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Looking back, we consider the television landscape of the past year, a handful of series emerge not for their brilliance, but for their spectacular shortcomings. Ranging from awkward sequels to bafflingly poor docuseries, here are the productions that had us scratching our heads or just reaching for the remote.

The 'Sex and the City' Sequel

How to start with this divisive follow-up? Burdened with woeful writing, cringe-inducing arcs (justice for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the show fought to justify its existence. For a moment, as the final season started, it looked like it had finally found its groove. Then came an installment centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the showrunner declared this would be the final series. It ended on a bum note; the lingering shot of Miranda’s loo flooded with poo was just way too on-the-nose. Yet, fans certainly had a hoot dissecting every single “wtf?” moment. And as Carrie – once again single – twirled around her sprawling townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t let out a small sob?

All’s Fair

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

But that was practically the smallest of this show's problems. The recipient of a exceedingly uncommon no-star assessment, it was hard to know where to start enumerating the problems. The laughably leaden writing? The mind-numbing veneration of affluence and materialism? The almost wilful parade of cliches? Performances so poor they felt borderline spiteful? Let’s just say “all of the above” and never speak of this series again. However, a second season has been commissioned, so we’re probably going to have to.

The Charlie Sheen Documentary

Given the legal troubles, abuse allegations and fatherly failures, it’s fair to say Charlie Sheen has been a troubled figure. Not you’d really have known it from this multi-part documentary which chuckled along at Sheen’s various bouts of self-destructive excess while struggling to tell us anything we didn’t already know. Instead, it felt as if this loose cannon was being indulged, so any sympathy this series might induce should be reserved for the people who have had to suffer close contact with this charming but flippant narcissist.

The Iris Affair

Naturally we knew it was preposterous from the outset: a thriller about a supercomputer 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 leads … but by the end, it felt like even they had stopped bothering. One barely cared when his character died, and the other ended up slicing Charlie with an axe … in painfully slow-motion. Talk about admitting defeat.

The Gangster Drama

Dodgy figures meeting in deserted boxing gyms? A certain band's Firestarter jackhammering away in club scenes? The late 90s called and demands its gangland drama back.

In truth, that is unfair on the gangland dramas of the late 90s. Many seem a little dated now, but at least they didn’t suffer the ignominy of having to indulge baffling dialects. But there were many other issues. Mainly that it was just really boring; a conflict over narcotics territory between various cockney rogues which seemed rather simplistic.

With Love, Meghan

Considering the degree to which she grinds the gears of certain performatively enraged commentators, it’s almost tempting to admire the Duchess of Sussex’s televised ventures into twee homemaking as intentional provocations. But then you view them and are forced to admit that actually, they may have a point. It’s like watching a lifestyle catalogue animated; a meme for evening drinks with ideas of grandeur; a procession of snoozing dogs, buzzing beehives, Hallmark platitudes and pointless crafting “tips” you’ll not remember instantly. All supported by immense, mostly undeserved wealth. Ugh.

Victoria Beckham

There are clearly fascinating things to be said about both Victoria Beckham and her journey with career, identity, self-acceptance. But for some reason, this documentary series chose not to explore them. Rather, the viewing was akin to consuming a sales catalogue. She obviously has every right to bridle at what she describes as her “stern” image. But unfortunately, she failed to do herself any helps with this guarded non-event of a series.

The Inheritance

It should have been the next big hit – except even more extravagant, with a famous star as a deceased benefactor and a sharp-tongued personality managing her estate. What more could you ask for? As players competed, there was plenty of backstabbing and squabbling. But the rules quickly became bewildering: it’s still too complicated to explain what exactly was happening. Even more regrettably, we only saw brief appearances of the star via filmed videos. The series ended up smelling of a programme that was straining desperately to emulate something far greater than it.

The Lena Dunham Romcom

How does one 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 broken heart. The lead actress took her biggest role by the horns and was joyous to watch, embodying Austen levels of romantic ideals. But it was all very glossy and, ironically, was not enough. Plus, the sheer amount of celebrity friends involved felt icky.

Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping

Not even good enough to be ‘patchy’.

Given the smart recruitment of gifted emerging comics, expectations were high. But unhappily, most of it fell flat. A recurring sketch was a single joke stretched to a husk but recurring in every episode. One star seemed too willing to slip into a familiar 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 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 was not it. The material needed to be handled with care. Instead, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right voice, lumbering from oddly breezy, somewhat mannered farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Complex? Arguably. A complete mess? Very much so.

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 discovery that could ruin society? No! This international thriller about government agencies targeting – and killing off – intellectuals honestly got more absurd by the second. Silliness-by-numbers.

1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story

This uncritical portrait followed the online personality renowned for explicit escapades as she undertook her biggest feat yet. What on earth would possess her? What we wanted was way more interrogation of her actual psyche, 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 absolutely no critical analysis of her notoriety whatsoever. And to think, the filmmaker has a teenage daughter too.