Top 10 Worst Decisions in TV History

#10: Letting Ryan Join the Police

“Line of Duty” (2012-)

After Dot Cottan’s urgent exit, the Organised Crime Group needed a new inside-man in the police, and that man ended up being Ryan Pilkington. He’d been a recurring character on the show for years, but at the end of series 5, we saw Ryan joining the plod, becoming a PC by series 6. He tells them that he wants to go on the straight and narrow and become a police officer, and for some reason, they believe him! He then wreaks havoc, murdering Lisa Patel and telling the OCG absolutely everything about what the police are investigating. He was eventually found out and fatally shot by DI Fleming.

#9: Trusting the Blathereen

“The Sarah Jane Adventures” (2007-11)

The Blathereen insist that not ALL Raxacoricofallapatorians are war-profiteering, hyper-capitalist maniacs, and after some goading, Sarah Jane only goes and believes them. But, of course, it turns out that they’re not just the Blathereen, they’re the SLITHEEN-Blathereen, related to the classic, green-skinned foes, and they want to turn Earth into a breeding ground for a plant called Rakweed, which is apparently delicious and will earn them a fortune. But perhaps Sarah Jane should have done some more research and found out that they have a double-barelled surname, or at the very least, examined that Rakweed for a bit longer. The Blathereen got themselves blown up for their trouble.

#8: Pete’s Ring

“Gavin & Stacey” (2007-24)

Pete and Dawn’s entire relationship was, clearly, a terrible decision, from getting married in the first place to their infamous, botched threeway with Seth. But the thing that ruined their relationship all over again was this memorable moment during their vow renewal, where Pete presents Dawn with the ring he’s chosen specially. He’d already been warned against this by Pam and Mick, but of course, didn’t listen, and Dawn was horrified. Their second-chance romance fizzled out at the altar, with Dawn refusing to even kiss him, and he ended up kicked out of the bedroom for weeks. It was a disaster that could have been avoided if Pete had only listened to Mick.

#7: Selling Their Superpowers

“Misfits” (2009-13)

In the one and only “Misfits” Christmas special, a man is going around the estate pretending to be Jesus, making use of a whole range of superpowers. The ASBO Five, meanwhile, learn that a bloke called Seth is in the business of buying and selling powers, and they promptly get rid of all theirs – which eventually find their way to Jesus. They sell them for far less than they should, with Nathan only getting two grand for his immortality, and then need to buy back new, sub-par superpowers at the end. Kelly’s telepathy becomes the power of rocket science; Curtis gets the power to swap gender; and Alisha gets the bizarre ability to see through other people’s eyes. It’s hard not to feel disappointed.

#6: David Sleeping with Julia

“Bodyguard” (2018)

PS Budd’s at the end of his rope, assigned to be the personal bodyguard to Home Secretary Julia Montague, who supported British intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq – the former of which Budd fought in. But he just can’t resist the allure of Montague, played by Keeley Hawes, and the two put their political differences aside and begin a short-lived and deeply inappropriate workplace affair. After Julia’s assassination, Budd ends up traumatised and in a tangled web of conspiracy, all further complicated by he and Julia’s brief tryst. We’re still not over him getting past her war-mongering politics in the first place, though.

#5: Tampering with the Parachutes

“Hollyoaks” (1995-)

Talk about blowback. In what’s arguably the most infamous death in “Hollyoaks” history, Sarah Barnes was accidentally assassinated by her own on/off girlfriend during a sky dive. Sarah’s other half, Lydia, was jealous of her longtime best friend Zoe, and was actually trying to murder Zoe by cutting the strings of her parachute. But the chutes got mixed up and Sarah plummeted to her death. We can’t imagine that Lydia ever thought this was a good plan, considering she was going to get sent down for murder either way. She tries to rescue the situation by framing Zoe, but does, indeed, get caught out and convicted.

#4: Taking the Chronolock

“Doctor Who” (1963-89; 2005-)

Jenna Coleman was all set to leave “Doctor Who”, so Clara had to die somehow, and the way she went was baffling, to say the least. While it makes sense as a culmination of her increasing recklessness, you can’t say that it was ever a sensible decision from her. Ashildr, AKA “Me”, has sentenced Rigsy to death for a crime he can’t remember, giving him a “Chronolock” that will send a quantum shade to execute him when it reaches zero. Clara, being a good samaritan, takes the chronolock from him without consulting the Doctor, which means she never finds out that Ashildr can simply remove it – so long as it’s on its original recipient. If only she’d had some patience!

#3: Stealing Kat’s Baby

“EastEnders” (1985-)

In the aftermath of such an extraordinary tragedy, it’s hardly surprising that Ronnie behaved irrationally. But swapping Kat’s baby with her own was one of the most outrageous things to ever occur in Soapland. For weeks, viewers had to watch Kat grieve for a son who was still alive while Ronnie hid away, getting thousands of complaints from distressed audience members. It took far longer than it should have done to get resolved, too, although showrunners did cut it down the complaints. Ronnie finally made the RIGHT decision and gave Alfie Moon back to his parents, with Samantha Womack soon leaving the show.

#2: Leaking the Tickel Emails

“The Thick of It” (2005-12)

Every episode of “The Thick of It” deals with at least one appalling decision by any number of its incompetent characters, but this was the culmination of years covering Whitehall’s leaking culture. Glenn and Terri’s botched leak of the email that would make junior minister Fergus come out of the Tickel scandal smelling of roses was the worst decision ever made, since they accidentally leaked an entire email chain mocking Tickel’s name. This damned everyone in the department. They all run around like headless chickens and eventually have to answer publicly for the leak in an inquiry. The scandal even brings down Malcolm in the end, this time permanently, after he perjures himself.

#1: Taking Ryan to Visit Tommy Lee Royce

“Happy Valley” (2014-23)

Viewers were just as horrified as Catherine to find out that Clare and Neil had been taking her grandson, Ryan, to visit his father, convicted murderer and sex offender Tommy Lee Royce, in prison. She follows them and gives them a piece of her mind, horrified that Ryan is in contact with Royce, though he doesn’t know the full details of Royce’s many crimes. The push-and-pull of series 3 was whether Ryan had been brought up well enough that he could resist Royce’s influence, which thankfully, he did, after being told by Ann Gallagher exactly what Royce had done and why he was going to spend the rest of his life in prison.

Let us know in the comments which disastrous mistakes you want to see in the top 20.