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Looking back, we reflect on the television offerings of the recent year, a handful of shows emerge not for their excellence, but for their spectacular failures. Ranging from cringe-inducing sequels to bafflingly poor documentaries, here are the programmes that left us utterly bewildered or just reaching for the remote.

The 'Sex and the City' Sequel

How to start with this love/hate spin-off? Burdened with dreadful writing, cringe-inducing character development (justice for Miranda!), and a mere 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the series struggled to justify its existence. Briefly, as the third season started, it seemed as if it had at last hit its stride. Then arrived an installment centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the showrunner declared this would be the last season. It ended on a bum note; the closeup of Miranda’s toilet flooded with poo was simply too symbolic. Still, fans certainly had a hoot dissecting every single “what on earth?” moment. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – danced around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who couldn't let out a small sob?

The Kim Kardashian Drama

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

But that was almost the smallest of this show's problems. The subject of a very rare zero star review, it was difficult to know where to begin enumerating the problems. The hilariously leaden dialogue? The mind-numbing veneration of wealth and consumption? The almost deliberate parade of tropes? Performances so poor they felt borderline malicious? Suffice it to say “all of the above” and forget about this series again. However, a new season has been commissioned, so we’re probably going to have to.

AKA Charlie Sheen

Given the legal troubles, domestic violence claims and parental failures, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not you’d really have known it from this three-part documentary which chuckled along at Sheen’s various episodes of reckless excess while struggling to tell us anything we didn’t already know. Instead, it felt as if this loose cannon was being pandered to, so any sympathy this series might induce should be saved for the people who have had to suffer close contact with this charming but dismissive egotist.

The Iris Affair

Naturally we understood it was preposterous from the outset: a drama about a supercomputer known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either solve global crises – or annihilate all of humanity. We persevered out of sheer admiration for its stars … but by the end, it felt like even they had given up trying. One scarcely cared when his character died, and the other ultimately hacking Charlie with an axe … in painfully slow-motion. Talk about admitting defeat.

The Gangster Drama

Shady figures convening in deserted boxing gyms? A certain band's Firestarter jackhammering away in club scenes? The late 90s called and demands its gangland drama back.

Actually, that is harsh on the gangland dramas of the late 90s. Many look a little dated now, but at least they didn’t suffer the embarrassment of having to accommodate baffling dialects. But there were plenty of other problems. Primarily that it was just profoundly boring; a dispute over narcotics territory between various London picaresques which felt a bit basic.

With Love, Meghan

Given the extent to which she provokes the ire of the nation’s performatively enraged commentators, it’s temptingly easy to admire the Duchess of Sussex’s various forays into quaint lifestyle as deliberate statements. But then you view them and are forced to concede that actually, they may have a point. It’s like watching a homeware catalogue come to life; a meme for wine o’clock with ideas of grandeur; a procession of sleeping dogs, humming beehives, sentimental sayings and pointless crafting “hacks” you’ll not remember instantly. All supported by vast, mostly undeserved wealth. Ugh.

The Beckham Documentary

There are clearly fascinating things to be discussed about regarding Victoria Beckham and her struggles with vocation, identity, self-worth. But for whatever reason, this documentary series opted not to say them. Rather, the experience was like reading a sales brochure. She obviously has good reason to resent what she describes as her “stern” image. But sadly, she didn’t do herself any helps with this guarded letdown of a series.

The Game Show

It had the potential to be the next cultural phenomenon – except even more extravagant, with a glamorous star playing dead and a well-known personality overseeing her estate. What more could you ask for? As players competed, there was plenty of betrayal and squabbling. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: it’s even now too complicated to detail what exactly 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 trying way too hard to live up to something way beyond it.

The Lena Dunham Romcom

How do you succeed a show that captured a generation? The pressure was enormous for this glitzy romcom about Jessica, a rosy-eyed New Yorker who lands in London with a broken heart. 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 glossy and, ironically, was insufficient. Plus, the sheer amount of celebrity cameos involved felt uncomfortable.

Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping

Not even good enough to be ‘patchy’.

Given the smart inclusion of gifted emerging comics, expectations were high. But unhappily, most of it didn’t land. A recurring sketch was a one-note joke stretched to a dry pulp but recurring in every episode. One star seemed too willing to slip into a well-known irate mode. The writing room sketches, meanwhile, simply inspired the idea that they should probably have remained in there a bit longer.

The Knox Dramatisation

This retelling of the story of Amanda Knox was overseen by Amanda Knox and pretty much solely presented the perspective 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 handled with care. Instead, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right tone, lumbering from oddly jaunty, slightly stylised farce to ultimately, real-life horror. Twisted? Perhaps. A complete mess? Very much so.

Prime Target

We admire the star … but did we believe him playing the greatest maths genius in history, a man so intelligent he’s on the brink of a discovery that could ruin society? Nope! This international thriller about secret services spying on – and killing off – intellectuals honestly got more farcical by the second. Formulaic nonsense.

The Bonnie Blue Documentary

This uncritical portrait followed the content creator renowned for sexual exploits as she prepared for her most extreme challenge yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we craved was way more examination of her actual psychology, plus those of the men in the queue. They could at least have spoken to the legendary mum who appeared to drag her son out of the queue. What we got was disturbing imagery and zero interrogation of her notoriety whatsoever. It's staggering to consider, the filmmaker has a young daughter too.