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Looking back, we consider the television landscape of the recent year, a handful of series emerge not for their brilliance, but for their spectacular failures. 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 love/hate follow-up? Burdened with woeful scripts, painful arcs (we demand better for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the series struggled to find its footing. Briefly, as the third season began, it seemed as if it had at last found its groove. Then arrived an episode centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. No wonder the showrunner declared this would be the last season. It concluded on a low point; the closeup of Miranda’s toilet full of poo was just way too on-the-nose. Still, fans undeniably had a hoot dissecting every single “wtf?” moment. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – twirled around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t release a small sob?

The Kim Kardashian Drama

‘Can Kim Kardashian act? Of course she can’t.’

But that was practically the smallest of this show's problems. The recipient of a exceedingly uncommon no-star review, it was difficult to know where to begin listing the problems. The hilariously wooden dialogue? The mind-numbing glorification of affluence and consumption? The seemingly deliberate procession of cliches? Acting so bad they felt borderline malicious? Suffice it to say “all of the above” and never speak of this series again. However, a new season has been ordered, so we’re probably going to have to.

AKA Charlie Sheen

Considering the legal troubles, abuse allegations and parental shortcomings, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a troubled figure. Not that you’d really have known it from this three-part documentary which chuckled along at Sheen’s various episodes of self-destructive hedonism while failing 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 evoke should be saved for the people who have had to suffer proximity with this charming but flippant egotist.

The Supercomputer Drama

Naturally we knew it was preposterous from the get-go: a drama about a AI known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either save the world – or destroy all of humanity. We persevered out of pure love for its leads … but by the end, it felt like even they had given up trying. One scarcely reacted when his character died, and the other ended up slicing Charlie with an axe … in super slow-motion. That's what you call admitting defeat.

MobLand

Dodgy figures meeting in empty boxing gyms? The Prodigy’s Firestarter blaring in club scenes? The late 90s called and wants its crime drama back.

Actually, 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 accommodate unconvincing dialects. But there were many other problems. Mainly that it was just really boring; a conflict over narcotics territory between various London rogues which seemed a bit basic.

With Love, Meghan

Considering the degree to which she provokes the ire of the nation’s performatively enraged commentators, it’s almost easy to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s various ventures into twee lifestyle as deliberate provocations. But then you view them and are compelled to concede that actually, they may have a point. It’s like watching a homeware magazine animated; a poster for wine o’clock with delusions of grandeur; a parade of sleeping dogs, buzzing beehives, sentimental platitudes and forgettable crafting “hacks” you’ll not remember instantly. All underpinned by vast, largely undeserved wealth. Ugh.

The Beckham Documentary

There are clearly fascinating things to be said about regarding Victoria Beckham and her struggles with vocation, self-image, self-acceptance. But for some reason, this three-part series chose not to say them. Instead, the experience was like consuming a sales catalogue. She obviously has every right to resent what she describes as her “stern” 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 more extravagant, with a famous star playing dead and a well-known personality overseeing her inheritance. What more could you want? As players competed, there was plenty of backstabbing and squabbling. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: it’s even now too confusing to detail what precisely was happening. Even more disappointingly, 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 way beyond it.

Too Much

How does one succeed a show that defined a generation? The pressure was enormous for this glitzy romantic comedy about Jessica, a rosy-eyed New Yorker who arrives in London with a shattered romance. The star took her biggest role by the horns and was joyous to watch, reveling in Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very slick and, paradoxically, was not enough. Plus, the sheer amount of celebrity friends involved felt icky.

The Sketch Show Return

Not even good enough to be ‘patchy’.

Given the shrewd recruitment of gifted younger comics, expectations were high. But sadly, most of it didn’t land. A particular sketch was a one-note joke milked to a dry pulp but repeated in every episode. One star seemed too willing to slip into a well-known ranting mode. The writing room sketches, meanwhile, simply provoked the idea that they should probably have stayed in there a while longer.

The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox

This dramatisation of the story of Amanda Knox was executive produced by Amanda Knox and pretty much exclusively presented the viewpoint of Amanda Knox. So, while there undoubtedly is an compelling drama to be made about the horrific 2007 murder, this was not it. The subject matter needed to be treated sensitively. Rather, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right voice, lumbering from oddly jaunty, slightly mannered farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Twisted? Arguably. A total mess? Absolutely.

Prime Target

We admire the lead actor … but did we buy him playing the greatest maths genius since, a man so smart he’s on the brink of a breakthrough that could destabilise society? Nope! This globe-trotting thriller about secret services spying on – and killing off – intellectuals honestly got more farcical by the second. Formulaic nonsense.

1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story

This uncritical portrait followed the online personality notorious for explicit exploits as she undertook her biggest challenge yet. What on earth would possess her? What we wanted was way more examination of her actual psyche, plus those of the men in the line. They could at least have spoken to the now-famous mum who showed up to haul her son out of the queue. What we got was horrific shots and absolutely no interrogation of her infamy whatsoever. And to think, the documentary-maker has a teenage daughter too.