In Search of Tony Blair on Channel 4 on Saturday made for gripping viewing.

Dr Anthony Seldon's extensive journey into the world of Blair was intriguing and the programme will undoubtedly be a contender for documentary of the year.

However, while it was excellent, it was not the outstanding documentary it deserved to be. The reasons for its failures are simple and could have easily been corrected.

The cameraman was operating without a tripod and Dr Seldon's commentary and interviews were badly intertwined with the suitably selected archive footage.

The new material was shot in home-video style, using just one camera. I believe this undervalued Dr Seldon's view.

My dissatisfaction lies solely with the production company. How did it fail to realise the research required more attention than it ever gave it? The commentary and interviews sat uncomfortably next to other footage in the programme.

Interviews with high profile people in politics were conducted in the usual way but the camera work was again not up to the required standard for this genre. We were all too often given an intolerable view.

Archive footage brought a welcome respite from a disappointing and disorientating experience.

I am a great admirer of Dr Seldon, a formidable public speaker who always has an intelligent comment to contribute on local issues. I must applaud him on giving me an excellent insight into the Prime Minister. On this evidence his book is going to be a compelling read.

However, the most significant thing that we take away from this programme is that it was a "diverse" production for all the wrong reasons.

-Oliver Woolf, Saltdean