House of Saddam

House of Saddam is a 2008 British docudrama television miniseries 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. Episodes Part I A pre-title sequence is set in March 2003, showing Saddam Hussein watching the broadcast of U.S. 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 Republican 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 Ahmed Hassan 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.