Panorama's Rugby on Trial brings together all the threads of the concussion case, but the same problems remain

Rugby on Trial, which aired on BBC1 on Monday night, is the latest in a long series of documentaries on the subject of concussion in rugby.

It follows a well-trodden path already taken by ITV's Dementia and Rugby, TNT Sports' Concussion Lawsuit and Dementia in Rugby, RugbyPass' The True Cost of Concussion in Rugby, Sky Sports' Rugby Concussion: Turning the Tide and the earlier BBC documentaries Head On: Rugby Dementia and Me and Shane Williams: Rugby Concussion and Me. There are probably more.

Even as the lawsuit brought by dozens of former players against World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union and the Welsh Rugby Union drags its way through various pre-trial hearings – and may have to wait years for a resolution, let alone a payout – at least documentary filmmakers are making a good living from what has become virtually a cottage industry around concussion.

Rugby on Trial did a better job than any other programme of giving an overview of the situation in half an hour, from the gruesome effects of neurodegenerative diseases suffered by amateur and professional players to a condensed history of changing concussion protocols as the sport became more professional, with disturbing links to disgraced scientist Paul McCrory.

For someone new to the subject, it would have been quite eye-opening. For anyone even remotely familiar with the subject, which was first properly explored more than 10 years ago by journalist Sam Peters, interviewed here, it lacked substantive revelations. It also followed the cliches of other documentaries, in which gamers talk about their symptoms to a soundtrack of a tinkling piano while the interviewer nods earnestly and various whistleblowers shake their heads because their warnings were ignored.

This is not to diminish the testimony of former teammates Jason Hobson and Neil Clark, whose careers were intertwined and who have now both been diagnosed with early-onset dementia at the age of 30, which they believe was caused by the shocks they suffered. Clark says his “life was falling apart”, while Hobson, who played for England, had suicidal thoughts because he “just wanted it all to stop, the pain, the pressure, the uncertainty of what was happening to you, the changes”.

Even their suffering pales in comparison to that of the parents of Ben Robinson, the 14-year-old rugby player who died of second impact syndrome. No matter how many times his tragic story is told, it loses none of its emotional depth.