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Looking back, we reflect on the TV offerings of the recent year, a handful of series stand out not for their excellence, but for their notable shortcomings. Ranging from cringe-inducing spin-offs to bafflingly bad docuseries, here are the productions that left us scratching our heads or just reaching for the remote.

And Just Like That

Where to begin with this love/hate spin-off? Burdened with woeful scripts, painful arcs (justice for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the series fought to find its footing. For a moment, as the final series started, it looked like it had at last found its groove. Then arrived an episode all about Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the showrunner declared this would be the final season. It concluded on a bum note; the closeup of Miranda’s toilet full of poo was simply too on-the-nose. Still, viewers certainly had a hoot dissecting every single “what on earth?” moment. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – twirled around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who didn’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 problems. The recipient of a very rare zero star review, it was difficult to know where to begin enumerating the problems. The laughably wooden writing? The mind-numbing glorification of affluence and consumption? The seemingly wilful parade of tropes? Performances so poor they felt almost malicious? Let’s just say “all of the above” and never speak of this series again. Except, a second season has been ordered, so we’re likely going to have to.

AKA Charlie Sheen

Considering the legal troubles, domestic violence allegations and parental failures, it’s fair to say Charlie Sheen has been a troubled figure. Not you’d really have gleaned it from this multi-part docuseries which chuckled along at Sheen’s various episodes of self-destructive excess while struggling to tell us anything 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 saved for the people who have had to suffer proximity with this charming but dismissive narcissist.

The Supercomputer Drama

Naturally we understood it was ridiculous from the outset: a drama 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 admiration for its leads … 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. That's what you call giving up the ghost.

MobLand

Shady figures meeting in empty boxing gyms? The Prodigy’s Firestarter jackhammering away in club scenes? The late 90s called and demands its crime drama back.

In truth, that is unfair on the gangland dramas of the late 90s. Many seem a bit dated now, but at least they didn’t endure the embarrassment of having to accommodate unconvincing accents. But there were plenty of other problems. Mainly that it was just profoundly dull; a conflict over drug-selling territory between various cockney picaresques which seemed a bit basic.

The Meghan Markle Series

Considering the extent to which she provokes the ire of certain performatively enraged commentators, it’s almost tempting to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s various ventures into quaint lifestyle as intentional provocations. But then you watch them and are forced to concede that actually, they might have a point. It’s like watching a homeware catalogue animated; a meme for evening drinks with ideas of grandeur; a parade of sleeping dogs, humming beehives, Hallmark platitudes and pointless crafting “hacks” you’ll not remember instantly. All underpinned by immense, mostly undeserved wealth. Ugh.

Victoria Beckham

There are obviously fascinating things to be said about both Victoria Beckham and her journey with vocation, identity, self-worth. But for some reason, this three-part series chose not to explore them. Rather, the experience was akin to consuming a marketing brochure. She clearly has every right to resent what she describes as her “stern” image. But unfortunately, she didn’t do herself any favours with this guarded non-event of a series.

The Inheritance

It had the potential to be the next big hit – except even camper, with a glamorous star playing dead and a well-known personality managing her estate. What more could you want? As players competed, there was plenty of backstabbing and squabbling. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: it’s still too confusing to detail what precisely was happening. Even more regrettably, we only saw glimpses of the star via prerecorded videos. The show ended up smelling of a production that was trying way too hard to live up to something way beyond it.

The Lena Dunham Romcom

How does one follow a show that captured a generation? The pressure was immense for this starry romantic comedy about Jessica, a rosy-eyed New Yorker who lands in London with a broken heart. The lead actress took her biggest role by the horns and was a delight to watch, reveling in Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very slick and, paradoxically, was insufficient. Plus, the sheer amount of celebrity friends involved felt icky.

Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping

Not even good enough to be ‘patchy’.

Given the smart inclusion of talented emerging comics, expectations were high. But unhappily, most of it didn’t land. A particular sketch was a single joke stretched to a dry pulp but recurring in every episode. One star seemed too willing to slip into a familiar ranting mode. The writing room sketches, in contrast, simply inspired the thought that they should probably have stayed in there a while longer.

The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox

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 horrific 2007 murder, this was not it. The subject matter needed to be treated with care. Instead, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right voice, lumbering from oddly jaunty, slightly mannered farce to ultimately, real-life horror. Complex? Arguably. A total mess? Absolutely.

The Maths Genius Thriller

We love the lead actor … but did we believe him playing the greatest maths genius in history, a man so smart he’s on the brink of a breakthrough that could destabilise society? Nope! This international thriller about government agencies targeting – and killing off – academics frankly got more farcical by the second. Formulaic nonsense.

The Bonnie Blue Documentary

This hagiography followed the content creator notorious for explicit exploits as she prepared for her most extreme challenge yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we craved was far greater examination 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 haul her son away from the queue. What we got was horrific imagery and zero critical analysis of her notoriety whatsoever. And to think, the documentary-maker has a young daughter too.