Kirpianuscus to define this film is only a problem of choice. to select the historical accuracy or the artistic virtues. because are two different aspects. and this is not real surprising. to give a good show, the sacrifice of truth, with its not comfortable aspects about earl years of Hussein regime must be ignored. for give a seductive story, the perfect model is the historical plays of Shakespeare. to impose a great show, to use the white and black impose to ignore the nuances. result - a film about power and about corruption, crimes and comfortable personal life - with few small storms - of a dictator. a chronicle of family who could be more a parable than a docudrama.

goldenshuttle Pros: Philip Arditti plays his role very well and has similar physical looks. Start of how Saddam terrorized Iraq goes well with truth. Cons:Shohreh Aghdashloo (who plays Saddam wife) does not match the role; Sheher has some graceful looks; while the real Sajida Saddam was a chubby, Bedouin woman who struggled all her life to remove her trademark of no style and no taste(see her on google image and judge by yourself). Movie hides two turning points in Saddam life: One is after 1990 (liberation of Kuwait by US); Saddam committed mass graves burring about 400,000 Shiite Muslims, most of them buried alive. So far only 250 000 corpse found and they keep finding. Second missing fact that Uday; the playboy son of Saddam was shot by opposition on 1996 causing him to lose ability to walk; and lost his manhood(his Johnson was cut by a bullet). This caused a lot of problems inside Saddam family due to jealousy the grew against his young brother Qusay; who was being groomed to succeed his father. The film also draws a totally opposite picture of Saddam wife(Sajida) real character. She hated high class women (due to her low class family) and destroyed many of the well known Baghdad families. She was not the helpless abused wife and the movie shows.She was a gem hunter; touring the world buying diamonds and jewellery. Film misrepresented the real character of Saddam son in law (Hussein Kamel) who escaped to Jordan. Hussein Kamel was known in Iraq as being blood thirsty; low rank policeman who did everything to prove to Saddam that he was a ruthless aide to rely on. Part 3 did not reveal the truth why US reinstalled Saddam after liberating Kuwait in 1990 although he lost control of 15 provinces out of 18 in Iraq. A real writer should make 8 or 10 episodes about Saddam showing the shocking facts starting from the 50's when he was a student & agent of CIA in Cairo; until they helped him takeover in 1968. To show some facts and hide others is misguiding.

super_kevin_k I am a huge fan of this show! its a really great Drama. I only wish there were more episodes in it-it was really captivating!the acting is genius,especially the actress Amber Rose Revah. she is amazing!! SHE ROCKS!!and shes cute =)i am mates with her and she hangs round mine a lot but i am not biased!!if you get a chance to watch this-keep an eye on her.she plays Hala Hussein; the youngest daughter of Saddam.You also have a really fantastic lead performance from Yigal Naor.the series is all about Saddams reign, his friends and family and is really eye opening.it shows the world the true face of the evil tyrant that was Saddam Hussein.you can catch it on BBC HBO-i really recommend it,though it is quite gory at times.deserves no less than 10/10

Theo Robertson Imagine a a miniseries where you know the ending . Wouldn't that mean there's a lack of suspense ? You know the ending therefore there's little reason to watch . We all know what happened to Saddam Hussain so it says a lot that within a few short minutes of watching this show I was totally intrigued and hooked by it The production team knows the audience will know the ultimate outcome of this chronicle so concentrate on the dramatic aspects of Saddam's time in power . The first episode concentrates on his ascent to power by liquidating his rivals on trumped up charges of " counter revolutionary activities " and waging a war against his Persian neighbours . The second episode introduces his two sons who were every bit as bad as him if not worst and shows the results of his doomed escapade in Kuwait . The third episode shows his genius of brinkmanship and political machinations while the final episode shows the dictator as a fugitive on the run Some critics have expressed disappointment in that some aspects are skated over too quickly while others say the ordinary sufferings of the ordinary Iraqi people are ignored . There's some truth to this but again the the producers have quite rightly ignored scope and concentrated on well written drama superbly acted by an unknown cast . I've never heard of Yigal Naor or Philip Arditti but they both give superb performances and I look forward to this series picking up a few awards at the more prestigious award ceremonis