A Dangerous Dynasty: House of Assad, a new three part series on BBC Two, delves into the story of the Assad dynasty. Right at the centre of it are President Bashar and his wife Asma, who met and fell in love in London.

Bashar al-Assad trained to be an eye doctor at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington; Asma was a British born girl from a Syrian family with a career in investment banking. Over a decade ago, they were being welcomed with open arms in Britain. Today, they are entrenched in a brutal war that has led to some of the most horrifying crimes of modern times.

Told through rarely seen footage and testimony of those who knew them, worked with them and studied them, the series explores how the couple, who at first were seen as a modernising force, ended up running a regime accused of war crimes.