Baghdad Central (2020) User Reviews

Very watchable crime drama from Channel 4

[guauen · 7/10 · 10 March 2020]

This is a UKB crime drama developed for English languague broadcast TV; there are issues, but I found it well paced and very watchable.

I'm always pleased to see a director post here. The commissioning editor and crew can be proud of this work. There are some well drawn characters, a good plot arc, a touch of intrigue, and some fine scene setting and camera work. Well done.

More knowledgeable folk have been critical here about authenticity. I understand, but this is entertainment. I think the crew made a reasonable effort to offer a local perspective on 'the cradle of civilisation' to their English viewers.

I hope they get funding for another series. If so, I'll be watching.

Interesting to say the least

[lcbarnett957 · 8/10 · 6 February 2020]

The setting of this series sparked my interest - a detective drama, set in the Iraq War. Characters are interesting and keep me engaged. The plot contains enough action and edge of your seat excitement to keep you entertained whilst also allowing enough dialogue for proper character development.

nuanced and raw at the same time

[jmccrmck-65172 · 8/10 · 18 January 2021]

A solid offering from , where else , The U.K. I can't say if it is an accurate rendering of life in Iraq after the war and during the occupation but it feels very real and the characters and their motivations, flaws and positive aspects are never black and white. It is everything American Television is not. It is subtle and nuanced and creates drama through the interplay of the characters and their varied objectives ,if you liked ' The Honourable Woman' this series measures up to that one.

Evocative, shocking and beautifully detailed - TV at its best

[denisecawser · 10/10 · 4 February 2020]

Set in Iraq during the war that started in 2003, this story unfolds from the perspectives of the people whose lives it upended. The first episode was unflinching, atmospheric and shocking in places, with a conflicted central character and surprising turns. A smart script and dual language approach, along with pin-sharp direction, left me with little opportunity to second guess what was coming next. edge of the seat stuff, genuinely gripping and intelligently put together. More like this please Channel 4

Really enjoyed the show except for one mistake

[trangia55 · 8/10 · 23 April 2020]

I really enjoyed the mixture of Arabic and English the characters were speaking. My Arabic is not great but I could follow a lot of what people were saying. The one mistake I spotted gave me a big grin on my face. The union flag on Frank Temple's desk in episode one is upside down. If you look at the side of the flag nearest the pole it has the narrow white band upper most. This normally denotes that the person flying the flag is in distress.

British/American/Iraqi crime thriller set in the backdrop of post Operation Iraqi Freedom.

[WarMovieCollector · 6/10 · 12 October 2020]

My simple review summary, the story of a former Iraqi policeman, Muhsin al-Khafaji doing his best to protect his family shortly after the ousting of Saddam Hussein. Interesting tv series plot shot in the style of a Neo-noir (dark movie, indicating something sinister and shadowy, but also expressing a cinematographic style).

Gripping international noir thriller

[nickstubbs-38533 · 10/10 · 4 February 2020]

What a fantastic new show from Channel 4! Superb production values and performances, sophisticated direction and nail-biting script.

Good !!

[gaktiger · 7/10 · 17 March 2020]

I loved the show and I only gave my review cause obviously we want a 2nd season, please.

Original, tense, surprising, modern noir set in a unique place at an unprecedented time.

[gottliebarielle · 10/10 · 5 February 2020]

Loved the first episode. Incredibly evocative of a unique time and place. Amazing performances and a genuinely surprising story. Can't wait to see where the story goes.

Science Fiction

[muhammadaga2003 · 6/10 · 11 March 2020]

As an Iraqi who worked with the coalitions forces, this drama talk about event happened only on Mars!

"We should have resisted Saddam"

[jamalking15 · 8/10 · 3 April 2020]

The movie was interesting from the very start. Showing how eager the Iraqis were to be free of the terrible reign of Sadaam Hussein. The movie also drew attention to the numerous factions in Iraqi society fighting over power and control of neighborhoods in Iraq that made peace so difficult. A few things I felt missed the mark: Too much reliance on Moroccan culture and not enough Iraqi influence. The actors shook theirvheads the wrong way for yes and no. The lack of InshaAllah in the movie. In Iraqi society of the time , instead that's life etc. A lot of blame for problems was put on Private Security firms, who weren't perfect, but they weren't as corrupt as portrayed. The film often used the term mercenary over and over. The best part of the film showed Iraqis wishing they had done something to resist Sadaam' regime before the liberation was necessary.

Otherwise great entertainment and a god stab at trying to reflect the lives of Iraqis after Sadaam.

Could of been better

[mrdgilley-27706 · 6/10 · 4 February 2020]

Was an ok series with a serious message to send. I think poor casting has stopped me rating higher than 5/6, especially the British characters was a bit comical at times which is not required in this type of series. Overall a bit of a dissapoitment.

Could have been great

[stegasaurob · 1/10 · 8 February 2020]

But it's let down by two major failings. First, without spoiling it too much the ending is far too neat and totally unbelievable. Up until that point the plot was OK, if a little pedestrian and predictable, but the last ten or fifteen minutes ruin it as a drama. The final shot is just the director begging for another series.

Secondly, and more importantly, they can't seem to decide what tone they're going for. One minute they seem to be trying to paint a semi-serious portrait of post-invasion Iraq, the next it's descended into some sort of light-hearted Midsomer Murders in Baghdad. The incidental music really doesn't help in this regard.

The central performance is great, but some of the supporting cast are hamming it up something chronic. The main baddie and his sidekick are straight out of Panto.

To sum up, I'd normally give it a four but it's one star from me on principle because the director is on here giving her own programme a 10!

Excellent and mind blowing

[rkubaisi · 10/10 · 17 February 2020]

I found the acting to have been very exciting and the story extremely intriguing . Being of Iraqi origin, myself living and working in Uk for over 20 years, and having watched the whole series, I can say that it made me feel very sad as I have been moved by the story and acting. It did bring back loads of memories. I miss the old Iraq very much and wish for it to return.

The actor, Khafaji was brilliant, so as the rest of the Arabic, British and American actors. Fast moving events and needed to concentrate, so as not to miss a single action. I liked the unpredictability of the events. I did find it very strange for the Arabic actors to not have a proper Iraqi accent which is bit of a shame. I think that the series would have become much better if it incorporated Iraqi actors. As I speak fluent Arabic, Iraqi accent, it was not difficult for me to follow the events at all. I understand why other non-Arabic speaking people have found it difficult to follow the translation as it contained fast moving events and sometimes it was difficult to follow if trying to read the translation. I watched the whole series (6 episodes) over two days. I don't remember when was it the last time I enjoyed watching anything on television that much. I watched it with my son who is 14years old, who doesn't understand Arabic, but he didn't struggle at all with the translation and he thought it was great.

I rated it 10/10 as I liked the story, the actors and mainly Khafaji. They were all excellent. I look forward to series two of the same please but I would like to see Iraqi actors/accent. Well done for this excellent production.

Blown away

[technicolour-63243 · 10/10 · 9 February 2020]

Have to say this is mind-blowing tv - like a filmic symphony: soaring humanity and scorching brutality; the price of war and the cost of survival; love, hate, humour, courage, honour, corruption, hope, tragedy; all swirling like a storm around a father's desperate race to save his family. Filmed with luminous depth, the actors invariably shining, this is an immensely gripping, powerful, moving and really quite awe-inspiring journey.

The ascent

[monaa-18715 · 7/10 · 7 March 2020]

First of all I would highly intense the importance of a good Presentation of IraqisI like that the more emphasising on delivering the correct Iraqi language and accent it's actually very cribbing with a good bunch of factors in the direction and the acting is really good

5/5

[hichambouljrouf · 10/10 · 1 May 2020]

Pretty good acting,a lot of work done behind the filming .. i'm really in love with the caracters and from an arab citizen point of view who lived the iraqi invasion, that was really good ..we need season two !!

Quite good. Historically slanted

[latinfineart · 7/10 · 18 May 2022]

It's a very good show, and an excellent production, good performances and well-written. The question I have about the show is though it is a British production, why is it that it seems as if the Brits are the only ones being demonized in the show, why is it that the Americans are not exposed as the corrupt, extremely toxic, unbelievably arrogant force they were during this campaign? It shows a little bit of that, but it certainly doesn't expose the corruption and the extreme level of indecency and destruction, that the Americans were guilty of.

Never dull, always intelligent, totally thought provoking

[erasmusbushman · 10/10 · 16 October 2020]

I kind of expected a propaganda piece - either pro or anti America - but Baghdad Central isn't like that at all. This is a really thought-provoking series with great characters and great performances. There are plenty of good guys and bad guys but there are mainly people either just trying to survive or just doing their job as best they can in a bad and unfamiliar situation. The lead character is exceptionally well drawn and beautifully played by Waleed Zuaiter - great actor. Maybe I like this so much because I came in with fairly low expectations, but I don't think so. I think this is genuinely one of the best pieces of TV produced this year.

Hard to follow

[claire_is · 6/10 · 8 February 2020]

Jumps too much. Difficult to follow. Could have been great!

So real that it hurts

[davalew · 10/10 · 21 February 2020]

The storyline, the writing, the acting, the direction, the camera work and the locations all contribute to a worryingly explicit revelation of Iraq after the gung ho went home. I can even forgive the strange subtitle and dubbing decisions where the Iraqi characters speak English to their occupiers and Arabic to casual Iraqi contacts but speak English with Iraqi accents to each other in their homes even though you can see that the lip synchs is Arabic. I sense this is for the US market which is in total keeping with the message that the story tells about ineptitude and hubris in an occupation which failed as comprehensively as the military triumphed in the war which preceded it. Irritating in such a realistic drama but I can forgive even that because the production is so good.

i want to watch this but can't.

[badbastard · 19 February 2020]

I want to watch this but can't. the reason is, i now i will get angry watching it. you don't invade a county and leave it, army less, police less and government less! didn't we learn this after ww1 which created ww2. you don't dismantle a country and just walk away. You have to build it back up like we did with germany and japan which now are global economic super powers.

Great show but why the made they this one mistake?

[mwen001-2 · 7/10 · 30 May 2020]

I don't get it! Great show, great story and great actors BUT why they turned the FRANK TEMPLE into a caricature? That takes away so much from this great series! Big mistake from the producers and directors!

Propaganda is to a democracy - what the Truncheon is to a totalitarian society!

[ivanhoemaniac · 1/10 · 19 February 2020]

The most effective way to destroy a person is to deny and obliterate his/her/their understanding of their history and identity. On that note i look forward to the day historians will look back and analyse programs like this to describe how throughly ignorant and bigoted our generation was!

A show based on Iraq, with no Iraqi nationals playing the role of the main protagonists, filmed in North Africa, and written by an American!

A superior crime drama set in 2003 Baghdad

[Tweekums · 9/10 · 12 March 2020]

Prior to the invasion/liberation of Iraq Muhsin al-Khafaji was an inspector in Saddam Hussein's police force; now everything has changed and he is out of a job. He wasn't a supporter of the old regime but was a party member as it was a requirement of his position; now it disqualifies him. When his estranged daughter disappears he starts investigating. He is then approached by Frank Temple, a British man working to set up a new Iraqi police force. Frank doesn't care about the past he just wants a good investigator. He also offers to get Muhsin's other daughter treated in a coalition hospital. An American contractor is found dead in a 'safe house' and our protagonist is to investigate. He uncovers corruption amongst both locals and westerners which puts him in real danger; this doesn't dissuade him from investigating though.

I can't say how real the portrayal of life in Baghdad is but what is depicted here feels real. The story is gripping and provides a good mix of drama, mystery and excitement. The most refreshing aspect was that our protagonist is an Iraqi not one of the various western characters. There is a degree of ambiguity about him even though the viewer will almost certainly see he is a good man; the sort his country will need if it is to recover. Waleed Zuaiter does a really fine job in the role. The rest of the cast are solid too, notably Bertie Carvel as Temple and Corey Stoll as US Army Captain John Parodi. I liked the fact that when characters were meant to be speaking in Arabic the actors spoke Arabic (with subtitles) rather than accented English. I read, after watching the series, that a deliberate attempt at balancing genders and Iraqi to western characters had been made; while watching I never thought about it so the creators succeeded in doing it in a way that didn't feel forced... these were just the characters involved. Overall I'd definitely recommend this series to fans of police centred dramas looking for an interesting new location and culture.