“THIS is in the inside story of how Salmond, Sturgeon and a close-knit group of friends took the SNP from a party on the fringes to a party in power.”

That’s how the BBC tees up episode one of Salmond and Sturgeon: A Troubled Union.

Viewers would do well to disregard that entirely – you know this story and you already know that the broadcaster is seeking a boxing match between the pair.

If there is something to be found here, tucked underneath the overbearing music and melodramatic framing, you’ll need to put on a different pair of specs.

READ MORE: Why you should see my indyref documentary on this major anniversary

In brief, from 1987 to 2016, the spotlight is turned to crucial moments in the SNP’s history. “Energy economist for RBS” Salmond winning his Westminster seat, Roseanna Cunningham’s by-election victory, the professionalising of the party with the help of Michael Russell, Sturgeon’s response to the Brexit vote…

(Image: BBC)

You know the score – and will be able to see through the ham-fisted attempts to give extra weight to the most banal of statements.

In one example, the music dramatically breaks as Campbell Gunn says he thinks he still has a Nicola Sturgeon T-shirt “in a drawer somewhere”.

The haunting violin plays continuously, even as the SNP are shown riding highs such as the landslide 2015 General Election victory, or in completely innocuous moments such as Angus Robertson recalling being on a campaign bus in the 1980s.

In a microcosm, there you have it. An attempt to insert drama into a story that, given the airtime it actually warrants, would be able to deliver such stakes.

As a journalist who covered the breakdown in Sturgeon and Salmond's relationship at the time and who works at Scotland's only pro-independence daily newspaper, I have a suggestion.

(Image: BBC)

The Yes movement could, instead, watch this recap of history with ofttimes rare archive footage and start useful debates.

At one point, Sturgeon notes: “I think it’s one of the great strengths [Salmond] had back then – he deliberately promoted young people. I wouldn’t be the politician I became without many of the things he taught me along the way.”

READ MORE: Alex Salmond tears into new BBC documentary A Troubled Union

And so we see the party surge with the strength of a strong youth wing – are we doing enough to train up our next generation of activists? Do they want to engage?

We see the rewards of devoting sincere campaigning efforts to engagement with the Asian community in Scotland – are there new groups we could reach out to as a movement?

We see the media attention drawn by a bold stand in the Westminster parliament – are our politicians there dynamic enough?

Rehashing old feuds makes for column inches in newspapers advertising the show, not stimulating viewing. But viewers with an analytical eye will find glimmers of what could be a more interesting deep-dive.