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Looking back, we reflect on the television offerings of the recent year, a handful of series stand out not for their brilliance, but for their spectacular failures. From awkward sequels to confusingly bad docuseries, here are the programmes that had us scratching our heads or simply reaching for the remote.

The 'Sex and the City' Sequel

How to start with this love/hate follow-up? Burdened with dreadful scripts, painful character development (justice for Miranda!), and a mere 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the show fought to justify its existence. Briefly, as the third series started, it looked like it had finally hit its stride. Then arrived an installment centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. No wonder the creator announced this would be the final series. It concluded on a bum note; the lingering shot of Miranda’s toilet full of poo was just way too symbolic. Still, fans certainly had a hoot picking apart every single “what on earth?” episode. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – twirled around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t let out a little sob?

The Kim Kardashian Drama

‘Is Kim Kardashian an actress? The answer is a resounding no.’

But that was almost the least of this show's problems. The subject of a very rare no-star review, it was difficult to know where to begin enumerating the flaws. The hilariously leaden writing? The mind-numbing veneration of affluence and materialism? The almost wilful procession of tropes? Acting so bad they felt almost spiteful? Suffice it to 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 parental shortcomings, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not that you’d truly have gleaned it from this three-part documentary which chuckled along at Sheen’s various bouts of reckless excess while failing to tell us a single thing we didn’t already know. Rather, it felt as if this loose cannon was being indulged, so any sympathy this show might evoke should be reserved for the people who have had to endure close contact with this charming but dismissive egotist.

The Iris Affair

Of course we knew it was ridiculous from the outset: a drama about a AI known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either solve global crises – or destroy all of humanity. We stuck with it out of pure love for its stars … but by the end, it felt like even they had stopped bothering. One scarcely cared when his character died, and the other ultimately slicing Charlie with an axe … in painfully slow-motion. That's what you call giving up the ghost.

MobLand

Dodgy characters meeting in empty boxing gyms? The Prodigy’s Firestarter jackhammering away in club scenes? The late 90s called and demands its crime drama back.

In truth, that is unfair on the crime shows of the late 90s. Many seem a bit dated now, but at least they didn’t suffer the ignominy of having to accommodate baffling dialects. But there were many other issues. Primarily that it was just really dull; a conflict over drug-selling territory between various London picaresques which felt rather simplistic.

With Love, Meghan

Given the degree to which she provokes the ire of certain ostentatiously enraged commentators, it’s temptingly easy to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s televised forays into quaint lifestyle as deliberate statements. But then you watch them and are compelled to concede that in this case, they may have a point. It’s like watching a lifestyle catalogue animated; a meme for evening drinks with ideas of grandeur; a parade of snoozing dogs, buzzing beehives, sentimental sayings and forgettable crafting “tips” you’ll not remember instantly. All supported by immense, mostly undeserved wealth. Ugh.

Victoria Beckham

There are clearly fascinating things to be said about regarding Victoria Beckham and her struggles with career, self-image, self-acceptance. But for some reason, this documentary series opted not to explore them. Instead, the viewing was akin to consuming a marketing catalogue. She obviously has good reason to bridle at what she describes as her “stern” image. But unfortunately, she didn’t do herself any favours with this guarded non-event of a series.

The Inheritance

It had the potential to be the next cultural phenomenon – except even camper, with a glamorous star playing dead and a sharp-tongued personality overseeing her inheritance. What more could you want? As players competed, there was plenty of betrayal and arguing. But the rules quickly became bewildering: it’s still too confusing to explain what precisely was happening. Even more regrettably, we only saw glimpses of the star via filmed videos. The show ended up smelling of a programme that was trying way too hard to emulate something far greater than it.

The Lena Dunham Romcom

How do you follow a show that defined a generation? The pressure was immense for this starry romantic comedy about Jessica, a hopeful New Yorker who arrives 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, ironically, was not enough. Plus, the abundance of famous cameos involved felt icky.

Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping

Not good enough to be ‘uneven’.

Given the shrewd recruitment of gifted younger comics, expectations were high. But sadly, most of it fell flat. A recurring sketch was a single joke stretched to a husk but repeated in every episode. One star seemed too ready to slip into a familiar irate mode. The writing room sketches, in contrast, simply provoked the thought that they should probably have stayed in there a while longer.

The Knox Dramatisation

This dramatisation of the story of Amanda Knox was executive produced by Amanda Knox and pretty much solely presented the viewpoint of Amanda Knox. So, while there probably is an interesting drama to be made about the tragic 2007 murder, this was not it. The subject matter needed to be treated sensitively. Instead, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right tone, lurching from oddly breezy, somewhat stylised farce to ultimately, real-life horror. Complex? Arguably. A total mess? Absolutely.

The Maths Genius Thriller

We love the lead actor … but did we buy him playing the most brilliant maths genius since, a man so smart he’s on the verge of a breakthrough that could ruin society? Nope! This international thriller about secret services targeting – and killing off – intellectuals honestly got more absurd by the second. Formulaic nonsense.

1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story

This hagiography followed the content creator renowned for sexual escapades as she undertook her biggest feat yet. What on earth would possess her? What we craved was far greater interrogation of her actual psychology, plus those of the men in the line. They could at least have interviewed the legendary mum who appeared to drag her son out of the queue. What we got was horrific imagery and zero interrogation of her notoriety whatsoever. It's staggering to consider, the filmmaker has a teenage daughter too.