Chernobyl miniseries - coming to Sky and HBO in May 2019

V_R · 29 May 2019 at 22:57

Yeah that sounded pretty rough!

Participant · 30 May 2019 at 09:41

Nitefly said:
The lead guy with glasses is a bit meh/annoying... just no real character development and he’s all round pretty flat. Not what the show was going for I guess but I’m surprised there is little emotion / personal drama from the lead actors.

He's an uber nerd so not meant to be Mr. Charisma and represents a stoic yet conflicted CCCP comrade very well imo.

Kainz · 30 May 2019 at 10:11

Absolutely amazing show, and Episode 4 was downright chilling, from the initial descriptions of how severe each of the roofs were right down to Pavel on animal patrol. The entire cast is faultless imo.

Participant · 30 May 2019 at 10:25

I felt they overdid the animals thing a bit in E4 and could have spent more time on other aspects. Personally. And that's not for squeamish reasons.

Great programme though.

Richdog · 30 May 2019 at 22:21

Just finished this. Amazing and powerful show that really created a chilling atmosphere. I didn't know much about the disaster and seeing it recreated in such detail was just mins-boggling in scale. Fantastic production values.

Kainz said:
Absolutely amazing show, and Episode 4 was downright chilling, from the initial descriptions of how severe each of the roofs were right down to Pavel on animal patrol. The entire cast is faultless imo.

The one bad casting choice imo was the guy in charge of the power plant, the short guy with the blue suit denying everything who was then taken away later along with his henchman... he was not a convincing actor at all.

EDIT - Can't find his name at the moment...

VincentHanna · 31 May 2019 at 00:07

Richdog said:
The one bad casting choice imo was the guy in charge of the power plant, the short guy with the blue suit denying everything who was then taken away later along with his henchman... he was not a convincing actor at all.

EDIT - Can't find his name at the moment...

Con O'Neill?

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point decay · 31 May 2019 at 10:58

couldn't see this posted, but was an interesting watch.

Martynt74 · 31 May 2019 at 11:00

One thing i couldn't get my head around with the roof bit, is why not work from the edge backwards. Everyone seemed to just go at random and then clamber over all the debris in their way to throw it over into the hole.

If you start at the edge then you're clearing the path as you go.

adam cool dude · 31 May 2019 at 11:12

Marvt74 said:
One thing i couldn't get my head around with the roof bit, is why not work from the edge backwards. Everyone seemed to just go at random and then clamber over all the debris in their way to throw it over into the hole.

If you start at the edge then you're clearing the path as you go.

They were specifically told to go for the graphite as that would reduce the radiation.

ttaskmaster · 31 May 2019 at 13:46

Raymond Lin · 31 May 2019 at 13:49

ttaskmaster said:
What kind of entertainment were you expecting? Dancing girls?

Tension? Suspense?

ttaskmaster · 31 May 2019 at 13:59

Raymond Lin · 31 May 2019 at 14:15

ttaskmaster said:
It's not really that sort of presentation, is it?
Most people already know enough about what happened, that there's not really much scope for either of those things.

Yes, precisely, lacking in those.

I am not sure where this conversation is going but I am not enjoying it on the same levels as a lot of people here, it's just an opinion. I am not trying to convince others of the same.

Thekwango · 31 May 2019 at 14:31

Raymond Lin said:
Yes, precisely, lacking in those.

I am not sure where this conversation is going but I am not enjoying it on the same levels as a lot of people here, it's just an opinion. I am not trying to convince others of the same.

it is quite a marmite series, i've spoken to several people who absolutely hate it and others who love it. initially i was not a fan, the english accents really stripped the 'immersion' value out of it for me. i've gotten used to that aspect now and am really enjoying it. although, unlike some others, i find the acting to be generally a bit pants (aside from Skarsgard - but then he's helped by his accent) but it's the subject matter that's keeping me entertained.

wolfie138 · 31 May 2019 at 14:42

ttaskmaster said:
That's about $3000 in today's money, for just 90 seconds work and doing your part in an heroic effort to save the continent. Thinking about how many people that would have taken, it's a lot of 800 Ruble payments in the grand scheme of things.
However, it depends what that 800 Rubles could have bought you back in 1980s Soviet society, I guess. I suspect things didn't cost what they do today, either numerically or as an equivalence.

"just for 90 seconds work" and getting cancer.

Nitefly · 31 May 2019 at 15:10

ttaskmaster said:
What kind of entertainment were you expecting? Dancing girls?

That's about $3000 in today's money, for just 90 seconds work and doing your part in an heroic effort to save the continent. Thinking about how many people that would have taken, it's a lot of 800 Ruble payments in the grand scheme of things.
However, it depends what that 800 Rubles could have bought you back in 1980s Soviet society, I guess. I suspect things didn't cost what they do today, either numerically or as an equivalence.

I half-agree, in that the dialogue during that scene is all about not getting within 10m of the core plume... but you do clearly see the rotors clipping the crane cable and the blades come flying off as the now-severed load block falls. I assume that was meant to be due to loss of vision as they flew through the plume, more than anything else.
The HBO version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKqEOpu5uCc

This is the real-life event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=36&v=ICOu7KksgUA

Well, yeah. If you want subject matter, read the Wiki.
It's kinda like the difference between reading Hamlet and watching it performed by top actors, I suppose.

They are rather busy trying to cope with quite pressing matters, though. Not much time for self-reflection on one's own worth as a person.
Besides, how multi-dimensional would you expect a fairly introverted nuke geek to be, in 1980s Soviet lands, with the KGB always looking over one shoulder, and his own radiation-based suffering and guaranteed death over the other?
I think Shcherbina and especially Legasov are extremely well played, with lots of subtlety in those performances. For the latter, compare Jared Harris in The Expanse.

To my mind the lead with glasses is actually the sort of cliched scientist that ‘warns those in charge’ and is always correct that we have seen a zillion times in zillion films. And yeah, I totally get that’s what he actually did in real life

but that’s pretty much the only thing the character in the TV show has done. It’s just a little ‘flat’ from the leads in my opinion, that’s all, and as I said that’s obviously not what the show was going for. It’s obviously horrible what happened to the people but I don’t particularly care for any main characters in the show (because they haven’t provided any real reason to).

That’s the thing with a docudrama - it has to balance the documentary with the drama. I think the show has done that extremely well. But I’m definitely not fawning over the drama.

Raymond Lin · 31 May 2019 at 15:16

That's what it is!!!

Connection.

Whilst I am horrified with what happened, because the docu drama or whatever you want to call it, starts off immediately with the explosion, it doesn't set up any of the people so I am not invested in them. I feel bad for them as human beings and while I appreciate the paramount of the situation, as a TV show, it doesn't click, hence i am not "enjoying" it.

JBuk · 31 May 2019 at 15:39

Marvt74 said:
One thing i couldn't get my head around with the roof bit, is why not work from the edge backwards. Everyone seemed to just go at random and then clamber over all the debris in their way to throw it over into the hole.

If you start at the edge then you're clearing the path as you go.

I was discussing this with a few colleagues and we thought, why not erect a few crude pulley mechanisms and hang some shovels off them , also have some brushes and shovels with extended poles , this would help to keep people a bit further back and maybe reduce the risk ?

Also just read that the Russians had performed successful tests using helicopters that had huge glue pads attached to their winch cables which could pick up debris and drop it but they never used the method because some people high up refused permission

Martynt74 · 31 May 2019 at 15:44

Raymond Lin said:
Whilst I am horrified with what happened, because the docu drama or whatever you want to call it, starts off immediately with the explosion, it doesn't set up any of the people so I am not invested in them. I feel bad for them as human beings and while I appreciate the paramount of the situation, as a TV show, it doesn't click, hence i am not "enjoying" it.

Was listening to the podcast for episode 1 this morning and he explained that he started off with the explosion and suicide as people know it happens so otherwise are just sat waiting for it to happen. He said he didn't see the point in setting the scene out to build up to something we all know about. Just get it out in the open and move on.

Raz · 31 May 2019 at 15:47

Just started watching the first episode...