[2] The film was based on numerous interviews by journalist Antony Thomas, who, upon first hearing the story, grew passionately curious about its veracity, soon drawing upon contacts in the Arab world for their insights and opinions.

The character of Elsa Gruber, played by Judy Parfitt, was based on Rosemarie Buschow, a German woman who had worked for the Saudi royal family as a nanny.

[citation needed] A critically acclaimed film shown on ITV in the United Kingdom on 9 April 1980, it provoked an angry response from the Saudi government.

[4] While resisting pressure not to show the film, ATV agreed to include an introductory comment that said: The programme you are about to see is a dramatized reconstruction of certain events which took place in the Arab world between 1976 and 1978.

[11] In one example, South Carolina Educational Television canceled the broadcast of the film across its network, a decision influenced by fact that the then-U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, John C. West, had formerly been the state's Governor.

[12] Among the other PBS stations chose not to air the film were KUHT in Houston, Texas, KLCS in Los Angeles, California, & Alabama Public Television Network In the Netherlands, NOS showed the programme, with the broadcaster claiming that there had been "no controversy about it here" and that it had not been contacted by the Saudi Government.

[15] In Australia, the programme was shown on the Seven Network, although the acting Prime Minister, Doug Anthony, asked the channel not to show it, as it might jeopardise trade deals with Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries.

[14] The Cattlemen's Union of Australia also campaigned against the film being shown, with its executive director arguing that it was "stupid to risk future trade relations, job opportunities and export income for a brief period of sick entertainment".

Paul Freeman's performance as Christopher Ryder was seen by Steven Spielberg, who noted his piercing eyes; this observation led to his casting as René Belloq in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

[20] In a retrospective interview for the Frontline rebroadcast, Thomas described his reasons for making the film: I set off to investigate this story with the idea of doing it as a drama, and gradually I realized that something completely different was developing.

He argues that although the Saudis opposed the showing of the film and used their money to try and coerce PBS from televising it, they lacked the cultural capital that the West had over representation of Muslims in the media.