Chernobyl Disaster TV Show Review

Chernobyl Disaster TV Show Info

• Genres: History, Drama
• Number of Episodes: 5
• Premiere Date: May 6, 2019
• Cast and Crew: Click here.
• Network: HBO.

Chernobyl Disaster TV Show

Chernobyl is a 2019 historical mini-series that depicts the true events of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. known to be the greatest nuclear disaster that the world had seen. and the aftermath of cleanup and contamination management efforts.

The Show follows the events that led to the Chernobyl disaster On 26 April 1986. When the Number 4 reactor of the Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine exploded and caught fire. And the aftermath of the explosion, and how the Soviet Union tried to cover up the matter.

I was a little hesitant to watch the show fearing that it will be complicated and hard to understand with all the science and Physics involved. But the show did a fantastic job in that regard, instead of focusing on science. It focused on the human aspect of this tragedy, and how society reacted to it, from government officials to scientists and even civilians. And how people could rise to be heroes or cowards.

And that was fascinating, the show did everything right, it was grabbing, emotional, and moving.
We got so attached to the characters who are real people with real lives and families.
So when it was time for explaining the science behind what happened I was so interested in learning everything that happened. And it was illustrated well, in an easy-to-understand matter.

Chernobyl Contamination Map

Now to understand better why Chernobyl is the greatest nuclear disaster that the world had witnessed. let’s first have a look at the contamination map.

The Chernobyl contamination map shows how the radiation spread over Ukraine, Belarus, and the Russian Federation reaching some countries in Europe.

It has been over 30 years since Chernobyl. Yet the area around the reactor “core of the explosion” still emits deadly radiation.

After the Explosion of the reactor, radiation was discharged into the atmosphere to be distributed by the wind to vast regions reaching Europe.

I loved how the show portrayed the “radiation”. Since radiation can’t be seen. the show did a brilliant job of employing music and visual effects to understand what happened and how vast it was.

What is Chernobyl TV Show About

Other than documenting a major event, in an accurate and informative way without taking away from the show’s appeal and drama. Chernoble as a TV show had some main points to get across:

What is the cost of lies?

What is the cost of lies? that was the show’s tagline as well as its final words.
All those lies were at the expense of a nuclear disaster.

• The First Lie: What ended in a disaster was supposed to be a simple “Safty Test”. A test that was supposed to be completed before the power plant opened. Yet it was delayed and claimed to the authorities that it was completed.
  
  How did a Safty Test end up with an explosion?
  As the series details The direct result of that was the failure to respect and follow regulations. The chief engineer (Anatoly Dyatlov) turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to any warnings and insisted on completing a test that is no longer reliable due to the drastic changes in its conditions.

In the end, the Chernobyl disaster was due to a “Human Error”, yet I don’t believe “Error” is an accurate term to use in this case.

• That was not all, there is a second lie. the investigation concluded that there was a fault in the design of the reactor and the material used to build it. Yet authorities refused to acknowledge that because they did not want to reveal that Soviet technology was flawed. This is an example of how political lies could have such a huge impact.

Paying Tribute and Respect to All the Heroes

The show was also about paying tribute and respect to all the Heroes, who knowingly put their lives at risk to save their country and the world.

• The Firefighters: as the first responders, they were unaware of the fatal radiation. and did not have the right equipment with them such as radiation suits or respirators.
• The Power Plant Workers: who volunteered to enter the plant to drain the water that has pooled and threatens to explode in a deadly steam explosion. They have been notified of the deadly risk. According to reports, two of them are still alive today.
• The Miners: Who agreed to dig beneath the plant to make a safe barrier between the reactor and the groundwater below. Working under unbreakable heat, for very long hours, and at great speed to get their mission done.
• Soldiers: who went to the rooftop of the Reactor to clear the graphite debris. The radiation was so intense they only had 60 seconds to go in and out.

Those are the true Heros of Chernobyl, Some died doing their job. Others had slow deaths suffering from cancer years down the line. And others suffer profound emotional trauma.

How Accurate Was Chernobyl TV Show

The Show was acclaimed for its, historical accuracy. The show was thoroughly researched, with some allowance made to deliver a Dramatic dose. Each episode was followed by a podcast talking about these alterations and their justifications.

For more details, watch this video:

Chernobyl TV Show Awards

The show was acclaimed by critics, for performances, cinematography, historical accuracy, atmosphere, direction, screenplay, music, and tone. (Chernobyl tv show awards and nominations)

• At Primetime Emmy Awards (2019), the show received nineteen nominations and won for:
  • Outstanding Limited Series,
  • Outstanding Directing, and Outstanding Writing,
• At the 77th Golden Globe Awards, the series won Best Miniseries or Television Film.

Conclusion

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that was it for Chernobyl Disaster TV Show.
I hope this was a fun read for you, maybe you have learned a thing or two.
If you made it to the end I want to say thank you so much, it means a lot to me.

Also, I would love to know what you thought about the Chernobyl Disaster TV Show, please let me know in the comments below.

See you at the next one, bye.