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Looking back, we consider the TV offerings of the recent year, a selection of shows emerge not for their excellence, but for their spectacular failures. Ranging from cringe-inducing sequels to confusingly poor documentaries, here are the programmes that had us utterly bewildered or simply reaching for the remote.

And Just Like That

Where to begin with this love/hate follow-up? Burdened with woeful writing, painful character development (we demand better for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the series fought to find its footing. Briefly, as the third series started, it seemed as if it had finally found its groove. Then came an installment centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the creator announced this would be the last season. It ended on a bum note; the lingering shot of Miranda’s loo full of poo was just way too on-the-nose. Still, fans undeniably had a hoot picking apart every single “wtf?” episode. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – twirled around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who couldn't release a little 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 problems. The recipient of a exceedingly uncommon zero star assessment, it was hard to know where to begin enumerating the flaws. The laughably leaden dialogue? The tedious glorification of wealth and consumption? The almost deliberate parade of tropes? Acting so bad they felt almost spiteful? Let’s just say “each and every one” and never speak of this series again. Except, a new season has been commissioned, so we’re likely going to have to.

The Charlie Sheen Documentary

Considering the legal troubles, abuse allegations and fatherly failures, it’s fair to say Charlie Sheen has been a troubled figure. Not you’d truly have gleaned it from this multi-part docuseries which chuckled along at Sheen’s various episodes of self-destructive hedonism while failing to tell us a single thing we didn’t already know. Instead, it felt as if this loose cannon was being indulged, so any pity this series might evoke should be saved for the people who have had to suffer close contact with this charming but dismissive narcissist.

The Iris Affair

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

The Gangster Drama

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

In truth, that is harsh on the crime shows of the late 90s. Many look a bit old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t endure the ignominy of having to accommodate baffling dialects. But there were many other problems. Mainly that it was just profoundly boring; a dispute over narcotics territory between various cockney rogues which felt rather simplistic.

The Meghan Markle Series

Given the degree to which she provokes the ire of certain performatively enraged commentators, it’s almost easy to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s various forays into twee homemaking as deliberate statements. But then you watch them and are compelled to concede that in this case, they might have a point. It’s like watching a lifestyle magazine animated; a poster for evening drinks with ideas of grandeur; a procession of sleeping dogs, buzzing beehives, sentimental platitudes and pointless crafting “hacks” you’ll forget instantly. All supported by immense, largely undeserved wealth. Ugh.

The Beckham Documentary

There are clearly interesting things to be said about regarding Victoria Beckham and her struggles with career, self-image, self-acceptance. But for some reason, this three-part series chose not to explore them. Rather, the experience was like reading a sales brochure. She obviously has every right to bridle at what she describes as her “miserable cow” image. But sadly, she didn’t do herself any favours with this cagey non-event of a series.

The Game Show

It had the potential to be the next big hit – except even camper, with a glamorous star as a deceased benefactor and a well-known personality managing her estate. What more could you want? As players competed, there was plenty of backstabbing and arguing. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: it’s still too confusing to detail what precisely was happening. Even more regrettably, we only saw brief appearances of the star via prerecorded videos. The series ended up smelling of a programme that was straining desperately to emulate something way beyond it.

Too Much

How do you follow 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 shattered romance. The lead actress seized the opportunity by the horns and was joyous to watch, reveling in 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 ‘uneven’.

Given the shrewd recruitment of talented emerging comics, expectations were high. But unhappily, most of it fell flat. A particular sketch was a single joke milked to a dry pulp but recurring in every episode. One star seemed too ready to slip into a familiar irate mode. The writing room sketches, meanwhile, simply provoked the idea that they should probably have stayed in there a while longer.

The Knox Dramatisation

This dramatisation of the story of Amanda Knox was overseen by Amanda Knox and pretty much exclusively showcased the perspective of Amanda Knox. So, while there probably is an interesting drama to be made about the horrific 2007 murder, this isn’t it. The material needed to be handled sensitively. Rather, the series struggled painfully to find the right voice, lumbering from oddly jaunty, somewhat stylised farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Twisted? Perhaps. A total mess? Absolutely.

The Maths Genius Thriller

We admire the lead actor … but did we buy him playing the most brilliant maths genius in history, a man so intelligent he’s on the verge of a breakthrough that could destabilise society? No! This globe-trotting thriller about secret services targeting – and eliminating – intellectuals frankly got more farcical by the second. Silliness-by-numbers.

1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story

This uncritical portrait followed the online personality notorious for sexual exploits as she undertook her most extreme challenge yet. What on earth would possess her? What we wanted was way more interrogation of her true psychology, plus those of the men in the queue. They could at least have spoken to the now-famous mum who appeared to haul her son away from the queue. What we got was horrific shots and zero interrogation of her notoriety whatsoever. It's staggering to consider, the filmmaker has a teenage daughter too.