Chernobyl miniseries - coming to Sky and HBO in May 2019

Diddums said:
Agreed, he’s really coming off as a bit of a bell end to be honest. As many point out in his comments, what we know now is vastly different to what they knew then, and he’s applying today’s logic and lessons to a disaster which is literally described in the show as “the first time something like this has happened on this planet”.

@Evangelion you’ll be selling yourself short by not watching it, the lessons taught and the accuracies far, far outweigh the inaccuracies.
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Mate, I remember when this event was current news, not just a TV show. I watched live reports on it.

Not one single scientist qualified in any relevant field was making dire predictions about most of Europe being uninhabitable for more than a century. Ignorant politicians might have made nonsensical claims of this sort, but not anyone with professional expertise.

That's why the misrepresentation really grinds my gears.

I appreciate that the thrust of the series is more about the government's response than the actual events themselves, but that's still no excuse for bad science.
 
Evangelion said:
Mate, I remember when this event was current news, not just a TV show. I watched live reports on it.

Not one single scientist qualified in any relevant field was making dire predictions about most of Europe being uninhabitable for more than a century. Ignorant politicians might have made nonsensical claims of this sort, but not anyone with professional expertise.

That's why the misrepresentation really grinds my gears.

I appreciate that the thrust of the series is more about the government's response than the actual events themselves, but that's still no excuse for bad science.
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How much of that was damage and panic control though? I see your point 100% but the show itself mentions how the Soviets tried to cover it all up due to the cold war, space race, etc. I'm not convinced this was a case of "no predictions", I suspect a huge aspect of this was also the Soviets playing it down by not wanting the world to know how bad their screwup was. I don't want to give too much away but the Soviets were under the impression that the radiation wasn't that bad, when in reality they only thought this because their geiger-counters only went so high and maxed out. When they brought in more accurate equipment they got a real sense of the scale, and it was on a whole different level to what they thought.

You could well be right, these are details I've never really spent much time considering but I'd need concrete evidence to rule anything out. At the end of the day this was the era of the KGB, the iron curtain, propaganda, as much as I think the show tries to portray things as they happened, this will no doubt be diluted by decades of eroded opinions, misinterpreted facts, chinese whispers, etc. Aiming for 100% accuracy would be nigh-on impossible, I suspect nobody really knows the completely accurate story.

I maintain my original point though, you're selling yourself short by not watching it.
 
Highest rated tv show of all time but im not going to watch it because it's science isn't 100% accurate...

Numerous people who work in nuclear powerplants around the world have praised the show, including scientists. If they can enjoy the show I'm sure some guy who probably has about 1% of their knowledge on the subject will be able to find something to enjoy.
 
neckbeardthethird said:
Highest rated tv show of all time but im not going to watch it because it's science isn't 100% accurate...

Numerous people who work in nuclear powerplants around the world have praised the show, including scientists. If they can enjoy the show I'm sure some guy who probably has about 1% of their knowledge on the subject will be able to find something to enjoy.
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Ha exactly. Now excuse me whilst I refuse to watch any TV show because nobody ever goes to the toilet. Zomg bad science!!11 :rolleyes:
 
Evangelion said:
Plenty of knowledgeable people have already picked it to pieces, but Thunderf00t's analysis is arguably the best:
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That's dreadful. Within a minute I wanted him to shut up and stop being so bloody condescending. After two minutes I had to close the video. If that's the best, I'd hate to see any others.
 
ttaskmaster said:
Really?
I always thought you were older...
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Nah, I'm only 35½, I'm just very mature for my age.

Feek said:
That's dreadful. Within a minute I wanted him to shut up and stop being so bloody condescending. After two minutes I had to close the video. If that's the best, I'd hate to see any others.
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Agreed, it was absolutely terrible. Smug bar steward.
 
The thing that struck home for me was the strength of the Soviet people and the iron will of the Government, how many nations on earth would conscribe 750k people to what is essentially a potential horrific death.

Could we have dealt with this the same way they did? Who here would have done what the miners did, or spend 90 seconds on the roof of the reactor?

I suppose it was that or a bullet really.
 
Lord-Jaffa said:
The thing that struck home for me was the strength of the Soviet people and the iron will of the Government, how many nations on earth would conscribe 750k people to what is essentially a potential horrific death.

Could we have dealt with this the same way they did? Who here would have done what the miners did, or spend 90 seconds on the roof of the reactor?

I suppose it was that or a bullet really.
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People had to do a job because it needed doing. Would have been entirely the same in the west at the time. A huge point missed in today's millennials. God forbid if their was a world war three now.

Tony Blair did what you describe in 2001. 405 people have lost their lives for nothing. At least those Soviet people had a purpose to their actions.
 
adam cool dude said:
People had to do a job because it needed doing. Would have been entirely the same in the west at the time. A huge point missed in today's millennials. God forbid if their was a world war three now.

Tony Blair did what you describe in 2001. 405 people have lost their lives for nothing. At least those Soviet people had a purpose to their actions.
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Not entirely. 400 miners spent 15 days digging....

But they never turned the heat exchanger on underneath reactor 4...
 
adam cool dude said:
People had to do a job because it needed doing. Would have been entirely the same in the west at the time. A huge point missed in today's millennials. God forbid if their was a world war three now.

Tony Blair did what you describe in 2001. 405 people have lost their lives for nothing. At least those Soviet people had a purpose to their actions.
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That was kinda the point I was making, I just couldn't imagine 750000 millennials drafted in to the clean if it happened here today. Would our weak government have the stomach for it and would people actually do it.
 
That guy has too much time on his hands to spend 40 mins debunking a TV show. Particularly in the manner in which he does so.

Sure some things aren't 100%. Even the show itself points out that some scenes and dialogue aren't accurate.

The book Midnight in Chernobyl seems a fairly comprehensive telling of the events and there are fairly large differences between the show and the book - mostly that although they were unprepared they weren't quite as inept as portrayed.

I still think the show is excellent. There aren't many shows that as soon as it's finished I'm happy to watch it again.
 
EddScott said:
The book Midnight in Chernobyl seems a fairly comprehensive telling of the events and there are fairly large differences between the show and the book - mostly that although they were unprepared they weren't quite as inept as portrayed.
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I’ve just finished that book. I really recommend it.
 
Lord-Jaffa said:
The thing that struck home for me was the strength of the Soviet people and the iron will of the Government, how many nations on earth would conscribe 750k people to what is essentially a potential horrific death.

Could we have dealt with this the same way they did? Who here would have done what the miners did, or spend 90 seconds on the roof of the reactor?

I suppose it was that or a bullet really.
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Most of them didn't know the dangers of nuclear radiation, so can't really compare it to now.

We have access to all the information at our finger tips now thanks to technology e.i mobile phones with Google etc.
 
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