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TV PREVIEWS
House of Saddam, Wednesday 9pm, BBC2 
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If our names contain our fates, then Saddam Hussein's mum got it spot on; ever-reliant journalistic source Wikipedia cites the Iraqi dictator's first name as meaning "Someone Who Causes A Collision That Had Bad Results".
This new four-part drama based on Saddam's rise and fall begins with the bad results, as America threatens to attack. But if you just switched on for the first seven or eight minutes, you'd think old Saddam was a rather good bloke, looking after his family as George Bush pontificates, and gaily spending his time attending children's birthday parties.
Ah, if only. After the initial jollity, House Of Saddam kicks off proper with the coup which elevated Saddam to the role of Iraqi President, followed by the hauling in and execution of his enemies, and continuing with more intrigue than you can shake a stick at.
Bafta-winning writer Alex Holmes, who co-wrote the script with Stephen Butchard, says in researching Saddam's story, he noticed it had "many of the qualities of a Shakespeare history play or a gangster movie" – and the creeping, insular atmosphere on display here reflects that. Saddam's manipulative mother resembles one of the Bard's more malevolent creations, while the dictator's power-mad unpredictability has something of the Tony Scarface Montana about it.
Though HOS oozes class – it's beautifully filmed and you can't knock the acting – on the evidence of this first episode, it's not the most gripping of dramas, perhaps because no one can even begin to stand up to Saddam, whose passage to the top seems chillingly easy. But it's all so well done, it's hard not to want to tune in to see the results of Saddam's collision course.
by Will Parkhouse, Tuesday 29 July 2008
Picture: BBC
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