On 19 August 2003 Francis Mead was working as a freelance journalist in Baghdad, reporting on the humanitarian situation with the help of the UN. He was sitting in the UN's Baghdad headquarters when a suicide truck bomb smashed into the building. He survived unhurt, but 22 others, including the UN's Representative in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, were killed. 150 were wounded. Wanting to tell the story of unarmed aid workers in an intensely challenging country, Francis Mead returned in late 2005 to film an independent documentary - 'Poisoned Chalice - the UN in Iraq' - which aimed to bring home the human experience of trying to bring about change in Iraq.