About Al Asouf
Al Asouf is a Saudi period drama set in Riyadh during the 1970s and 1980s, a stretch of years when the Kingdom was reshaped by the oil boom and the social shifts that followed. The Arabic title, sometimes transliterated as Al Assouf, refers to the dust storms of the era and serves as a metaphor for the turbulence sweeping through ordinary households. The series follows the Al Tayan family as its members are pulled between tradition and a fast-changing modern world.
At the center of the story is Khaled Al Tayan, a self-made man whose ambitions, marriages, and business dealings ripple across his extended family. Around him the show assembles neighbors, rivals, and relatives whose private lives intersect with public events, including the 1979 seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the tide of religious conservatism that reshaped daily life. The drama treats these moments as the backdrop against which intimate family choices play out.
Created by the late writer Abdul Rahman Al-Wabli and directed by Muthanna Sobh, Al Asouf aired across three Ramadan seasons on MBC1 and streamed on Shahid. It became one of the most discussed Saudi productions of its time for revisiting recent national memory through the lens of a single family, and for casting comedy veterans in dramatic roles that surprised longtime viewers.
