Chernobyl (miniseries) facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Chernobyl
Promotional poster
Genre	Historical drama Disaster Tragedy
Created by	Craig Mazin
Written by	Craig Mazin
Directed by	Johan Renck
Starring	Jared Harris Stellan Skarsgård Paul Ritter Jessie Buckley Adam Nagaitis Con O'Neill Adrian Rawlins Sam Troughton Robert Emms Emily Watson David Dencik Mark Lewis Jones Alan Williams Alex Ferns Ralph Ineson Barry Keoghan Fares Fares Michael McElhatton
Composer(s)	Hildur Guðnadóttir
Country of origin	United States United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of episodes	5
Production
Executive producer(s)	Craig Mazin Carolyn Strauss Jane Featherstone
Producer(s)	Sanne Wohlenberg
Production location(s)	Lithuania Ukraine
Cinematography	Jakob Ihre
Editor(s)	Jinx Godfrey Simon Smith
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	59–71 minutes
Production company(s)	HBO Sky UK Sister Pictures The Mighty Mint Word Games
Release
Original network	HBO (US) Sky Atlantic (UK)
Original release	May 6 (2019-05-06) – June 3, 2019 (2019-06-03)

Chernobyl is a powerful five-part TV show from 2019. It tells the true story of the Chernobyl disaster that happened in 1986. This event was a huge accident at a nuclear power plant. The series shows the brave people who helped clean up and deal with the disaster. Craig Mazin created and wrote the show, and Johan Renck directed it.

The show features a talented group of actors, including Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgård, and Emily Watson. It was made by HBO in the United States and Sky UK in the United Kingdom. Chernobyl first aired in May 2019. It was highly praised for its acting, how well it showed the historical events, and its overall quality. The series won many awards, like the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Series and the Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or Television Film. These awards recognized it as one of the best TV shows of its kind.

A special podcast was released with each episode. In it, Craig Mazin talked about how the show sometimes changed small details for the story. Even with these changes, many people praised the show for its careful research and attention to detail.

Understanding the Chernobyl Story
Meet the Main Characters
- Key People in the Story
Episode Guide
How the Show Was Made
How Accurate is the Show?
Release Information
- Watching at Home
See also

Understanding the Chernobyl Story

The show Chernobyl tells the dramatic story of the nuclear power plant accident in April 1986. This happened in what was then the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, part of the Soviet Union. The series focuses on the real people who were there. It shows the experiences of those involved in the accident and the brave individuals who helped afterwards.

You'll see stories of firefighters who were first to arrive. It also highlights volunteers and miners who worked hard to prevent more damage. The show draws inspiration from the memories of people who lived in Pripyat. These stories were collected by Svetlana Alexievich in her book Voices from Chernobyl. It's important to remember that while her book is powerful, it's a creative work. It's not always a word-for-word record of what people said.

Meet the Main Characters

The series features many important characters, both real and fictional. They help tell the story of the disaster and its aftermath.

Key People in the Story

Jared Harris as Valery Legasov: A top scientist who helped manage the cleanup.
Stellan Skarsgård as Boris Shcherbina: A government official sent to oversee the response.
Emily Watson as Ulana Khomyuk: A smart nuclear physicist. She is a made-up character, representing many scientists who investigated the accident.
Paul Ritter as Anatoly Dyatlov: A deputy chief engineer at the Chernobyl plant.
Jessie Buckley as Lyudmilla Ignatenko: The wife of a firefighter.
Adam Nagaitis as Vasily Ignatenko: A firefighter from Pripyat and one of the first to respond.
Con O'Neill as Viktor Bryukhanov: The manager of the Chernobyl plant.
Adrian Rawlins as Nikolai Fomin: The chief engineer at Chernobyl.
Sam Troughton as Aleksandr Akimov: The night shift supervisor at Chernobyl.
Robert Emms as Leonid Toptunov: A senior engineer at Chernobyl.
David Dencik as Mikhail Gorbachev: The leader of the Soviet Union at the time.
Mark Lewis Jones as Vladimir Pikalov: A commander of Soviet chemical forces.
Alan Williams as Charkov: A high-ranking official from the KGB (Soviet secret police).
Alex Ferns as Andrei Glukhov: The leader of a mining team.
Ralph Ineson as Nikolai Tarakanov: The main supervisor of the cleanup operation.
Barry Keoghan as Pavel Gremov: A young civilian who helps with the cleanup.
Fares Fares as Bacho: A soldier who guides Pavel.
Michael McElhatton as Andrei Stepashin: The prosecutor in the trial that followed.

Episode Guide

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date (EDT)	US viewers (millions)	UK viewers (millions)
1	"1:23:45"	Johan Renck	Craig Mazin	May 6, 2019 (2019-05-06)	0.756	0.861
Two years after the Chernobyl disaster, scientist Valery Legasov records his memories before his death. On April 26, 1986, at 1:23:45 am, Reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant explodes. This happens near the city of Pripyat. Inside the plant, Deputy Chief Engineer Anatoly Dyatlov doesn't believe the reactor core is open. He orders workers like Aleksandr Akimov and Leonid Toptunov to try and control it. Firefighters, including Vasily Ignatenko, arrive to put out the fire. Many people, including civilians watching from a nearby bridge, are exposed to dangerous radiation. Dyatlov, along with Plant Manager Viktor Bryukhanov and Chief Engineer Nikolai Fomin, decides to close off the city. They also cut phone lines to stop news from spreading. Legasov is called to the Kremlin to help Mikhail Gorbachev with the disaster.
2	"Please Remain Calm"	Johan Renck	Craig Mazin	May 13, 2019 (2019-05-13)	1.004	0.891
Hours after the explosion, scientist Ulana Khomyuk in Minsk detects high radiation. She realizes it must be from Chernobyl. In Pripyat, Lyudmilla Ignatenko learns her husband Vasily is being moved to Moscow for treatment. In the Kremlin, Boris Shcherbina repeats false information about the accident. Legasov figures out the reactor core is open and convinces Gorbachev to send him and Shcherbina to investigate. Plant officials try to blame Legasov. But Shcherbina has them arrested when a correct radiation reading proves Legasov right. Legasov then convinces Shcherbina to evacuate Pripyat, as people there have been exposed to dangerous radiation. Legasov and Shcherbina try to put out the fire with sand and boron. They don't know that water tanks are still under the reactor. Khomyuk warns Legasov that this could cause another, even bigger explosion. Gorbachev allows three workers to drain the water. However, the high radiation makes their flashlights fail, leaving them in darkness.
3	"Open Wide, O Earth"	Johan Renck	Craig Mazin	May 20, 2019 (2019-05-20)	1.063	1.100
The three brave workers manage to drain the water from the basement. This helps prevent a much larger explosion. Gorbachev then sends miners from Tula to dig a tunnel under the reactor. Their job is to install a cooling system. This would stop the reactor core from melting through the ground and polluting water sources. Shcherbina tells Legasov that the KGB (secret police) is watching them closely. Legasov asks Khomyuk to talk to Dyatlov, Akimov, and Toptunov to find out what caused the accident. Lyudmilla visits Vasily in Moscow, and he seems to be getting better. Legasov explains that this is a temporary improvement. Vasily, Akimov, and Toptunov sadly pass away within weeks. Before they die, Akimov and Toptunov tell Khomyuk what happened. She learns that an emergency shutdown button (AZ-5) actually caused the explosion, which was thought to be impossible. Khomyuk sees Lyudmilla with Vasily and is concerned about the risks. Khomyuk is briefly arrested by the KGB but released thanks to Legasov. Lyudmilla watches as Vasily and others are buried in special caskets to contain the radiation.
4	"The Happiness of All Mankind"	Johan Renck	Craig Mazin	May 27, 2019 (2019-05-27)	1.193	1.311
Legasov asks for the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone to be made larger. This means hundreds of "liquidators" are brought in to clean up the forests, soil, and animals. This includes a team sent to humanely deal with all the pets left behind. Legasov and Shcherbina try to use a German robot to clear dangerous debris from the Chernobyl rooftop. But the radiation is too strong, and the robot stops working. The Soviet government falsely reports this to avoid embarrassment. So, Shcherbina and General Nikolai Tarakanov have to send 3,828 liquidators to clear the debris by hand in very short shifts. Even with protection, many of these workers later faced health problems. Khomyuk discovers that the AZ-5 emergency button can cause a brief spike in nuclear power. Legasov knew about this design flaw from a colleague who warned the Kremlin years ago, but was ignored. Khomyuk urges Legasov to share this secret with the world at a conference. Shcherbina warns Legasov about the dangers of revealing state secrets. Lyudmilla gives birth, but her baby passes away soon after due to radiation exposure.
5	"Vichnaya Pamyat"	Johan Renck	Craig Mazin	June 3, 2019 (2019-06-03)	1.089	2.112
Twelve hours before the explosion, Bryukhanov, Fomin, and Dyatlov learn a safety test must be canceled. But hoping for promotions, they decide to just delay it. The KGB praises Legasov for not mentioning the AZ-5 design flaw at the conference. They also say that reactor improvements must wait until after the trial of Dyatlov, Fomin, and Bryukhanov. The Soviet government wants to blame these men for the disaster. Legasov and Khomyuk don't trust the government to fix the reactors later. At the trial, Legasov explains how the plant managers' poor decisions led to the reactor almost melting down. He then reveals the dangerous design flaw of the AZ-5 emergency shutdown button. He admits his earlier testimony was a lie, and that Dyatlov, Akimov, and Toptunov believed the button was safe because the Soviet government hid the flaw. As a result, the KGB takes away Legasov's titles and awards. Legasov's actions lead to his memoirs being shared widely. This forces the USSR to admit the truth and make its other nuclear reactors safer.

How the Show Was Made

Craig Mazin was the writer, creator, and producer of Chernobyl.

Developing the Story

In 2014, writer Craig Mazin started researching for the show. He read many books and government reports from different countries. Mazin also talked to nuclear scientists to understand how reactors work. He spoke with people who lived in the Soviet Union in 1986 to learn about their culture.

Mazin read many personal stories to make the show feel real. He said, "When you're reading the personal stories of people who were there... that's really where the story came alive."

Mazin wanted to create the series because he felt we are struggling with "the global war on the truth." He also knew Chernobyl exploded but didn't know why. He explained, "I didn't know why... and what I discovered was that, while the story of the explosion is fascinating... what really grabbed me... were the incredible stories of the human beings who lived through it." He felt moved by their sacrifices to save their loved ones and their country. Mazin believes the lesson of Chernobyl is that "lying, arrogance, and suppression of criticism are dangerous."

Mazin visited the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone while preparing for the show. He decided early on that the actors would use their natural accents. He felt that trying to do strong Russian accents might make the characters seem less real. No American actors were cast, to help the audience stay focused on the story.

Filming Locations

The Soviet-era district of Fabijoniškės in Vilnius, Lithuania was used to portray Pripyat.

Filming for Chernobyl began in April 2018 in Lithuania. The residential area of Fabijoniškės in Vilnius was used to look like the city of Pripyat. This area still had a real Soviet feel. Later, production moved to Visaginas, Lithuania. Here, they filmed inside and outside the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant. This plant looked very similar to Chernobyl. In June 2018, some final scenes were filmed in Ukraine. The entire filming process took 16 weeks.

Music for the Series

The music for Chernobyl was created by Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir. She recorded sounds inside the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant. She used these recordings to create the score, wanting listeners to feel what it was like inside the plant. The show's music album was released in May 2019.

How Accurate is the Show?

The series was praised for being very well-researched. However, some people noted that it took a few creative liberties for the story. For example, the character Legasov was shown at the trial, but in real life, he wasn't there. The show's ending also mentions that Ulana Khomyuk is a fictional character. She represents many real Soviet scientists.

A journalist named Adam Higginbotham, who studied the disaster for years, pointed out something important. He said that many nuclear scientists already knew about problems with the reactor. These problems eventually led to the explosion. The show also depicted spectators on the "Bridge of Death" who supposedly died. This is now generally thought to be an urban legend.

The show also talked about a possible third, very large explosion. This was due to the risk of melted reactor material reaching water below. The show suggested it could be extremely powerful. However, experts have said that such a massive explosion would have been physically impossible.

The show's look, including the sets, props, and costumes, was highly praised. Many people noted how accurately even small details were shown. For example, real license plate numbers from the Kyiv region were used. One review said the show perfectly recreated the look of the Soviet Union. Oleksiy Breus, an engineer from Chernobyl, praised how the show showed the effects of radiation. However, doctor Robert Peter Gale, who treated victims, felt the show exaggerated some symptoms. He said patients were not dangerous to others once they were cleaned.

The series showed Lyudmilla Ignatenko's baby passing away due to radiation exposure. While this was a tragic event, medical experts have stated that a person is not dangerous to others after being decontaminated.

Some people criticized how Soviet officials were shown. For example, the Chernobyl engineer Breus felt that characters like Viktor Bryukhanov, Nikolai Fomin, and Anatoly Dyatlov were made to look too much like villains. Some felt the show made scientists seem too heroic and officials too evil. However, others thought the show accurately showed the government's initial lack of concern.

Release Information

The miniseries first aired on May 6, 2019, on HBO in the United States. In the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, it premiered on May 7, 2019, on Sky Atlantic.