The show is about the historic move for constitutional recognition of Indigenous people. But the stars themselves, and how they interacted with each other, were always going to attract a fair amount of the spotlight.
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A perfectly odd couple, Labor politician and Wiradjuri woman Linda Burney and outspoken conservative commentator Andrew Bolt were recruited by the ABC to represent two strongly-held sides of the debate in Recognition: Yes or No?
Ms Burney has long been a prominent voice for substantive change - removing and replacing the constitution's "race power" and recognising the history of Indigenous people in Australia - while Bolt prefers either the status quo or strictly the elimination of any racial references.
Throughout the course of their trip around Australia and to New Zealand meeting with conservative and progressive voices, neither of them budged substantially on their views although both agree that wasn't the point and that it was never going to happen.
There are points of unity. Both are satisfied that the respectful way they conducted themselves in the show - with "no fireworks" - is an important model for the broader debate and that they gained insight into each other's views.
"I think a lot of people will be disappointed because there's not a blazing row in it. I think both Andrew and I decided independently that it's not about a massive stand it up, tear it down argument," Ms Burney told Fairfax Media.
"And I would hope that the debate on constitutional recognition can be conducted as respectfully and cordially as we conducted ourselves in that documentary."
The Labor frontbencher sees the move for recognition as fundamentally about truth-telling. Bolt said he got more appreciation of that perspective, her passion for it and the rationale behind it.
"We did, in a committed way, flesh out both sides of the argument in a way that proponents on either side can't complain about. The issues were brought out. And then it's up to you to decide. We're not there to smash you over the head," he said.
He said his discoveries during the shooting of the documentary, airing on Tuesday, actually deepened his concern that the proposal was a slippery slope of entrenched division.
Bolt said he liked Ms Burney, finding her warm, a "lady with a capital L", and respecting her view. Ms Burney found her co-star to be an "incredibly courteous, generous person" and appreciates that there was not one cross word exchanged.
In the show, the pair meet with journalist Stan Grant, conservative senator Cory Bernardi, Yolngu educator Yalmay Yunupingu, sovereignty activist Murrumu, Indigenous adviser Wesley Aird, former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner Mick Gooda and Cape York Institute policy adviser Shireen Morris.
As well as travelling around the country, they cross the Tasman Sea to hear from Maori leaders and former politicians about New Zealand's experiences since 1840's Treaty of Waitangi and its legal enforcement in 1975.
Ms Burney rejects Bolt's central argument, that constitutional recognition would divide people, maintaining that the nation's founding document has been used to the detriment of Indigenous people and ignores their continuous occupation of Australia for thousands of years before European colonisation.
"For me it's a no brainer," she said. "Where is the downside in recognising Aboriginal people in the Australian constitution? Every first world nation with a colonial history has done it - bar Australia."
While a 2017 referendum is off the cards, a final proposal and timeframe are in the works pending the non-partisan Referendum Council's consultation with communities and preparation of a recommendation for the Parliament.
Recognition: Yes or No? screens Tuesday, September 20 at 8.30pm on ABC & iview.
