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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 bafflingly bad docuseries, here are the programmes that had us scratching our heads or just reaching for the remote.

And Just Like That

How to start with this love/hate follow-up? Burdened with woeful scripts, painful arcs (justice for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the show struggled to find its footing. Briefly, as the final series began, it seemed as if it had at last hit its stride. Then came an episode centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. No wonder the creator declared this would be the final series. It ended on a low point; the lingering shot of Miranda’s loo full of poo was simply too on-the-nose. Still, viewers undeniably had a hoot dissecting every single “wtf?” moment. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – danced around her sprawling townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t release a small sob?

All’s Fair

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

But that was almost the least of this drama's problems. The subject of a very rare zero star assessment, it was difficult to know where to start enumerating the problems. The laughably wooden dialogue? The mind-numbing glorification of wealth and materialism? The seemingly wilful parade of tropes? Performances so bad they felt almost malicious? Let’s just say “all of the above” and forget about this show again. Except, a new season has been commissioned, so we’re likely going to have to.

The Charlie Sheen Documentary

Given the legal troubles, domestic violence claims and fatherly failures, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not you’d truly have known it from this multi-part docuseries which smirked its way at Sheen’s various bouts of reckless hedonism while failing to tell us a single thing we didn’t already know. Rather, it felt as if this volatile personality was being indulged, so any sympathy this series might induce should be saved for the people who have had to suffer proximity with this charismatic 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 pure admiration for its stars … but by the end, it felt like even they had given up trying. One barely reacted 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 meeting in deserted boxing gyms? A certain band's Firestarter blaring in club scenes? The late 90s called and demands its gangland drama back.

Actually, that is harsh on the crime shows of the late 90s. Many seem a bit old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t suffer the embarrassment of having to accommodate unconvincing dialects. But there were plenty of other problems. Mainly that it was just profoundly dull; a dispute over narcotics territory between various cockney picaresques which seemed a bit basic.

The Meghan Markle Series

Considering the degree to which she provokes the ire of the nation’s performatively enraged commentators, it’s temptingly tempting to admire the Duchess of Sussex’s televised forays into quaint lifestyle as intentional provocations. But then you watch them and are compelled to concede that actually, they may have a point. It’s like watching a lifestyle magazine animated; a meme for wine o’clock with ideas of grandeur; a procession of snoozing dogs, buzzing beehives, Hallmark platitudes and pointless crafting “hacks” you’ll forget instantly. All underpinned by vast, largely undeserved wealth. Ugh.

The Beckham Documentary

There are clearly fascinating things to be discussed about both Victoria Beckham and her struggles with career, self-image, self-worth. But for some reason, this documentary series opted not to say them. Rather, the experience was akin to consuming a sales catalogue. She clearly has good reason to resent what she describes as her “stern” image. But sadly, she failed to do herself any favours with this cagey non-event of a series.

The Inheritance

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

Too Much

How does one follow a show that defined a generation? The expectation was immense for this starry romantic comedy about Jessica, a rosy-eyed New Yorker who arrives in London with a broken heart. The lead actress took her biggest role by the horns and was a delight to watch, reveling in Jane Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very slick and, paradoxically, was insufficient. Plus, the sheer amount of celebrity friends involved felt icky.

Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping

Not even good enough to be ‘uneven’.

Given the smart recruitment of gifted emerging comics, hopes were high. But unhappily, most of it fell flat. A particular sketch was a single joke stretched to a dry pulp but repeated in every episode. One star seemed too willing to slip into a familiar irate mode. The behind-the-scenes sketches, meanwhile, simply inspired the thought that they should probably have stayed in there a bit longer.

The Knox Dramatisation

This dramatisation of the story of Amanda Knox was overseen by Amanda Knox and pretty much exclusively showcased the viewpoint of Amanda Knox. So, while there probably is an interesting drama to be made about the horrific 2007 murder, this was not it. The material needed to be treated sensitively. Rather, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right voice, lurching from oddly jaunty, slightly stylised farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Twisted? Arguably. A total mess? Very much so.

The Maths Genius Thriller

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

The Bonnie Blue Documentary

This hagiography followed the content creator notorious for sexual exploits as she undertook her biggest feat yet. What on earth would possess her? What we craved was far greater interrogation of her true psyche, plus those of the men in the line. They could at least have interviewed the now-famous mum who appeared to haul her son away from the queue. What we got was disturbing shots and absolutely no critical analysis of her infamy whatsoever. And to think, the filmmaker has a teenage daughter too.