Top 20 Most S**t TV Shows

#20: “Eldorado” (1992-93)

One of the worst soap operas ever created, you can see how people thought “Eldorado” might have done well. A soap following British expats in a fictionalised version of the Costa del Sol sounds like something people would enjoy, but it wasn’t to be. The big problem was that they picked unknown, inexperienced actors, not to mention that the constant on-location shooting meant the sound quality was abysmal. It was plagued with backstage drama, too, with one of its producers quitting the show after it took a toll on her mental health. Most people didn’t give “Eldorado” the time of day and just kept on watching “Corrie”.

#19: “Tumble” (2014)

What if “Strictly” was about gymnastics? That was the bold question the BBC wanted to answer in 2014 when it commissioned “Tumble”, teaching willing celebrities gymnastics routines. Unfortunately, watching people be bad at gymnastics isn’t as interesting as watching them get better at dancing. Though the first two episodes drew an audience of millions, they rapidly dropped off, with the last four not even being in the top 30 most-viewed TV shows of the week on BBC One. Unsurprisingly, the show was cancelled after just one series, and we’re not sure anybody was sad to see it go. Its first and only winner was actor Bobby Lockwood, whose career hasn’t exactly reached new heights in subsequent years.

#18: “The Drop Dead Show” (1998)

Called “the most explicit gameshow on television”, Channel 4 wheeled out Davina McCall to try and scare us all into living better. The one-off programme investigated everything that was affecting Britons’ health, from smoking to drinking to exercise and bad diets. But what it’s most remembered for is the moment near the very end of the episode, where a member of the audience is invited to defecate in the studio toilets. These toilets weren’t plumbed in, with the intention being that some scientists were going to take the specimen away and examine it for signs of ill-health. We can’t believe they made Davina look at a member of the public’s excrement.

#17: “Splash!” (2013-14)

While this was marginally more interesting than “Tumble”, “Splash!” went down in history as one of ITV’s biggest misfires. We’re sure a lot of viewers were tuning in just to watch Tom Daley, the celebs’ mentor, demonstrate how diving is meant to be done. And indeed, Tom Daley was the most entertaining part of the show, because it’s just not very interesting to watch a bunch of TV presenters panic over doing a basic jump from a three-metre board. Strangest of all, though, was Jo Brand turning up as a judge, apparently on her “style” credentials. How many people did ITV ask before they got to her?

#16: “Freeze the Fear with Wim Hof” (2022)

Another dreadful ITV competition was this very medically-dubious programme about the benefits of cold water. Presented by the jarring duo of Holly Willoughby and Lee Mack, for some reason, celebs were shipped into the Alps to be trained up by Dutch “ice man” Wim Hof. It was all meant to encourage resilience and force celebrities to wrestle with their inner demons, but it wasn’t particularly entertaining. Much like “Splash!” and “Tumble”, watching celebs trying to put up with being cold for as long as possible is boring. It all seems irresponsible, though, since there are now dozens of deaths allegedly linked to people practicing the “Wim Hof Method” by exposing themselves to cold water.

#15: “The Apprentice” (2005-)

It remains one of the BBC’s biggest shows, but are people tuning in to get tips on how to start a successful business, or are they watching for the secondhand embarrassment of the bizarre challenges the contestants go through? For our money, it’s the latter, and the more rubbish the challenge, the funnier the results will be. One infamously bad episode in recent years was when they were made to create and launch an advertising campaign for a water brand. Not only were the brands themselves appalling, with one looking more like a milkshake, but the North H2O ad was one of the worst ever seen on the show. But all of this cringe is “The Apprentice’s” innate appeal, so we hope it doesn’t change.

#14: “OFI Sunday” (2005)

For a few weeks in 2005, Chris Evans, then one of the UK’s highest-paid entertainers, fronted a chat show on ITV. Despite the wild success of his previous show “TFI Friday” – well, its success until he got bored and handed it over to various “guest hosts” – lightning didn’t strike twice. People thought Evans was obnoxious and that the show was poorly put together, with producers of one episode not even bothering to book a guest. Most strangely of all, though, was Evans’ inaugural guest, Billie Piper, hot off the heels of their marriage ending the previous year. Evans and Piper hadn’t finalised their divorce at the time, and it was a weird vibe all round.

#13: “Hole in the Wall” (2008-09)

Japanese gameshows never seem to do well when they’re adapted for other markets, and “Hole in the Wall” is a fine example of this phenomenon. There were, somehow, two series of this show, predicated entirely on celebrities trying to jump through foam walls to avoid being knocked into a pool, all while wearing silver, lycra jumpsuits. They all looked completely ridiculous, and there was also no real skill involved in making it through the wall. It was either easy or comically hard, with some shapes basically designed to ensure the celebrity contestants fell into the water at least once. Even the high-energy hosting of Anton du Beke couldn’t save it.

#12: “Naked Jungle” (2000)

One of the strangest incidents in British television history happened in 2000, when Keith Chegwin from “Swap Shop” fronted an X-rated version of the children’s programme “Jungle Run”. Dubbed “Naked Jungle”, it saw its contestants – all stripped bare – compete in the same games and on the same set as the normal version of “Jungle Run”, and it certainly ruffled feathers. The press was appalled that they were frolicking around in their birthday suits, not to mention promoting the lascivious, naturist lifestyle, though it was ruled not to have breached broadcasting rules because the nudity was in a non-sexual situation.

#11: “Crossroads” (1964-88; 2001-03)

In both the original run and its maligned revival, “Crossroads” rose to higher and higher levels of infamy. Widely parodied by Victoria Wood in her recurring “Acorn Antiques” sketch, “Crossroads” viewers were more interested in watching the production mistakes than watching the storylines unfold. Though it ran for over two decades at first, poor ratings eventually led to its demise – only for it to be brought back from the dead more than ten years later. But nobody cared about the revival, either, and its legendarily bad final episode, where the entire reboot turns out to have been a dream of a supermarket checkout girl, has ensured it’s never had a third go around.

#10: “Balls of Steel” (2005-08)

This blokey game show was presented by Mark Dolan years before he pivoted to GBNews, and despite getting three series, was derided throughout its run. Its most popular segment was “The Annoying Devil”, where someone dressed as the devil would go around and play pranks on members of the public. These included driving a smart car slowly enough to block traffic on purpose, painting swear words on children’s faces, and driving a speedboat in front of local fishermen. The show received widespread complaints, but Ofcom ultimately didn’t uphold any of them.

#9: “The Piano” (2023-)

Created by the same production team that gave us “Bake Off”, it’s safe to say that “The Piano” hasn’t reached the lofty heights of its predecessor. Somehow, they keep making more series of this, with members of the public invited to show off their piano chops in the country’s many train stations. Despite the effusive reactions of the spectators, we’re not sure that “The Piano” is bringing much wider musical appreciation to the public. They certainly don’t all seem to be rushing out to listen to classical piano compositions or lengthy, improvised jazz pieces. Nor have the winners gone on to achieve much fame. Some people say it’s inspirational, others say it’s pointless, but one thing’s for sure: it’s definitely cheap to make.

#8: “Fat Families” (2010)

The 2000s were a treasure trove of television shows aimed at shaming people into losing weight, something we’re not sure worked given the UK’s obesity rate. But that didn’t stop Steve Miller from getting stuck in, tackling over-eating families with pure, unbridled hatred. He turned up on people’s doorsteps and treated them as if they’re not even human, parading them around in public and asking bystanders to comment on their weight. It’s the kind of thing you can’t make anymore, for good reason, and a genre of television we really hope doesn’t make a comeback. What Steve Miller’s doing now is anyone’s guess.

#7: “Horne & Corden” (2009)

Possibly the worst sketch show ever produced in Britain – though it’s close between this and Catherine Tate’s “Hard Cell” – Horne and Corden was meant to capitalise on the massive popularity of “Gavin & Stacey”. Unfortunately, people didn’t watch “Gavin & Stacey” because of the raw star power of James Corden and Mathew Horne. Despite Horne’s sketch credentials and Corden’s successful writing career, you’ll struggle to find anything to laugh at in “Horne & Corden”, with its reliance on overwrought comedy set-ups like somebody being camp or fat shaming Corden. Watching these sketches leaves you wondering why they couldn’t find writers to help them come up with some better material, more than anything.

#6: “Murder Island” (2021)

On paper, this sounds like an interesting idea. Get together teams of amateur sleuths who love true crime and fancy themselves detectives, and give them an island full of actors and a murder mystery to solve. But in practice, it turns out that getting a group of people who don’t know the first thing about policing to investigate crime scenes doesn’t make for interesting viewing. They were all, basically, terrible, trampling evidence and upsetting the various suspects and witnesses. None of them even really managed to solve the crime, with the judges – some actual, retired coppers – disappointed the whole time. There was only one series.

#5: “The Sex Inspectors” (2004-07)

In this bizarre programme, struggling couples turned to TV to try and fix their ailing relationships. Some so-called experts put the couples through a therapeutic crash course to teach them to communicate their desires, sticking night vision cameras into their bedrooms so they could watch the fornication in extreme detail. These also made it into the programme, showing the viewing public ordinary people doing very explicit things, and often not even enjoying themselves – hence the need for therapy. It’s low-budget, cringe, and also gives people an incorrect idea of how sex therapy usually works. I.e., they don’t usually make people film themselves and then watch it back.

#4: “10 Years Younger” (2004-)

Presented by acerbic South African Nicky Hambleton-Jones, “10 Years Younger” was responsible for some of the most diabolical makeovers in television history – which is certainly saying something. Ordinary women are dragged out and insulted, with every aspect of their appearance coming under Nicky’s scrutiny. And in older episodes, participants were even given extensive cosmetic surgery, including facelifts and nosejobs, all of these procedures dictated to the participants rather than them choosing. It’s difficult to get any enjoyment at all out of it these days; as a society, we’ve thankfully moved on from hoisting unnecessary surgery on people.

#3: “Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters” (2025)

Even worse than forcing celebrities into cold water or learning gymnastics is this programme, challenging a roster of B-list stars to swim with sharks – you know, something lots of people do for fun. Ostensibly, the show intended to teach people about sharks and about how they’re not as dangerous as pop culture wants people to think, but it certainly sensationalised the shark encounters more than you’d expect given its mission. In the end, multiple episodes watching celebrities fuss over swimming with sharks didn’t make for compelling television, and we’re not surprised ITV never made any more.

#2: “Mrs. Brown’s Boys” (2011-)

Its high viewing figures ensure that as long as Brendan O’Carroll wants to keep making “Mrs. Brown’s Boys”, we’re not going to be free of it. Somehow, it remains one of the most popular TV shows in the UK and Ireland, becoming a ratings hit for RTÉ, and has over fifty normal episodes and thirty specials. Despite all that, a vocal contingent of the public – and, indeed, television critics – absolutely hate it, calling it lowest common denominator comedy relying on predictable innuendos for nearly all of its gags. Ultimately, it’s one of the most rote shows ever made, and you know exactly how the episodes are going to go as soon as they start.

#1: “Don’t Scare the Hare” (2011)

Undoubtedly one of the worst and weirdest game shows ever conceived on British television, “Don’t Scare the Hare” saw members of the public compete for a cash prize. The catch was that while playing any of the games, they had to try not to alert the enormous, robotic hare lurking nearby. Fifteen grand was at stake, so you can see why people signed up for it, but it was certainly a snooze-fest for the viewers at home, who by and large didn’t give a damn about the hare. It did so badly that it didn’t get to finish its initial run of nine episodes, airing only six before Jason from “The Gadget Show” and his giant hare were locked away in their underground forest permanently.

Let us know in the comments what your least-favourite British shows are.