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Looking back, we reflect on the television landscape of the recent year, a handful of shows stand out not for their excellence, but for their notable failures. From cringe-inducing spin-offs to confusingly poor docuseries, here are the productions that had us utterly bewildered or just reaching for the remote.

The 'Sex and the City' Sequel

How to start with this love/hate spin-off? Plagued with woeful scripts, cringe-inducing arcs (justice for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the series fought to find its footing. For a moment, as the third series began, it seemed as if it had finally found its groove. Then came an installment all about Seema’s natural deodorant. No wonder the showrunner announced this would be the final series. It concluded on a low point; the lingering shot of Miranda’s toilet flooded with poo was simply too symbolic. Still, viewers undeniably had a hoot picking apart every single “what on earth?” episode. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – danced around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who couldn't let out a small sob?

The Kim Kardashian Drama

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

But that was almost the least of this show's problems. The recipient of a very rare no-star assessment, it was hard to know where to start listing the problems. The hilariously leaden dialogue? The tedious glorification of wealth and consumption? The seemingly deliberate procession of tropes? Performances so bad they felt almost spiteful? Let’s just say “all of the above” and forget about this show again. Except, a second season has been ordered, so we’re probably going to have to.

The Charlie Sheen Documentary

Given the legal troubles, abuse claims and fatherly shortcomings, it’s fair to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not you’d truly have gleaned it from this multi-part documentary which smirked its way at Sheen’s various bouts of reckless hedonism while struggling to tell us anything we weren't already aware of. Rather, it felt as if this volatile personality was being indulged, so any sympathy this series might evoke should be saved for the people who have had to endure proximity with this charming but flippant egotist.

The Supercomputer Drama

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 persevered out of sheer love for its stars … but by the end, it felt like even they had given up trying. One barely cared when his character died, and the other ended up hacking Charlie with an axe … in painfully slow-motion. Talk about giving up the ghost.

MobLand

Shady characters convening in empty boxing gyms? The Prodigy’s Firestarter jackhammering away 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 little old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t suffer the ignominy of having to indulge baffling dialects. But there were plenty of other problems. Mainly that it was just profoundly dull; a conflict over drug-selling territory between various London rogues which seemed a bit basic.

The Meghan Markle Series

Given the extent to which she provokes the ire of certain ostentatiously enraged commentators, it’s temptingly tempting to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s various forays into twee lifestyle as deliberate provocations. But then you watch them and are forced to concede that actually, they might have a point. It’s like watching a homeware catalogue come to life; a meme for evening drinks with delusions of grandeur; a parade of snoozing dogs, buzzing beehives, Hallmark platitudes and pointless crafting “hacks” you’ll forget instantly. All underpinned by immense, largely undeserved wealth. Ugh.

Victoria Beckham

There are clearly interesting things to be said about both Victoria Beckham and her journey with career, self-image, self-acceptance. But for whatever reason, this three-part series opted not to explore them. Rather, the experience was like reading a sales catalogue. She clearly has good reason to resent what she describes as her “stern” image. But unfortunately, she didn’t do herself any helps with this cagey letdown of a series.

The Inheritance

It should have been the next cultural phenomenon – except even camper, with a glamorous star playing dead and a sharp-tongued personality managing her estate. What more could you ask for? As players battled it out, there was plenty of betrayal and squabbling. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: it’s still too confusing to detail what exactly was happening. Even more disappointingly, we only saw glimpses of the star via filmed videos. The series ended up reeking of a programme that was straining desperately to emulate something far greater than it.

The Lena Dunham Romcom

How does one succeed a show that defined a generation? The pressure was enormous for this starry romcom about Jessica, a rosy-eyed New Yorker who lands 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 slick and, paradoxically, was not enough. Plus, the abundance of famous friends involved felt uncomfortable.

Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping

Not good enough to be ‘uneven’.

Given the smart recruitment of talented emerging comics, hopes were high. But sadly, most of it fell flat. A recurring sketch was a single joke milked to a husk but recurring in every episode. One star seemed too ready to slip into a familiar ranting 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 solely presented the perspective of Amanda Knox. So, while there undoubtedly is an compelling drama to be made about the tragic 2007 murder, this was not it. The subject matter needed to be treated with care. Instead, the series struggled painfully to find the right tone, lumbering from oddly breezy, somewhat stylised farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Twisted? Arguably. A total mess? Absolutely.

Prime Target

We admire the star … but did we believe him playing the most brilliant maths genius since, a man so smart he’s on the brink of a discovery that could destabilise society? Nope! This international thriller about secret services spying on – and killing off – academics frankly got more absurd by the second. Silliness-by-numbers.

1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story

This hagiography followed the online personality renowned for sexual escapades as she prepared for her most extreme feat yet. What on earth would possess her? What we craved was way more examination of her true psychology, plus those of the men in the queue. They could at least have interviewed the legendary mum who appeared to haul her son out of the queue. What we got was disturbing imagery and zero critical analysis of her notoriety whatsoever. It's staggering to consider, the documentary-maker has a teenage daughter too.