# House of Saddam (2008)

> A four-part British miniseries following Saddam Hussein and his inner circle through the rise and fall of his regime.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/7063

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 4
- Episode runtime: 60 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, history
- Created by: Alex Holmes
- Network: BBC Two
- Cast: Igal Naor, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Makram J. Khoury, Philip Arditti, Mounir Margoum, Agni Scott, Amr Waked, Uri Gavriel
- TMDB rating: 7.4/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0936453/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: bleak, tense, claustrophobic, serious, harrowing

## What critics say

Audiences rated this four-part dramatization of Saddam Hussein's inner circle positively, finding it a gripping and intimate political portrait.

## Synopsis

House of Saddam (2008) is a British four-part historical drama miniseries created by Alex Holmes for BBC Two, produced with HBO Films. Igal Naor plays Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi leader at the center of the story, while Shohreh Aghdashloo portrays his wife Sajida Hussein, Makram J. Khoury plays Tariq Aziz, and Philip Arditti plays Uday Hussein. Each hour follows the intimate politics of a family and courtiers who orbit a dictator, as personal loyalties, rivalries and suspicions shape decisions with national consequences. The engine is power itself: who holds it, who wants it, and what it costs to keep it in a climate of fear. Mounir Margoum, Agni Scott and Amr Waked round out the principal cast. Set in late twentieth century Iraq, spanning the decades that include the Gulf War and the path toward the Iraq War, the miniseries is grounded and serious in tone, with a bleak, claustrophobic atmosphere and a tragic register. Viewers who admire the political intimacy of The Crown and the grounded historical weight of Chernobyl will find the same seriousness here. Its four episodes are a complete, single continuing arc.

## Shows like House of Saddam

- [Elizabeth I (2005)](https://ember.film/tv/12403)
- [A Very British Coup (1988)](https://ember.film/tv/27329)
- [Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003)](https://ember.film/tv/42536)
- [Tut (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/55944)
- [The Virgin Queen (2006)](https://ember.film/tv/12780)
- [To Play the King (1993)](https://ember.film/tv/12924)
- [Tyrant (2014)](https://ember.film/tv/54389)
- [The Ibiza Affair (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/111766)
- [The Regime (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/129206)
- [The Spy (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/77696)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt