JUST under 1000 people have complained to the BBC about Kirsty Wark's documentary, The Trial of Alex Salmond. 

According to the corporation's latest complaints log, it was the only programme broadcast between August 17 and 30 to receive more than 100 complaints. 

In total there were 939 complaints, with most accusing the programme of "bias against Alex Salmond."

The BBC has robustly defended the documentary, claiming it was a fair telling of the former first minister's court case. 

But it was reported last month that Salmond is considering legal action against the broadcaster.

Allies of the ex SNP leader - who was cleared of 13 sexual assault charges, including attempted rape in March - described it as an attempted retrial.

One of the contributors to programme, told The National it was like “show trial of a kind that might take place in a rogue state”.

Journalist Alan Taylor, who penned a biography of the former First Minister, said the broadcaster jettisoned “all pretence of impartiality” and that the programme showed the BBC to be “institutionally Unionist”.

The documentary was supposed to be a day-by-day account of the two-week trial of Salmond, who was accused of sexually assaulting nine women while he was First Minister.

A jury found him not guilty of 12 of the sexual assault charges he faced, while another was found not proven.

A further charge of sexually assaulting a 10th woman was dropped by prosecutors.

Three of the women who made the allegations against Salmond were interviewed by Wark. Their testimony in court was read out by actors.

However, none of the defence witnesses was interviewed, and none of their testimony was read out.

It was left to Jim Sillars, a former deputy leader of the SNP, MP Kenny MacAskill, and former PR man Campbell Gunn to speak up for Salmond.

Taylor, a former associate editor of the Sunday Herald and an occasional contributor to The National, spent over an hour talking to the filmmakers.

The veteran journalist’s on-screen contribution was reduced to just a couple of minutes.

He said the BBC went into this programme “with its ears muffled and its brain unplugged”.

Taylor said: “Lady Dorrian, the presiding judge, instructed the jury of nine women and six men to consider only what they heard in court.

“They looked and listened and thought hard and came to the conclusion that on all thirteen charges Alex Salmond was innocent and free to resume his life.

“From what I had heard and what I have read, I could not see how any other conclusion could have been reached.

“It portrayed the Scottish justice system in the best of lights. In contrast, The Trial of Alex Salmond showed the BBC to be institutionally Unionist. It also showed contempt for the jury.

“This has dismayed countless folk who demand an apology. They are whistling in the wind.”

A spokesperson for the BBC said: “The programme is an accurate and fair reflection of events, and we stand by it."

“This is a current affairs programme examining a major story about the former first minister of Scotland. Alex Salmond was approached by the programme and did not respond to requests.

“Substantial figures including Jim Sillars, Kenny MacAskill and indeed Alan Taylor were featured in the programme.

“The outcome was fairly reflected in the programme and would have been known to everyone watching.”