Anyone tuning in to see convicted murderer and Paralympics sprinting legend Oscar Pistorius being taken apart will be disappointed by the latest Storyville documentary series. Conversely, if any watchers (seemingly the silent minority) sought a hot 'miscarriage of justice' take on the appeal courts' verdict on his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp's death in 2013, they too would be left wanting.

Instead, Dan Gordon's four-part film (which clocks in at a weighty five hours and 40 minutes) opts unapologetically for balance, admitting beforehand that he was undecided about Pistorius' guilt as he put together his wide range of interviews and ploughed through acres of archive footage. Those who switched off after 20 minutes (they're out there on Twitter if you want to locate them) denied themselves the opportunity to peruse a vast amount of material about the case as well as the social and historical context which led up to Steenkamp's terrible death (which isn't to say they would inevitably have changed their opinion).

Curiously, many of those who condemned the BBC not only for their initial trailer which failed to even mention Steenkamp by name (the apology and subsequent alteration cut little ice with those critics) but for even daring to broadcast such an atrocity sprung from the same constituency who raved about Des. That ITV drama paid very little heed to the victims, instead concentrating on trying to fathom why serial killer Dennis Nilsen committed his crimes, along the way showing us glimpses into who he was as a human being. This is largely the same methodology used by Gordon.

So, here we receive background on Pistorius' difficult childhood during which he became a double below-knee amputee due to the fibular hemimelia he was born with, while at the age of 15 he lost his mother. His struggle to reach the top of his sport as both a Paralympian and then as an Olympian is an undeniably fascinating battle against the odds. Yes, all of it is coloured by what came next when he fired shots into his locked bathroom in the pitch-black early hours, insisting that he believed a burglar was behind the door rather than his girlfriend, but those achievements exist in the world and can be appreciated on their own merits (in much the same way that people might still be allowed to experience the work of Michael Jackson, Roman Polanski and Richard Wagner).

Gordon peppers the film with testimony from friends, relatives and colleagues about negative aspects of Pistorius' life (he certainly had a temper and was tinged with arrogance like many who are highly successful in their chosen vocation) while Steenkamp is also recalled with fondness and sadness. The notion that she is ignored throughout over the course of this documentary is palpably untrue, while it also follows a wider narrative about issues of guns, crime and violence in pre and post-apartheid South Africa.

The Trials Of Oscar Pistorius is not, as many on social media and some reviewers have claimed, a hagiography; neither is it wholly condemning of Pistorius. It is, heaven forfend, a sad and compelling long-form film which is the very definition of anti-partisan, highly-nuanced filmmaking.

Watch now on BBC iPlayer.