[TV Series] Chernobyl

Josey Wales

Josey Wales

FGM Company Sergeant Major
FGM MEMBER
Joined
Jul 22, 2016
Messages
751
Reaction score
966
Location
Berkshire, UK
Website
www.youtube.com
Any one seen this yet;


I've watched the first 2 episodes and find it difficult to think of anything I've seen that is this tense. The authorities are very slow to realise the impact of the accident and almost everyone is utterly oblivious to the lethality of the situation they find themselves in. An excellent cast of mostly unknowns although there are some familiar faces I recognise from other TV series. The doom and gloom of the setting is like something out of a horror movie, however this was an event that actually happened and affected real people. It's powerful stuff.
 
Oh yes, this is very good series. Very moving.
The scenes where the worker says he saw graphite, meaning the core exploded and the boss says "No you didn't". "Yes I did". "NO YOU DIDN'T!!" and the worker says no more.

And they didn't evacuate Pripyat until the news said that in Frankfurt they were keeping the children home from school.

And there were so many Russian workers who were unsung heroes.
 
I was about to see the first episode last night but had to postpone.
I remember the day of the accident very well. The winds were blowing toward the west and Sweden was one of the first countries that understood that something bad had happened as radiation measurements spiked in certain areas. No official word at the time.
A long time after it was recommended not to eat mushrooms or berries the grew in the area over which where the winds blew, nor meat from animals that fed on such.
Scary sh**
 
It's really powerful, the way they deny whatever happens as it involves a problem with the party and play down every step of the catastrophe, it spokes to the times that we are living right now, when the people drink their kool-aid as soon as their leader call something, no matter how much evidence it has, as fake news.

The series has a podcast made with one of the writers and producers, so it improves the experience.
 
rocketman said:
I was about to see the first episode last night but had to postpone.
I remember the day of the accident very well. The winds were blowing toward the west and Sweden was one of the first countries that understood that something bad had happened as radiation measurements spiked in certain areas. No official word at the time.
A long time after it was recommended not to eat mushrooms or berries the grew in the area over which where the winds blew, nor meat from animals that fed on such.
Scary sh**
Click to expand...

A friend once told me that France saw an increase in Thyroid cancer and other like ailments in the areas where winds blew over. Such affects are still felt today. Is that factually accurate?
 
Badger73 said:
A friend once told me that France saw an increase in Thyroid cancer and other like ailments in the areas where winds blew over. Such affects are still felt today. Is that factually accurate?
Click to expand...
I wouldn't be surprised if that there can be some kind of link. Acute radiation is treated with Iodine (IIRC) which is essential for thyroid hormones. So radiation can disturb the production of hormones by the thyroid gland.
Another story along these lines: https://www.theverge.com/2017/2/24/...ech-republic-central-europe-germany-chernobyl
 
It's very good so far, and surprisingly true to what happened and covers in some technical detail without turning into an incomprehensible science show. I was one month from starting the US Navy's nuclear power school when Chernobyhl happened, needless to say we studied it a LOT over following five years LOL. I've already seen many of the facts of the event covered in the show, correctly and without over-dramatizing it. It has some sentimental bits that I could do without, showing the emotions of those losing loved ones etc but what can you do, it's HBO.
 
Well, the ending of this show was unsatisfying to say the least. I feel like they needed at least two more episodes to wrap up this story. Many, many loose threads left hanging. Zero examination of the impact on the USSR's neighbors. They never even showed the completion of the mitigation effort, or the miners digging out space for the heat exchanger or the installation and operation of the heat exchanger, or the herculean task of putting the "sarcophagus" in place over the remains of the plant. Just a whole lot of stuff that was never resolved or in some cases never even shown.
 
jobu88 said:
Well, the ending of this show was unsatisfying to say the least. I feel like they needed at least two more episodes to wrap up this story. Many, many loose threads left hanging. Zero examination of the impact on the USSR's neighbors. They never even showed the completion of the mitigation effort, or the miners digging out space for the heat exchanger or the installation and operation of the heat exchanger, or the herculean task of putting the "sarcophagus" in place over the remains of the plant. Just a whole lot of stuff that was never resolved or in some cases never even shown.
Click to expand...

I thought the same at first, but I think the scope of the series is to point the weight of lying and the denying of facts, the trial is a good way to finish it. The amount of consecuences is vast but the most of it was showed along the decay of the URSS. I liked a lot this final chapter, but I what like it the most was this:

abcnews.go.com

Russian TV to air its own version of Chernobyl, which implies CIA may be to blame

Russia is preparing to air it's own version of the hit HBO series Chernobyl that will show a CIA agent as present during the disaster.
abcnews.go.com abcnews.go.com

It shows how relevant is the series, the facts are there yet the narrative can be morphed. They want to show another view to spin around the facts, because it's easier to see an external enemy doing harm than our own errors.
 
"....where I once would fear the cost of truth, I only ask what is the cost of lies?”

On screen the actors speak English in their natural accents. However, all speech that is heard through artificial means - through the radio, emergency telephone call recordings, Soviet television news, and announcements made through public address systems - is in Russian. -IMDB

Let me quote a review from Imdb that I whole heartidly agree with.

“Now you look like the minister of coal!”
8 June 2019 | by ahmetkozan

“In terms of series expression, it moves on in a style that we can call "documentary-drama". But there is a serious scenario success here. The visual and verbal emotions of the series we watch are sometimes causing anxiety, sometimes causing anger and sometimes we cannot prevent our eyes from being moistened. The gloomy atmosphere of the Soviets is very well reflected. The background music supports this. It has a cinematic narrative. You feel the catastrophe up to your buttonhole. Nevertheless, acting certainly takes the business to a much higher level. Chernobyl is now at the top of the "Top Rated TV Shows" list in IMDb. This is a significant improvement, even if you are a person who does not consider the IMDb score very much. Such a great success in a short time... It really deserves a round of applause. 10/10”
 
Josey Wales said:
Any one seen this yet;


I've watched the first 2 episodes and find it difficult to think of anything I've seen that is this tense. The authorities are very slow to realise the impact of the accident and almost everyone is utterly oblivious to the lethality of the situation they find themselves in. An excellent cast of mostly unknowns although there are some familiar faces I recognise from other TV series. The doom and gloom of the setting is like something out of a horror movie, however this was an event that actually happened and affected real people. It's powerful stuff.
Click to expand...
I saw a discussion on this, they also said how tense the programme was, what channel does it go out on ?
 
Josey Wales said:
Any one seen this yet;


I've watched the first 2 episodes and find it difficult to think of anything I've seen that is this tense. The authorities are very slow to realize the impact of the accident and almost everyone is utterly oblivious to the lethality of the situation they find themselves in.
Click to expand...

Indeed. I've heard that the Russian government is unhappy with this series, and is going to make their own documentary blaming the CIA for the meltdown.
 
@Hedgehog I watched it on Now TV (paid subscription). I don't know what channel it airs on.

@Meat Grinder I think the series draws unwanted attention to the weakness of the Soviet system as far as the Russian government is concerned. In 2006 Gorbachev stated that Chernobyl was the catalyst for the breakup of the USSR. According to the article, this TV series has proved to be very popular in Russia and the upcoming Russian version is being sponsored by a state owned TV channel...... same old, same old!
 
I stumbled across this today, looking for interesting tourist spots in Scandinavia (the website was called Darkside tourism or something).

There is a nuclear power plant in Sweden called Forsmark. Apparently they were the first ones to pick up the radiation from Chernobyl. Also they have had some of their own issues. Quoting from Wikipedia:

"On March 14, 2011, Höglund commented that the Fukushima-disaster parallels the Forsmark incident, i.e. failing UPS system backup, and repeated his statement from 2007 that "only luck" prevented a meltdown at the Swedish plant."

Of course, there were dissenting views about this opinion and it does not rank that highly on the International Nuclear Event Scale: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Nuclear_Event_Scale

Chernobyl and Fukushima are the worst.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom