House of Saddam
| House of Saddam | |
|---|---|
Title card
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| Genre | Docudrama |
| Written by | Alex Holmes Stephen Butchard |
| Starring |
Yigal Naor Shohreh Aghdashloo Philip Arditti Amr Waked Said Taghmaoui Christine Stephen-Daly |
| Theme music composer | Samuel Sim |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 4 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Alex Holmes Hilary Salmon Steve Lightfoot |
| Running time | 60 minutes, each episode. |
| Release | |
| Original release | July 30 – 20 August 2008 |
House of Saddam is a 2008 docudrama that charted the rise and fall of Saddam Hussein. A co-production between BBC Television and HBO Films, the series was first broadcast on BBC Two (in the United Kingdom) in four parts between 30 July and 20 August 2008.
A pre-title sequence is set in March 2003, showing Saddam watching the broadcast of President George W. Bush's ultimatum to leave Ba'athist Iraq within forty-eight hours. As the bombing of Baghdad commences, Saddam and his family flee the presidential palace.
1979: Shortly after the Iranian Revolution, Iraqi vice president Saddam Hussein fears the increasing influence of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, as well as Iraqi president Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr's proposed union with Syria. Saddam instigates the overthrow of President al-Bakr. After being appointed president, Saddam orders his half-brother, Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, to initiate a bloody purge of the Ba'ath Party leadership in order to wipe out "traitors". Saddam himself executes his closest friend and ally, Adnan Hamdani, as a show of strength. The Islamic Dawa Party rocks Baghdad with a series of terrorist attacks while Saddam is on a hunting trip in Tikrit with his wife Sajida Talfah and son Uday.
Saddam attempts to maintain good relations with the United States as he declares war on Iran. Meanwhile, he begins an affair with married school teacher Samira Shahbandar. Saddam orders the execution of two Iraqi generals after a military defeat at Khorramshahr, and turns against Barzan following the death of their mother; this puts the arranged marriage of Raghad, Saddam's daughter, and Mohammed, Barzan's son, in jeopardy. After Saddam survives an assassination attempt in the Dawa stronghold of Dujail, Barzan fears for his own life and razes the city in retribution. Saddam exiles Barzan to Switzerland and marries Raghad to Hussein Kamel al-Majid, forming an alliance with the al-Majid clan. Hussein Kamel takes over Barzan's post and becomes the new leader of the Special Republican Guard.
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Wikipedia