It is a moment that reveals his close relationship with his family and gives clues to the origins of his political thinking.

Even his political rivals, the former chancellor George Osborne and the former Labor prime minister Lord Jack McConnell, admired his remarkable skills at the levels of Westminster and Holyrood.

Lord McConnell says the modern campaign style developed under Salmond’s leadership clearly had an impact in 2007 and 2011.

But some questioned whether his ability to read the political climate extended to a sense of self-awareness, especially in more recent years.

Journalist Kenny Farquharson says he had “the ability to shape politics to his own ends”, through “force of personality” or simply by being “better at politics” than his opponents.

What many of those who contributed to the documentary agree on is his love for talking to people, his love for debate.

His colleague and friend from Alba, Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, told us: “He was interested in people. He wanted to know about people; what problems they faced in their daily lives.”

Roseanna Cunningham describes campaigning with Salmond as an “amazing experience” as she was “on people’s front doorsteps forever and a day”.

That, they say, was a big part of their electoral success.