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Looking back, we reflect on the TV offerings of the past year, a selection of shows emerge not for their excellence, but for their spectacular shortcomings. Ranging from cringe-inducing sequels to confusingly poor documentaries, here are the productions that left us scratching our heads or just reaching for the remote.

The 'Sex and the City' Sequel

Where to begin with this love/hate follow-up? Burdened with dreadful scripts, painful character development (we demand better for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the show fought to find its footing. Briefly, as the final series began, it seemed as if it had at last hit its stride. Then arrived an installment centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. No wonder the showrunner announced this would be the last season. It concluded on a bum note; the closeup of Miranda’s loo full of poo was just way too on-the-nose. Still, viewers certainly had a hoot picking apart every single “wtf?” episode. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – danced around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t let out a small sob?

The Kim Kardashian Drama

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

But that was practically the smallest of this drama's issues. The subject of a very rare no-star assessment, it was difficult to know where to begin enumerating the flaws. The hilariously wooden writing? The mind-numbing veneration of wealth and materialism? The almost wilful parade of cliches? Performances so poor they felt borderline spiteful? Suffice it to say “all of the above” and never speak of this series again. Except, a second season has been commissioned, so we’re likely going to have to.

AKA Charlie Sheen

Given the legal troubles, abuse allegations and fatherly shortcomings, it’s fair to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not that you’d really have gleaned it from this multi-part docuseries which chuckled along at Sheen’s various bouts of reckless hedonism while struggling to tell us anything we didn’t already know. Instead, it felt as if this volatile personality was being indulged, so any pity this show might evoke should be reserved for the people who have had to endure proximity with this charismatic but dismissive narcissist.

The Iris Affair

Of course we understood it was preposterous from the get-go: a thriller about a AI known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either save the world – or destroy 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 reacted when his character died, and the other ended up slicing Charlie with an axe … in painfully slow-motion. Talk about giving up the ghost.

The Gangster Drama

Shady characters convening in empty boxing gyms? A certain band'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 seem a bit dated now, but at least they didn’t suffer the ignominy of having to accommodate unconvincing accents. 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.

The Meghan Markle Series

Considering the extent to which she grinds the gears of the nation’s ostentatiously angry commentators, it’s almost tempting to admire the Duchess of Sussex’s televised ventures into twee lifestyle as intentional provocations. But then you view them and are forced to concede that actually, they might have a point. It’s like watching a lifestyle catalogue come to life; a poster for wine o’clock with ideas of grandeur; a procession of sleeping dogs, humming beehives, sentimental platitudes and pointless crafting “hacks” you’ll not remember instantly. All underpinned by vast, mostly undeserved wealth. Ugh.

Victoria Beckham

There are clearly interesting things to be said about both Victoria Beckham and her journey with vocation, identity, self-acceptance. But for whatever reason, this three-part series opted not to say them. Instead, the viewing was akin to consuming a sales brochure. She obviously has good reason to resent what she describes as her “stern” image. But unfortunately, she failed to do herself any favours with this cagey non-event of a series.

The Inheritance

It should have been the next big hit – except even more extravagant, with a famous star as a deceased benefactor and a well-known personality managing her estate. What more could you want? As players battled it out, there was plenty of betrayal and arguing. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: it’s even now too complicated to detail what exactly was happening. Even more disappointingly, we only saw glimpses 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 do you follow a show that captured 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 a delight to watch, reveling in Jane Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very glossy and, ironically, was not enough. Plus, the abundance of celebrity cameos involved felt uncomfortable.

The Sketch Show Return

Not even good enough to be ‘uneven’.

Given the smart recruitment of talented emerging comics, hopes were high. But unhappily, most of it didn’t land. 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 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 presented the perspective of Amanda Knox. So, while there undoubtedly is an interesting drama to be made about the tragic 2007 murder, this was not it. The material needed to be handled sensitively. Rather, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right tone, lurching from oddly jaunty, somewhat stylised farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Complex? Arguably. A complete mess? Very much so.

Prime Target

We love the lead actor … but did we believe him playing the most brilliant maths genius in history, a man so intelligent he’s on the brink of a breakthrough that could ruin society? Nope! This international thriller about government agencies targeting – and killing off – academics honestly got more absurd by the second. Silliness-by-numbers.

The Bonnie Blue Documentary

This uncritical portrait followed the content creator notorious for explicit exploits as she undertook her biggest feat yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we wanted was far greater interrogation of her actual psyche, plus those of the men in the queue. They could at least have interviewed the now-famous mum who showed up 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 filmmaker has a young daughter too.