This Drifting Excrement Was Far Too Meaningful! It's the TV Letdowns of the Past Year.

Looking back, we reflect on the television landscape of the past year, a handful of series emerge not for their excellence, but for their notable shortcomings. From awkward sequels to confusingly poor docuseries, here are the programmes that had us scratching our heads or simply reaching for the remote.

The 'Sex and the City' Sequel

Where to begin with this love/hate follow-up? Burdened with dreadful scripts, cringe-inducing arcs (justice for Miranda!), and a paltry 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the show fought to justify its existence. Briefly, as the third season began, it seemed as if it had finally hit its stride. Then came an installment centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. Little surprise the showrunner declared this would be the final series. It concluded on a low point; the closeup of Miranda’s loo flooded with poo was simply too on-the-nose. Yet, fans certainly had a hoot dissecting every single “wtf?” moment. And as Carrie – a single woman once more – twirled around her sprawling townhouse to Barry White, who couldn't let out a small sob?

All’s Fair

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

But that was almost the least of this drama's problems. The recipient of a very rare zero star assessment, it was hard to know where to begin listing the flaws. The laughably leaden dialogue? The tedious veneration of affluence and consumption? The almost deliberate parade of tropes? Performances so bad they felt almost spiteful? Suffice it to say “each and every one” and forget about this show again. Except, a second season has been ordered, so we’re probably going to have to.

The Charlie Sheen Documentary

Given the restraining orders, abuse allegations and parental failures, it’s fair to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not that you’d truly have known it from this three-part docuseries which smirked its way at Sheen’s various episodes 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 show might evoke should be saved for the people who have had to endure proximity with this charming but flippant egotist.

The Iris Affair

Naturally we knew it was preposterous from the get-go: a thriller about a supercomputer known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either solve global crises – or annihilate all of humanity. We persevered out of pure admiration for its stars … but by the end, it felt like even they had given up trying. One scarcely cared when his character died, and the other ended up hacking Charlie with an axe … in super slow-motion. That's what you call admitting defeat.

MobLand

Dodgy characters convening in deserted boxing gyms? The Prodigy’s Firestarter blaring in club scenes? The late 90s called and demands its gangland drama back.

Actually, that is harsh on the crime shows of the late 90s. Many look a little old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t suffer the ignominy of having to accommodate baffling dialects. But there were plenty of other problems. Mainly that it was just profoundly dull; a dispute over narcotics territory between various cockney rogues which seemed rather simplistic.

With Love, Meghan

Considering the degree to which she grinds the gears of the nation’s performatively angry commentators, it’s almost tempting to applaud the Duchess of Sussex’s televised forays into twee homemaking as deliberate statements. But then you view 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 evening drinks with delusions of grandeur; a procession of sleeping dogs, buzzing beehives, sentimental platitudes and pointless crafting “tips” you’ll forget instantly. All underpinned by immense, largely unearned wealth. Ugh.

Victoria Beckham

There are clearly interesting things to be said about both Victoria Beckham and her journey with career, identity, self-worth. But for some reason, this three-part series chose not to explore them. Rather, the experience was akin to reading a sales brochure. She obviously has every right to bridle at what she describes as her “stern” image. But sadly, she didn’t do herself any helps with this cagey letdown of a series.

The Game Show

It should have been the next big hit – except even camper, with a famous star as a deceased benefactor and a sharp-tongued personality managing her inheritance. What more could you want? As contestants battled it out, there was plenty of betrayal and arguing. But the rules quickly became bewildering: 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 series ended up smelling of a production that was straining desperately 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 romantic comedy about Jessica, a rosy-eyed New Yorker who arrives 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 abundance of famous friends involved felt icky.

Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping

Not good enough to be ‘uneven’.

Given the shrewd recruitment of gifted younger comics, hopes were high. But unhappily, most of it fell flat. A particular sketch was a one-note joke stretched to a dry pulp but repeated in every episode. One star seemed too willing to slip into a familiar irate mode. The writing room sketches, meanwhile, 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 presented the viewpoint of Amanda Knox. So, while there probably is an interesting drama to be made about the tragic 2007 murder, this was not it. The subject matter needed to be handled with care. Instead, the series struggled painfully to find the right tone, lumbering from oddly jaunty, slightly stylised farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Complex? Arguably. A total mess? Very much so.

Prime Target

We love the star … but did we buy him playing the greatest maths genius since, a man so intelligent he’s on the verge of a discovery that could ruin society? Nope! This globe-trotting thriller about government agencies spying on – and eliminating – academics honestly got more absurd by the second. Silliness-by-numbers.

The Bonnie Blue Documentary

This hagiography followed the online personality notorious for explicit exploits as she prepared for her most extreme feat yet. What on earth would possess her? What we wanted was far greater interrogation of her true psychology, plus those of the men in the line. They could at least have spoken to the legendary mum who showed up to drag her son out of the queue. What we got was disturbing imagery and absolutely no critical analysis of her notoriety whatsoever. And to think, the documentary-maker has a teenage daughter too.