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Looking back, we reflect on the television offerings of the recent year, a selection of series emerge not for their excellence, but for their notable shortcomings. Ranging from cringe-inducing sequels to confusingly poor docuseries, here are the programmes that left us scratching our heads or just reaching for the remote.

The 'Sex and the City' Sequel

How to start with this divisive follow-up? Plagued with dreadful writing, cringe-inducing arcs (we demand better for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the show struggled to justify its existence. For a moment, as the final series began, it seemed as if it had finally hit its stride. Then arrived an installment centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the creator declared this would be the final series. It concluded on a bum note; the lingering shot of Miranda’s toilet flooded with poo was just way too on-the-nose. Still, fans undeniably 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 let out a small sob?

All’s Fair

‘Can Kim Kardashian act? The answer is a resounding no.’

But that was almost the smallest of this show's problems. The recipient of a very rare zero star assessment, it was hard to know where to begin enumerating the flaws. The hilariously wooden dialogue? The tedious glorification of affluence and consumption? The seemingly wilful procession of tropes? Performances so poor they felt borderline malicious? 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.

AKA Charlie Sheen

Given the legal troubles, domestic violence allegations and parental failures, it’s fair to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not that you’d truly have gleaned it from this three-part docuseries which chuckled along at Sheen’s various bouts of self-destructive hedonism while failing to tell us a single thing we didn’t already know. Instead, 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 flippant egotist.

The Iris Affair

Of course we knew it was ridiculous from the outset: a drama 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 leads … but by the end, it felt like even they had stopped bothering. One scarcely cared when his character died, and the other ultimately hacking Charlie with an axe … in painfully slow-motion. Talk about giving up the ghost.

The Gangster Drama

Shady characters convening in empty boxing gyms? The Prodigy’s Firestarter blaring in club scenes? The late 90s called and demands its crime drama back.

Actually, that is harsh on the crime shows of the late 90s. Many look a little dated now, but at least they didn’t endure the embarrassment of having to accommodate baffling dialects. But there were plenty of other issues. Mainly that it was just profoundly dull; a conflict over drug-selling territory between various cockney picaresques which felt rather simplistic.

With Love, Meghan

Given the extent to which she provokes the ire of the nation’s ostentatiously enraged commentators, it’s temptingly easy to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s televised forays into twee homemaking as deliberate provocations. But then you watch them and are compelled to concede that actually, they might have a point. It’s like watching a homeware magazine animated; a meme for wine o’clock with ideas of grandeur; a procession of snoozing dogs, buzzing beehives, Hallmark sayings and forgettable crafting “hacks” you’ll forget instantly. All underpinned by vast, mostly unearned wealth. Ugh.

Victoria Beckham

There are obviously interesting things to be discussed about both Victoria Beckham and her struggles with vocation, identity, self-acceptance. But for some reason, this three-part series opted not to explore them. Instead, the viewing was akin to consuming a sales catalogue. She obviously has good reason to resent what she describes as her “miserable cow” image. But unfortunately, she didn’t do herself any favours with this cagey non-event of a series.

The Game Show

It should have been the next big hit – except even camper, with a glamorous star playing dead and a well-known personality managing her estate. What more could you ask for? As contestants battled it out, there was plenty of betrayal and arguing. But the rules quickly became bewildering: it’s even now too complicated to detail what precisely was happening. Even more disappointingly, we only saw brief appearances of the star via prerecorded videos. The show ended up smelling of a programme that was trying way too hard to emulate something way beyond it.

Too Much

How do you succeed a show that defined a generation? The expectation was enormous for this starry romantic comedy about Jessica, a hopeful New Yorker who lands in London with a broken heart. The lead actress seized the opportunity by the horns and was joyous to watch, reveling in Jane Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very glossy and, ironically, was insufficient. Plus, the sheer amount of famous friends involved felt uncomfortable.

The Sketch Show Return

Not good enough to be ‘patchy’.

Given the shrewd inclusion of gifted emerging comics, expectations were high. But unhappily, most of it fell flat. A recurring sketch was a one-note joke milked to a dry pulp but recurring in every episode. One star seemed too willing to slip into a familiar ranting mode. The writing room sketches, in contrast, simply inspired the idea that they should probably have remained in there a bit longer.

The Knox Dramatisation

This dramatisation of the story of Amanda Knox was executive produced by Amanda Knox and pretty much exclusively showcased the viewpoint of Amanda Knox. So, while there probably is an compelling drama to be made about the tragic 2007 murder, this was not it. The material needed to be handled sensitively. Instead, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right voice, lurching from oddly breezy, somewhat stylised farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Complex? Arguably. A total mess? Very much so.

The Maths Genius Thriller

We love the lead actor … but did we buy him playing the most brilliant maths genius since, a man so intelligent he’s on the brink of a discovery that could destabilise society? Nope! This globe-trotting thriller about government agencies targeting – and eliminating – academics frankly got more absurd by the second. Formulaic nonsense.

1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story

This uncritical portrait followed the content creator renowned for sexual escapades as she undertook her most extreme 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 queue. They could at least have spoken to the now-famous mum who appeared to haul her son out of the queue. What we got was disturbing shots and absolutely no critical analysis of her notoriety whatsoever. It's staggering to consider, the documentary-maker has a young daughter too.