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Looking back, we reflect on the television offerings of the past year, a handful of shows emerge not for their excellence, but for their spectacular failures. Ranging from cringe-inducing sequels to bafflingly bad documentaries, here are the productions that had us scratching our heads or just reaching for the remote.

And Just Like That

Where to begin with this love/hate follow-up? Burdened with woeful scripts, cringe-inducing character development (justice for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the show fought to find its footing. Briefly, as the third series started, it looked like it had finally found its groove. Then arrived an episode all about Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the showrunner declared this would be the last season. It ended on a low point; the lingering shot of Miranda’s toilet flooded with poo was simply too on-the-nose. Yet, fans certainly found joy picking apart every single “wtf?” moment. And as Carrie – once again single – twirled around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t let out a little sob?

All’s Fair

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

But that was almost the smallest of this show's problems. The recipient of a very rare zero star review, it was difficult to know where to begin enumerating the problems. The laughably wooden dialogue? The tedious glorification of wealth and consumption? The seemingly wilful parade of tropes? Performances so poor they felt almost malicious? Let’s just say “all of the above” and never speak of this series again. However, a second season has been ordered, so we’re likely going to have to.

AKA Charlie Sheen

Considering the legal troubles, abuse allegations and fatherly failures, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a troubled figure. Not that you’d truly have known it from this multi-part documentary which smirked its way 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 loose cannon was being pandered to, so any pity this show might evoke should be saved for the people who have had to suffer close contact with this charismatic but flippant egotist.

The Iris Affair

Naturally we understood it was ridiculous from the get-go: a thriller about a supercomputer known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either save the world – or destroy all of humanity. We persevered out of sheer love for its stars … but by the end, it felt like even they had stopped bothering. One scarcely reacted when his character died, and the other ended up slicing Charlie with an axe … in painfully slow-motion. That's what you call admitting defeat.

The Gangster Drama

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 unfair on the gangland dramas of the late 90s. Many seem a bit old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t suffer the embarrassment of having to indulge baffling dialects. But there were plenty of other issues. Primarily that it was just really dull; a conflict over drug-selling territory between various cockney rogues which felt a bit basic.

With Love, Meghan

Considering the degree to which she grinds the gears of certain performatively angry commentators, it’s almost easy to admire the Duchess of Sussex’s televised ventures into twee lifestyle as deliberate provocations. But then you watch them and are forced to concede 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 sleeping dogs, buzzing beehives, sentimental sayings and forgettable crafting “hacks” you’ll not remember instantly. All supported by vast, largely unearned wealth. Ugh.

The Beckham Documentary

There are obviously interesting things to be discussed about both Victoria Beckham and her struggles with vocation, identity, self-worth. But for some reason, this three-part series chose not to explore them. Rather, the experience was akin to reading a sales catalogue. She clearly has every right to bridle at what she describes as her “miserable cow” image. But sadly, she didn’t do herself any helps with this guarded 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 as a deceased benefactor and a well-known personality overseeing her inheritance. What more could you ask for? As contestants battled it out, there was plenty of betrayal and squabbling. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: it’s even now too confusing to detail what precisely was happening. Even more regrettably, we only saw brief appearances of the star via prerecorded videos. The series ended up reeking of a programme that was trying way too hard to live up to something far greater than it.

The Lena Dunham Romcom

How does one succeed a show that captured a generation? The pressure was enormous for this starry romcom 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, embodying Jane Austen levels of romantic ideals. But it was all very slick and, ironically, was not enough. Plus, the abundance of famous cameos involved felt uncomfortable.

Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping

Not good enough to be ‘uneven’.

Given the smart recruitment of talented younger comics, hopes were high. But sadly, most of it didn’t land. A recurring sketch was a one-note joke milked to a husk but repeated in every episode. One star seemed too ready to slip into a well-known ranting mode. The writing room sketches, meanwhile, simply inspired the idea that they should probably have remained in there a while longer.

The Knox Dramatisation

This retelling of the story of Amanda Knox was overseen by Amanda Knox and pretty much exclusively presented the perspective of Amanda Knox. So, while there undoubtedly is an interesting drama to be made about the horrific 2007 murder, this isn’t it. The subject matter needed to be handled with care. Instead, the series struggled painfully to find the right tone, lurching from strangely jaunty, slightly stylised farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Twisted? Perhaps. A total mess? Absolutely.

Prime Target

We admire the star … but did we buy him playing the most brilliant maths genius in history, a man so intelligent he’s on the verge of a breakthrough that could destabilise society? No! This globe-trotting thriller about secret services targeting – and killing off – academics frankly got more absurd by the second. Silliness-by-numbers.

1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story

This uncritical portrait followed the content creator notorious for sexual exploits as she undertook her biggest challenge yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we craved was way more examination of her actual psyche, plus those of the men in the line. They could at least have interviewed the now-famous mum who showed up to drag 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 filmmaker has a teenage daughter too.