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As we reflect on the television offerings of the recent year, a selection of series stand out not for their excellence, but for their spectacular shortcomings. From awkward sequels to confusingly poor documentaries, here are the programmes that had us utterly bewildered or simply reaching for the remote.

And Just Like That

How to start with this love/hate follow-up? Burdened with woeful scripts, painful character development (justice for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the series fought to find its footing. For a moment, as the third season started, it seemed as if it had at last hit its stride. Then arrived an episode centered on 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 just way too on-the-nose. Yet, fans certainly had a hoot picking apart every single “what on earth?” episode. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – twirled around her sprawling townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t release a little sob?

The Kim Kardashian Drama

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

But that was practically the smallest of this show's problems. The subject of a exceedingly uncommon zero star review, it was difficult to know where to begin listing the problems. The laughably wooden dialogue? The mind-numbing glorification of affluence and materialism? The almost wilful procession of tropes? Performances so bad they felt almost spiteful? Suffice it to say “each and every one” and never speak of 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 allegations and parental failures, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a troubled figure. Not you’d truly have known it from this multi-part docuseries which smirked its way at Sheen’s various bouts of reckless excess while failing to tell us anything we weren't already aware of. Instead, it felt as if this loose cannon was being indulged, so any pity this series might induce should be saved for the people who have had to endure proximity with this charismatic but flippant narcissist.

The Iris Affair

Naturally we understood it was preposterous from the get-go: a thriller about a AI known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either solve global crises – or annihilate 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 barely reacted when his character died, and the other ended up hacking Charlie with an axe … in super slow-motion. Talk about giving up the ghost.

MobLand

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

In truth, that is unfair on the gangland dramas of the late 90s. Many look a bit old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t suffer the ignominy of having to indulge unconvincing accents. But there were many other issues. Mainly that it was just profoundly dull; a conflict over narcotics territory between various London rogues which felt a bit basic.

With Love, Meghan

Considering the degree to which she grinds the gears of the nation’s performatively angry commentators, it’s temptingly tempting to admire the Duchess of Sussex’s various ventures into quaint lifestyle 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 come to life; a meme for wine o’clock with delusions of grandeur; a parade of sleeping dogs, buzzing beehives, Hallmark sayings and pointless crafting “hacks” you’ll not remember instantly. All supported by immense, largely undeserved wealth. Ugh.

Victoria Beckham

There are clearly interesting things to be said about both Victoria Beckham and her journey with vocation, self-image, self-worth. But for whatever reason, this three-part series opted not to say them. Instead, the experience was like reading a marketing catalogue. She clearly has every right to resent what she describes as her “stern” image. But sadly, she failed to do herself any helps with this guarded letdown 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 well-known personality overseeing her estate. What more could you want? As players battled it out, 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 brief appearances of the star via prerecorded videos. The series ended up reeking of a production that was trying way too hard to live up to something way beyond it.

Too Much

How does one succeed a show that defined a generation? The pressure was immense for this starry romcom about Jessica, a hopeful New Yorker who lands in London with a shattered romance. The star took her biggest role by the horns and was joyous to watch, embodying Austen levels of romantic ideals. But it was all very slick and, paradoxically, was not enough. Plus, the sheer amount of famous cameos involved felt uncomfortable.

Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping

Not good enough to be ‘patchy’.

Given the shrewd inclusion of talented emerging comics, hopes were high. But unhappily, most of it didn’t land. A particular sketch was a one-note joke milked 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 idea that they should probably have stayed in there a bit longer.

The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox

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 undoubtedly is an interesting drama to be made about the tragic 2007 murder, this was not it. The subject matter needed to be treated with care. Rather, the series struggled painfully to find the right tone, lumbering from oddly jaunty, somewhat mannered farce to ultimately, real-life horror. Complex? Arguably. A complete mess? Very much so.

The Maths Genius Thriller

We love the star … but did we buy him playing the greatest maths genius in history, a man so intelligent he’s on the brink of a discovery that could destabilise society? No! This globe-trotting thriller about government agencies spying on – and eliminating – academics frankly got more farcical by the second. Silliness-by-numbers.

The Bonnie Blue Documentary

This hagiography followed the content creator notorious for sexual escapades as she prepared for her biggest feat yet. What on earth would possess her? What we wanted was far greater examination of her actual psyche, plus those of the men in the queue. They could at least have interviewed the legendary mum who appeared to drag her son away from the queue. What we got was horrific shots and zero interrogation of her notoriety whatsoever. It's staggering to consider, the filmmaker has a young daughter too.