[stevelup]

I know not everyone has Sky but my god this is absolutely brilliant.

Probably the best thing I've seen on TV for a very long time.

Highly, highly recommended!

[TheKentishFledgling]

From the trailers it looks absolutely brilliant, very much my style of drama and Jared Harris suits the role.

Now whether to save up then binge watch, or go with the weekly episodes...

[stevelup]

I couldn’t resist watching it... so I’m committed to weekly now rather than a binge. Can’t wait four more weeks.

Everyone speaking in regional British accents was slightly disconcerting at first, but actually it’s a stroke of genius!

[shortwing]

Without a doubt one of the best pieces of TV in a long time!

[Yankee-K]

I was looking forward to this but virgin don't carry Sky Atlantic so hope it appears somewhere else in the future

[stevelup]

One option if you can live with 720P would be to wait until all the episodes have aired then get a free NOW TV subscription and binge it in the 7 day free trial period!

[akg1486]

I was looking forward to this but virgin don't carry Sky Atlantic so hope it appears somewhere else in the future

It's an HBO series, so in most countries you'll find it there. HBO UK doesn't seem to have the rights, though.

[Grumpy One]

Blackmailing Mode <ON>
How much will you pay me for not letting on how it all ends?
Mode <OFF>

[Paul_Sengupta]

Is it a bit like Titanic where <spoiler alert>, the ship sinks?

[stevelup]

Just in case anyone is interested, there is a podcast to accompany the series. It talks about the artistic decisions made and various other bits and bobs.

Obviously don't listen to the podcast before watching the episode.

[Bill McCarthy]

Those who champion nuclear generation and are watching this programme may now get an insight into why Germany abandoned nuclear after this event.
The “crackling” Geiger counters giving background sound in the scenes for effect, do not give a true account of what the real indications would be. On my first boat, I would be exposed to the programme counts every day. What is really scary is when it goes from a steadily increasing crackle to a very high high pitched whistle.

[johnm]

I attended a lecture on Chernobyl recently and it was very interesting indeed.....

[Lindsayp]

Watching this is so gripping even though we've seen the other version and the news reports at the time. (Did you know that a Ukrainian company runs Chernobyl tours, including helicopter overflights?)

What struck me is that for all the brutality and ruthlessness of the Soviet system, if the same thing happened again now in Russia/Byelorussia or anywhere in the West, it couldn't be dealt with; there would be too much interest in the cost, designing and signing off the solutions, health and safety, unwillingness to sacrifice lives (quite naturally). Our humanity can also be our vulnerability.

[TheKentishFledgling]

What struck me is that for all the brutality and ruthlessness of the Soviet system, if the same thing happened again now in Russia/Byelorussia or anywhere in the West, it couldn't be dealt with; there would be too much interest in the cost, designing and signing off the solutions, health and safety, unwillingness to sacrifice lives (quite naturally). Our humanity can also be our vulnerability.

This point was raised in one of the HBO podcast episodes stevelup linked to above, drawing comparisons with how the US might have responded had Three Mile Island gone differently. Very sobering to think about.

If you're enjoying the series, I'd definitely suggest listening to the podcasts once you've watched each episode. I thought they may be a bit arty farty "how we composed this shot" type of stuff, but not at all.

[stevelup]

Yes, I probably undersold the podcasts - they are excellent.

As well as discussing the artistic decisions, they talk a lot about stuff which was left out of the final edit (either left on the cutting room floor, or never produced in the first place).