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Looking back, we consider the television offerings of the recent year, a selection of shows emerge not for their excellence, but for their spectacular shortcomings. Ranging from awkward sequels to confusingly poor docuseries, here are the programmes that had us utterly bewildered or just reaching for the remote.

And Just Like That

How to start with this love/hate spin-off? Plagued with dreadful scripts, cringe-inducing character development (justice for Miranda!), and a mere 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the show struggled to find its footing. For a moment, as the final series started, it seemed as if it had finally found its groove. Then arrived an episode all about Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the showrunner announced this would be the final season. It concluded on a bum note; the lingering shot of Miranda’s toilet flooded with poo was simply too symbolic. Yet, viewers certainly had a hoot dissecting every single “what on earth?” moment. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – twirled around her sprawling townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t release a little sob?

All’s Fair

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

But that was almost the least of this show's issues. The recipient of a exceedingly uncommon no-star assessment, it was difficult to know where to start listing the problems. The laughably leaden writing? The tedious glorification of wealth and consumption? The almost wilful parade of tropes? Acting so bad they felt borderline malicious? Let’s just say “each and every one” 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 restraining orders, domestic violence claims and fatherly shortcomings, it’s fair 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 self-destructive excess while failing to tell us a single thing we weren't already aware of. Rather, it felt as if this loose cannon was being pandered to, so any pity this show might evoke should be reserved for the people who have had to suffer proximity with this charismatic but dismissive narcissist.

The Supercomputer Drama

Of course we understood it was preposterous from the outset: 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 pure love for its stars … but by the end, it felt like even they had stopped bothering. One barely reacted when his character died, and the other ultimately hacking Charlie with an axe … in super slow-motion. Talk about admitting defeat.

The Gangster Drama

Dodgy characters convening in empty boxing gyms? A certain band's Firestarter blaring in club scenes? The late 90s called and demands its gangland 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 endure the ignominy of having to accommodate baffling dialects. But there were many other issues. Primarily that it was just really dull; a dispute over drug-selling territory between various London rogues which seemed rather simplistic.

With Love, Meghan

Given the degree to which she grinds the gears of the nation’s ostentatiously angry commentators, it’s almost easy to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s various ventures into twee homemaking as deliberate provocations. But then you watch them and are forced to admit that in this case, they may have a point. It’s like watching a lifestyle magazine animated; a poster for wine o’clock with ideas of grandeur; a parade of sleeping dogs, buzzing beehives, Hallmark sayings and pointless crafting “hacks” you’ll not remember instantly. All supported by immense, mostly undeserved wealth. Ugh.

Victoria Beckham

There are clearly fascinating things to be discussed about regarding Victoria Beckham and her struggles with career, self-image, self-acceptance. But for some reason, this three-part series opted not to say them. Instead, the experience was akin to consuming a sales catalogue. She clearly has every right to resent what she describes as her “miserable cow” image. But unfortunately, she failed to do herself any favours with this guarded non-event of a series.

The Game Show

It had the potential to be the next big hit – except even more extravagant, with a famous star as a deceased benefactor and a sharp-tongued personality managing her estate. What more could you ask for? As players competed, there was plenty of betrayal and arguing. But the rules quickly became bewildering: it’s even now 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 reeking of a programme that was straining desperately to live up to something way beyond it.

Too Much

How do you follow a show that captured a generation? The expectation was enormous for this starry romantic comedy 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 slick and, ironically, was not enough. Plus, the sheer amount of famous friends involved felt uncomfortable.

The Sketch Show Return

Not good enough to be ‘patchy’.

Given the shrewd recruitment of gifted emerging comics, hopes were high. But sadly, most of it fell flat. A recurring 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 familiar irate mode. The writing room sketches, in contrast, simply provoked the idea that they should probably have stayed 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 viewpoint of Amanda Knox. So, while there probably is an compelling drama to be made about the tragic 2007 murder, this was not it. The material needed to be handled with care. Rather, the series struggled painfully to find the right tone, lumbering from strangely jaunty, somewhat mannered farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Twisted? Perhaps. A total mess? Absolutely.

Prime Target

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

The Bonnie Blue Documentary

This uncritical portrait followed the content creator notorious for sexual exploits as she prepared for her most extreme challenge 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 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 shots and zero interrogation of her infamy whatsoever. And to think, the documentary-maker has a young daughter too.