La casa de Saddam

If viewers are expecting a factual summary of Saddam Hussein's life, they will be disappointed. I'm sure there are better documentaries on the subject. But for pure casting pleasure, I would heartily recommend HoS. Director Jim O'Hanlon has assembled a truly international cast, including celebrated Iranian actress Shohreh Aghdashloo (so marvelous in "House of Sand & Fog"), Indian actress Shivani Ghai, and Palestinian actor Makram Khoury (great as Tariq Aziz).

Most impressive is celebrated actor Yigal Naor as Saddam. He exudes the perfect combination of ruthlessness and charm that propelled the tyrant into power. That Hussein is portrayed by a Jew-- and Israeli-born Jew-- is probably sending the old goat into cartwheels. Pure poetic justice!

The rise and fall of the Iraq dictator Saddam Hussein.

What a big project this must have been. Trying to distil the best bits of Saddam's twenty four years in power in to four hours and not losing those not steeped in Middle Eat politics would appear impossible to some - but my word, they have pulled it off!

Here you have it all: Power, sex, family, violence, politics, war, madness, you name it. The complete drama play box. Yet this is a personal drama that is more interested in family and politics than needless bloodshed. Not that it isn't very gory at times. This is not for children.

You also have a fantastic lead performance from Yigal Naor. Utterly mesmerising: Deluded, multi-faced, sometimes charming and yet ruling by fear. Trusting nobody - and certainly not his friends or family. Hitler meets Idi Amin in a country with rich oil fields and - therefore - "important" to the West.

Pick of the highly convincing support cast is Philip Arditti as "first son" Uday. The mad-as-a-hatter "heir". The camera lingers/glaces on him for no reason at council and cabinet meetings, sneering or (inappropriately) looking unconcerned. He even makes Saddam look straight!

Yes, it had loads of things to crib and copy from: The Sopranos and the Godfather Trilogy among them, but it is amazing how the format fits around a story that is almost entirely true. In its major facts at least.

If there is a better mini-series played on TV this year I would be very surprised. You'll want to watch it more than once - I know I did.

The first episode of this drama series could have fallen into all the traps that recreations of modern history, and ancient history for that matter, fall into: Glib unrealistic portrayals of character; ridiculous over simplification; and sloppy historical inaccuracies. Alex Holmes with his production team and a brilliant cast avoided this brilliantly in the light of one over-riding handicap they had - All of us have our preconceptions and our own sketchy 'take' on the Saddam sagas presented by the media and by governments over the last 25 years in various forms of uneven levels of factual integrity, political expediency and rigor. Amazingly, despite this, I was able to accept the inevitable economies of scale limiting Holmes and his ingenious team, and was spellbound by the simple exposition of Saddam's corrupt, and corrupting modus operandi. The family dynamic was cleverly integrated with the political backdrop and viewers more interested in the subtext will not be disappointed. A grisly reminder that we have lived through an era when monsters exist within the human race and our world seems to be reluctant to learn from history and be more alert to their ability to operate, and cause tragedy and mayhem while we too often watch and allow them. Great telly too on a straightforward entertainment level.

in fact , am watching this drama and writing in the same time. i couldn't wait me and my husband for this to start , we are iraqi and we lived most of our lives under Saddam's regime , this is a good drama about Saddam , it starts when he came to power in 79 , so scary , so unpredictable as he always used to be , we watched him on TV , lived in a country ruled by him , and in this series i am remembering my childhood , and my life in Iraq, i believe this drama is so real offcourse except for the language which is Arabic in reality ,all characters resemble the real ones , with the music and all.

i'll give it 9 starts.

"House of Saddam" is an excellent dramatisation of Saddam's rule, starting in 1979. With high production standards, excellent performances and truly blood chilling scenes, this is unmissable television.

This four part drama series provides an insight into the world of the Husseins and looks at Saddam's relationships with family, friends, allies and enemies. It appears to be a well researched piece and, despite dramatic licence, you feel you're watching actual events unfold.

9 out of 10. Excellent.