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Looking back, we consider the television landscape of the recent year, a selection of shows emerge not for their brilliance, but for their notable failures. From cringe-inducing spin-offs to confusingly bad documentaries, here are the programmes that had us scratching our heads or simply reaching for the remote.

And Just Like That

How to start with this divisive follow-up? Plagued with dreadful scripts, cringe-inducing arcs (justice for Miranda!), and a mere 71 seconds of beloved Samantha, the show struggled to justify its existence. For a moment, as the final series started, it looked like it had finally hit its stride. Then came an episode all about Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the creator announced this would be the final season. It concluded on a bum note; the closeup of Miranda’s toilet full of poo was simply too symbolic. Yet, fans certainly had a hoot picking apart every single “what on earth?” episode. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – danced around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who couldn't release a small sob?

The Kim Kardashian Drama

‘Can Kim Kardashian act? The answer is a resounding no.’

But that was practically the smallest of this drama's issues. The recipient of a very rare no-star review, it was difficult to know where to start listing the problems. The hilariously wooden writing? The mind-numbing glorification of affluence and consumption? The seemingly wilful procession of tropes? Acting so bad they felt almost spiteful? Suffice it to say “each and every one” and never speak of this series again. However, a second season has been ordered, so we’re likely going to have to.

AKA Charlie Sheen

Given the legal troubles, domestic violence claims and fatherly shortcomings, it’s fair to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not you’d truly have known it from this three-part docuseries which chuckled along at Sheen’s various bouts of self-destructive hedonism while struggling to tell us anything we didn’t already know. Instead, it felt as if this loose cannon was being indulged, so any pity this show might induce should be reserved for the people who have had to suffer proximity with this charismatic but flippant narcissist.

The Iris Affair

Naturally we understood it was ridiculous from the get-go: a thriller about a AI known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either save the world – or annihilate all of humanity. We stuck with it out of sheer admiration for its leads … but by the end, it felt like even they had stopped bothering. One barely cared when his character died, and the other ended up hacking Charlie with an axe … in painfully slow-motion. That's what you call admitting defeat.

MobLand

Shady characters meeting 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 gangland dramas of the late 90s. Many look a bit old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t suffer the embarrassment of having to accommodate unconvincing accents. But there were plenty of other problems. Primarily that it was just profoundly dull; a conflict over drug-selling territory between various cockney rogues which felt a bit basic.

With Love, Meghan

Given the degree to which she provokes the ire of the nation’s ostentatiously angry commentators, it’s temptingly easy to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s various forays into twee homemaking as deliberate statements. But then you watch them and are forced to admit that in this case, they might have a point. It’s like watching a lifestyle magazine animated; a poster for evening drinks with delusions of grandeur; a parade of snoozing dogs, humming beehives, Hallmark platitudes and pointless crafting “hacks” you’ll not remember instantly. All underpinned by immense, mostly undeserved wealth. Ugh.

The Beckham Documentary

There are clearly interesting things to be discussed about both Victoria Beckham and her journey with vocation, identity, self-acceptance. But for whatever reason, this three-part series opted not to explore them. Rather, the experience was like reading a sales catalogue. She clearly has good reason to resent what she describes as her “miserable cow” image. But sadly, she failed to do herself any favours with this cagey letdown of a series.

The Inheritance

It should have been the next big hit – except even more extravagant, with a famous star playing dead and a sharp-tongued personality managing her estate. What more could you ask for? As players competed, there was plenty of backstabbing and arguing. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: it’s even now too complicated 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 programme that was straining desperately to live up to something way beyond it.

The Lena Dunham Romcom

How do you succeed a show that captured a generation? The expectation was enormous for this glitzy romcom about Jessica, a hopeful New Yorker who lands in London with a broken heart. The star seized the opportunity by the horns and was a delight to watch, reveling in Jane Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very slick and, ironically, was insufficient. Plus, the sheer amount of famous cameos involved felt icky.

Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping

Not even good enough to be ‘uneven’.

Given the shrewd recruitment of gifted emerging comics, expectations were high. But unhappily, most of it fell flat. A particular sketch was a one-note 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 Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox

This retelling 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 probably is an compelling drama to be made about the tragic 2007 murder, this isn’t it. The subject matter needed to be treated sensitively. Rather, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right tone, lurching from oddly breezy, slightly stylised farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Complex? Arguably. A total mess? Absolutely.

The Maths Genius Thriller

We admire 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 discovery that could ruin society? Nope! This international thriller about government agencies spying on – and eliminating – academics frankly got more farcical by the second. Formulaic nonsense.

The Bonnie Blue Documentary

This uncritical portrait followed the online personality notorious for explicit exploits as she prepared for her biggest feat yet. What on earth would motivate her? What we craved was far greater examination of her true psychology, plus those of the men in the queue. They could at least have spoken to the legendary mum who showed up to haul her son out of the queue. What we got was disturbing imagery and absolutely no critical analysis of her infamy whatsoever. It's staggering to consider, the filmmaker has a teenage daughter too.