

With Love, Meghan

Considering the degree to which she grinds the gears of certain performatively angry commentators, it’s temptingly easy to admire the Duchess of Sussex’s televised forays into quaint lifestyle as deliberate provocations. But then you view them and are compelled to admit that in this case, they may have a point. It’s like watching a lifestyle magazine animated; a poster for evening drinks with ideas of grandeur; a parade of sleeping dogs, buzzing beehives, sentimental sayings and forgettable crafting “tips” you’ll forget instantly. All underpinned by immense, largely unearned wealth. Ugh.

The Beckham Documentary

There are obviously fascinating things to be said about both Victoria Beckham and her journey with vocation, identity, self-worth. But for whatever reason, this documentary series chose not to explore them. Rather, the experience was like reading a sales brochure. She clearly has good reason to bridle at what she describes as her “stern” image. But sadly, she failed to do herself any favours with this cagey letdown of a series.

The Game Show

It should have been the next cultural phenomenon – except even camper, with a glamorous star playing dead and a well-known personality managing her inheritance. What more could you want? As players battled it out, there was plenty of betrayal and arguing. But the rules quickly became bewildering: it’s even now too confusing to detail what exactly was happening. Even more disappointingly, we only saw brief appearances of the star via prerecorded videos. The show ended up smelling of a production that was straining desperately to emulate something far greater than it.

Too Much

How do you follow a show that captured 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 star took her biggest role by the horns and was a delight to watch, reveling in Jane Austen levels of romantic ideals. But it was all very slick and, ironically, was not enough. Plus, the abundance of celebrity cameos involved felt uncomfortable.

The Sketch Show Return

Not even good enough to be ‘patchy’.

Given the shrewd inclusion of gifted younger comics, hopes were high. But unhappily, most of it fell flat. A recurring sketch was a single joke stretched to a husk but repeated in every episode. One star seemed too willing to slip into a well-known irate mode. The behind-the-scenes sketches, meanwhile, 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 showcased the viewpoint of Amanda Knox. So, while there probably is an compelling drama to be made about the tragic 2007 murder, this isn’t it. The subject matter needed to be handled sensitively. Rather, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right tone, lumbering from strangely jaunty, somewhat stylised farce to ultimately, real-life horror. Complex? Perhaps. A total mess? Absolutely.

Prime Target

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

The Bonnie Blue Documentary

This hagiography followed the online personality renowned for explicit exploits as she prepared for her most extreme challenge yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we wanted was way more interrogation of her actual 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 away from the queue. What we got was horrific shots and zero interrogation of her infamy whatsoever. And to think, the documentary-maker has a teenage daughter too.