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Looking back, we reflect on the television landscape of the past year, a selection of series emerge not for their excellence, but for their notable failures. Ranging from awkward spin-offs to confusingly poor documentaries, here are the productions that left us scratching our heads or just reaching for the remote.

And Just Like That

How to start with this love/hate follow-up? Plagued with woeful writing, painful character development (justice for Miranda!), and a mere 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the show struggled to justify its existence. Briefly, as the final season began, it looked like it had finally found its groove. Then arrived an episode all about Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the creator announced 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. Yet, viewers undeniably had a hoot picking apart every single “wtf?” episode. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – twirled around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who couldn't release a small sob?

The Kim Kardashian Drama

‘Is Kim Kardashian an actress? 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 hard to know where to start listing the problems. The hilariously leaden dialogue? The tedious veneration of affluence and consumption? The seemingly wilful parade of tropes? Performances so bad they felt almost malicious? Let’s just say “each and every one” and forget about this show again. Except, a new season has been commissioned, so we’re probably going to have to.

The Charlie Sheen Documentary

Given the legal troubles, abuse claims and parental failures, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not you’d really have gleaned it from this three-part docuseries which chuckled along at Sheen’s various episodes of self-destructive hedonism while struggling to tell us a single thing we didn’t already know. Rather, it felt as if this volatile personality was being indulged, so any sympathy this series might induce should be reserved for the people who have had to suffer proximity with this charming but flippant egotist.

The Supercomputer Drama

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 persevered out of sheer admiration 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 ended up hacking Charlie with an axe … in painfully slow-motion. Talk about admitting defeat.

MobLand

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

In truth, that is harsh on the gangland dramas of the late 90s. Many look a bit old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t endure the embarrassment of having to accommodate unconvincing dialects. But there were many other issues. Primarily that it was just really boring; a conflict over narcotics territory between various cockney picaresques which seemed rather simplistic.

The Meghan Markle Series

Given the extent to which she provokes the ire of the nation’s ostentatiously enraged commentators, it’s temptingly easy to admire the Duchess of Sussex’s various forays into quaint lifestyle as intentional statements. But then you view them and are compelled to admit that actually, they may have a point. It’s like watching a homeware catalogue animated; a poster for wine o’clock with delusions of grandeur; a procession of snoozing dogs, buzzing beehives, Hallmark sayings and forgettable crafting “hacks” you’ll forget instantly. All supported by vast, largely undeserved wealth. Ugh.

Victoria Beckham

There are clearly fascinating things to be said about regarding Victoria Beckham and her journey with vocation, identity, self-acceptance. But for whatever reason, this documentary series opted not to explore them. Instead, the viewing was like consuming a sales catalogue. She clearly has every right to resent what she describes as her “stern” image. But sadly, she didn’t do herself any favours with this guarded letdown of a series.

The Inheritance

It should have been the next big hit – except even camper, with a famous star playing dead and a sharp-tongued personality overseeing her estate. What more could you ask for? As players battled it out, there was plenty of backstabbing and squabbling. But the rules quickly became bewildering: it’s even now too complicated to detail what precisely was happening. Even more regrettably, we only saw glimpses of the star via prerecorded videos. The series ended up reeking of a production that was straining desperately to emulate something far greater than it.

The Lena Dunham Romcom

How does one succeed a show that captured a generation? The pressure was immense for this glitzy romcom about Jessica, a rosy-eyed New Yorker who lands in London with a broken heart. The star seized the opportunity by the horns and was a delight to watch, embodying Austen levels of romantic ideals. But it was all very glossy and, ironically, was insufficient. Plus, the abundance of famous friends involved felt icky.

Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping

Not good enough to be ‘uneven’.

Given the shrewd inclusion 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 dry pulp but recurring in every episode. One star seemed too willing to slip into a well-known irate mode. The writing room sketches, in contrast, simply inspired the idea that they should probably have stayed in there a bit longer.

The Knox Dramatisation

This retelling of the story of Amanda Knox was executive produced by Amanda Knox and pretty much solely showcased the perspective of Amanda Knox. So, while there probably is an interesting drama to be made about the tragic 2007 murder, this was not it. The material needed to be handled with care. Instead, the series struggled painfully to find the right tone, lumbering from oddly breezy, somewhat stylised farce to ultimately, real-life horror. Complex? Arguably. A complete mess? Very much so.

The Maths Genius Thriller

We admire the lead actor … but did we buy him playing the most brilliant maths genius in history, a man so smart he’s on the verge of a breakthrough that could destabilise society? Nope! This globe-trotting thriller about government agencies targeting – and killing off – intellectuals honestly got more farcical by the second. Formulaic nonsense.

The Bonnie Blue Documentary

This hagiography followed the content creator renowned for explicit exploits as she undertook her biggest challenge yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we wanted was way more examination of her true 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 shots and absolutely no critical analysis of her notoriety whatsoever. It's staggering to consider, the documentary-maker has a teenage daughter too.