🔗 Share this article

As we reflect on the television offerings of the past year, a selection of series stand out not for their excellence, but for their notable failures. From awkward spin-offs to bafflingly bad docuseries, here are the programmes that left us utterly bewildered or just reaching for the remote.

The 'Sex and the City' Sequel

Where to begin with this love/hate follow-up? Burdened with woeful scripts, painful character development (justice for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the series struggled to justify its existence. For a moment, as the third season started, it seemed as if it had finally hit its stride. Then came an installment all about Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the creator announced this would be the final series. It ended on a low point; the lingering shot of Miranda’s loo flooded with poo was simply too symbolic. Still, fans undeniably found joy dissecting every single “wtf?” episode. And as Carrie – once again single – danced around her palatial townhouse to Barry White, who couldn't release a little sob?

All’s Fair

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

But that was almost the smallest of this show's problems. The recipient of a very rare no-star assessment, it was difficult to know where to start enumerating the problems. The hilariously wooden dialogue? The mind-numbing veneration of affluence and materialism? The almost wilful procession of tropes? Acting so poor they felt borderline malicious? Let’s just say “all of the above” and forget about this show again. Except, a new season has been commissioned, so we’re probably going to have to.

AKA Charlie Sheen

Given the legal troubles, abuse claims and fatherly failures, it’s fair to say Charlie Sheen has been a troubled figure. Not you’d really have gleaned it from this three-part documentary which chuckled along at Sheen’s various bouts of reckless excess while struggling to tell us anything we weren't already aware of. Rather, it felt as if this volatile personality was being pandered to, so any sympathy this series might induce should be saved for the people who have had to endure close contact with this charming but dismissive narcissist.

The Supercomputer Drama

Naturally we understood it was preposterous from the outset: a drama about a AI known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either save the world – or annihilate all of humanity. We persevered out of sheer love for its leads … but by the end, it felt like even they had stopped bothering. One scarcely cared when his character died, and the other ended up slicing Charlie with an axe … in super slow-motion. Talk about admitting defeat.

The Gangster Drama

Dodgy characters convening in deserted boxing gyms? The Prodigy’s Firestarter jackhammering away 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 look a little dated now, but at least they didn’t suffer the embarrassment of having to accommodate unconvincing dialects. But there were many other issues. Mainly that it was just really dull; a conflict over narcotics territory between various cockney picaresques which felt rather simplistic.

With Love, Meghan

Given the degree to which she provokes the ire of certain ostentatiously angry commentators, it’s almost easy to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s televised forays into twee homemaking as deliberate provocations. 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 catalogue come to life; a meme for evening drinks with ideas of grandeur; a parade of sleeping dogs, humming beehives, sentimental sayings and pointless crafting “hacks” you’ll forget instantly. All supported by immense, mostly undeserved wealth. Ugh.

The Beckham Documentary

There are clearly fascinating things to be discussed about both Victoria Beckham and her journey with career, identity, self-acceptance. But for some reason, this documentary series opted not to explore them. Instead, the experience was akin to consuming a sales brochure. She clearly has every right to bridle at what she describes as her “stern” image. But sadly, she failed to do herself any helps with this guarded letdown of a series.

The Inheritance

It had the potential to be the next big hit – except even camper, with a famous star as a deceased benefactor and a well-known personality overseeing her estate. What more could you want? As contestants battled it out, there was plenty of backstabbing and arguing. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: it’s even now 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 reeking of a programme that was straining desperately to live up to something way beyond it.

Too Much

How do you succeed a show that captured a generation? The expectation was enormous for this starry romcom about Jessica, a hopeful New Yorker who arrives in London with a broken heart. The star took her biggest role by the horns and was joyous to watch, embodying Jane Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very glossy and, paradoxically, was not enough. Plus, the sheer amount of famous cameos involved felt uncomfortable.

Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping

Not even good enough to be ‘uneven’.

Given the shrewd inclusion of talented younger comics, hopes were high. But unhappily, most of it didn’t land. A particular 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 well-known irate mode. The writing room sketches, meanwhile, simply provoked the idea that they should probably have stayed in there a while 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 sensitively. Instead, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right tone, lurching from strangely breezy, slightly mannered farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Twisted? Arguably. A total mess? Very much so.

The Maths Genius Thriller

We admire the star … but did we believe him playing the greatest maths genius since, a man so smart he’s on the brink of a discovery that could ruin society? Nope! This international thriller about secret services spying on – and killing off – academics frankly got more absurd by the second. Formulaic nonsense.

The Bonnie Blue Documentary

This uncritical portrait followed the online personality renowned for explicit exploits as she undertook her most extreme challenge yet. What on earth would possess her? What we craved was way more examination of her actual psyche, plus those of the men in the queue. They could at least have interviewed the legendary mum who showed up to drag her son out of the queue. What we got was horrific imagery and absolutely no critical analysis of her infamy whatsoever. And to think, the filmmaker has a teenage daughter too.