Chernobyl - HBO/Sky *Spoilers*

badtoro

peddlelies wrote: »

Don't generally re-watch TV series so soon but for this I need to make an exception

Same as, going to start rewatching it tonight

extra gravy

"Boris, you are the one who mattered most"

Franz Von Peppercorn II

Apparently it is extremely accurate. Russians who lived through it say the recreation of soviet life is incredible.

Zorya

Haven't read thread, sorry, just came to say this is an amazing series, watched 4 episodes over weekend and have the final episode yet to watch (tomorrow). Brilliant, brilliant, absolutely brilliant and horrifying.

Credit Checker Moose

The Soviet answer to problems was to promote someone, give them a great soviet title and throw a few roubles at them to keep them quiet.

buried

Nothing ever hit me like the end of that. Was wracked with real emotion in the buildup right to the end and not ashamed to say was true in tears once I read about Lyudmilla Ignatenko's outcome and I held up all the way beforehand.

This is real art. Absolutely fantastic piece of masterwork. Really looking forward to future productions from these creators. 11/11

Atlantic Dawn

Great show, lovely ending.

On a side note it was nice to see Rats doing so well since he got out of The Joy, handy military gig for him.

how.gareth

That red and blue chart at the trial was easy for even me to understand! Brilliant stuff and will be sorely missed

lab man

Only came across this programme today where can I see it on TV from ep1

mrm

Having little to no interest in/ a low attention span for TV I decided I would try this series out and try to stay with one for once. Couldn't rip myself away from it! The atmosphere, acting, scripting, soundscape, visuals, etc were all just spot on, though all was built on the foundation of really excellent subject matter - still which in the wrong hands could also have been so easily delivered 'incorrectly'. The main aspect for me though was the amount of chin hitting the floor moments, especially having been quite conscious of the accident as a thirteen year old living in a house in which RTE news was never missed.

This production still threw up so many unbelievable moments, and such touching moments without being in anyway melodramatic or too focused on any one aspect at the expense of others- some skill that (thought episode 4 did fall into this trap somewhat and was weaker than the rest for that). The whole section about

the potential second explosion and its potential impact on the whole of eastern Europe (interesting that the Soviet plus the US authorities kept this buried for 20 years)

brilliantly changed this from 'those rotten lying soviets' to' what a nation of (lied to by rotten soviets) heros. The final few minutes of the last episode wrapped up brilliantly the pain they suffered and continue to do so, and apparently not one state study has been carried out on the resultant death count of the accident. The explanation of the constituent elements of the reaction and the accident was great and shows how good Fourier was in this thread with his description.

The podcasts after each episode with the maker are highly recommended (as is the Battle of Chernobyl documentary on youtube), but of course you could not listen to them until after you have watched the episode. Yet, they actually enriched the watching of the episode e.g.

Fermin apparently 'bought' his engineering degree and when he orders chief engineer Sitnikov to go and look into the reactor and Sitnikov refuses he puts his hand on his shoulder and states that 'we' are of the same qualifications and it will be OK!

Would have meant more if I understood this at the time it was delivered in the episode.
TL;DR: watch-listen-rewatch!

The cast was great, especially Skarsgaard, but the soundtrack coupled with the bleak empty urban shots was the standout star.

Brilliant brilliant TV, delivered loads but still left me wanting more. Also reminded me how dark and foreboding the 80's were (Stardust, cold war, NI troubles, Challenger, Peig, the Onedin Line, etc.) - the music made up for it, though I didn't realise it at the time.

2smiggy

lab man wrote: »

Only came across this programme today where can I see it on TV from ep1

If u have sky, its on catch up on sky Atlantic.

Walter Bishop

Superb ending to a stunning show, this is the best TV drama I have watched in years and am unlikely to see anything as good again for some time.

Acting, writing, direction, production design, soundtrack all superlative. Although depressing and would make you tear your hair out at some elements of human nature, this was art.

CrankyHaus

Credit Checker Moose wrote: »

No, you cannot go inside any of the building.

The nearest you can get is the monument. I was there in 2013.
Radiation was off the charts standing there. Max allowed exposure there was 60 seconds.

That's fascinating. The new containment structure is extremely effective then.

I was there last year and that spot had relatively low radiation levels. 0.57 uSV/hr, which I think means you'd have to stand there for several hours before getting the same radiation exposure as you would from a dental x ray. I thought it was shockingly low for about 100 m from ground zero of the worst nuclear disaster of all time.

RobertKK

Such a powerful and sobering end to this series.

Skerries

Wibbs wrote: »

That ending...

IMHO from the acting, script, pacing, direction, soundtrack and production design this series was one of the finest pieces of television drama I've ever seen.

expect awards after awards for all those elements

lawred2

That show has restored my faith in TV after that GOT tripe

Had hair standing on ends with the montage at the end

sc86

tourism over there is going to boom after this series - im not sure is that a good or bad thing

i would love to go
before i watched this series i knew next to nothing about the event , now i think its fascinating

Bigmac1euro

Truly amazing, god that lead scientist who pressed on the safety test was such a scumbag.

is_that_so

Fantastic series and a fine tribute to the real heroes at the end.

extra gravy

buried wrote: »

Nothing ever hit me like the end of that. Was wracked with real emotion in the buildup right to the end and not ashamed to say was true in tears once I read about Lyudmilla Ignatenko's outcome and I held up all the way beforehand.

This is real art. Absolutely fantastic piece of masterwork. Really looking forward to future productions from these creators. 11/11

I saw the writer mention in a tweet a Swedish made film about her called "the Voice of Lyudmilla". Would love to watch it but can't find much info online about it.

Credit Checker Moose

It took 8 years after his death for Valery Legasov to be recognised by the Russian Federation for his life's work and dedication to the truth.

He was threatened by the KGB that no one would ever care who he was. Drove the man to his death. It was terrible what was done to cover up the truth.

iano.p

Wow what a show. The best thing on the in years it will be hard to top that.

AMKC

That was a great episode and excellent T.V. ]

I would say what they done to Legasov at the end must have been worse than death. They took everything from him so that it would be like he never existed. If he had of lived just two more years maybe things might have gotten better for him. Very sad.

As for the official amount of deaths it has to be way more than 31. I would say at least in the thousands.

I have to say I had tears at the end. Not sure what I will do on a Tuesday night after this now. Would watch it all again.

shrewdness

What a fantastic final episode, just about a perfect way to wrap up this brilliant series. Everything was explained in a great way during the trial so as to be understandable, but not really dumbed down, which can be a hard balance to strike. And the constant flashbacks to how it all happened in the buildup to the explosion, for a real life event where everyone knows what happened, they still managed to add some tension. It's shocking how Legasov was treated after trying to show the truth, thankfully this series shines some light on his name along with Boris and others, to show the crucial role they played while literally dramatically shortening their lives. So sad that Legasov was driven to suicide after how he was treated, at least he proper exposed them in the end but such a shame he couldn't be around to see the changes.

The final moments were like a real kick to the gut, as it went through what happened to all involved. Just a phenomenal piece of TV, this should sweep the board come awards season.

Sittingpretty

Incredible.

Have yet to see anything as perfect as it and probably will never be replicated in its efficacy at creating tension, pace, mood. Absolutely fantastic TV.

AMKC

Bigmac1euro wrote: »

Truly amazing, god that lead scientist who pressed on the safety test was such a scumbag.

He only cared about his promotion did not care about anyone or anything else. I would say he must have been an arrogant hateful pig. Maybe he thought he would have been out of there ages ago and was pissed of now but it was still no way to go on especially in something as potentially dangerous as a nuclear power station.
I think unfortunately due the the flawed design of RBMK reactor it was inevitable that it would happen sometime so if it had not been Chernobyl it would have been somewhere else eventually.

shrewdness

They really portrayed Dyatlov in a terrible light. I wonder was that hammed up for dramatic effect or if he really was such a hateful prick in real life.

Larbre34

The offender here was the Soviet system. All across the USSR, mid level grunts cut corners and portrayed themselves as superior to those around them and indeed to their actual talent, in order to progress; to get a bigger flat, get their kids into a better level of school, get a few luxuries for Mrs Comrade - only problem was Dyatlov's job was to control a big old bomb.

Any ambitious Soviet would have done the same and the quote from Gorbachev at the end was very telling, that he believed it was actually Chernobyl that lit the fuse of the end of the Soviet Union.

Itssoeasy

shrewdness wrote: »

They really portrayed Dyatlov in a terrible light. I wonder was that hammed up for dramatic effect or if he really was such a hateful prick in real life.

I've seen his last interview he gave before he died in 1995 and even then he blamed everyone and everything else bar himself.

DeanAustin

shrewdness wrote: »

They really portrayed Dyatlov in a terrible light. I wonder was that hammed up for dramatic effect or if he really was such a hateful prick in real life.

The writer said he was a horrible prick.

There is a backstory though. He was at the centre of another nuclear accident years earlier and not long after his 10 year old son got leukemia and died. The theory is that he was in denial about the potential dangers of nuclear power because if he accepted those, he would be accepting that he may have been responsible for his son’s death.

Tremendous tv. Best thing I’ve seen for god knows how long.