“Chernobyl” Mini Series Comes to HBO May 6th
The Two Gay Geeks received this press release from our friends at HBO PR.
I remember vividly when this event happened, it was a catastrophe beyond imagination. And it is still a hotspot.
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CHERNOBYL dramatizes the 1986 nuclear accident, one of the worst human-made catastrophes in history, and tells the story of the brave men and women who made incredible sacrifices to save Europe from unimaginable disaster, all the while battling a culture of disinformation.
Debuting MONDAY, MAY 6 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT), followed by other episodes subsequent Mondays at the same time, exclusively on HBO, the five-part miniseries stars Jared Harris (“The Crown”; Emmy® nominee for “Mad Men”), Stellan Skarsgård (“Melancholia,” “Good Will Hunting”) and Emily Watson (Oscar® nominee for “Hilary and Jackie” and “Breaking the Waves”).
The miniseries will also be available on HBO NOW, HBO GO, HBO On Demand and partners’ streaming platforms.
CHERNOBYL was written, created and executive produced by Craig Mazin (“The Huntsman: Winter’s War”) and directed by Johan Renck (“Breaking Bad”); produced by Sister Pictures, The Mighty Mint and Word Games as an HBO/Sky co-production. Carolyn Strauss (Emmy® winner for “Game of Thrones”) and Jane Featherstone (“Broadchurch”) executive produce; Johan Renck and Chris Fry (“Humans”) co-executive produce; Sanne Wohlenberg (“Black Mirror”) produces.
On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, Soviet Union suffered a massive explosion that released radioactive material across Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, and as far as Scandinavia and western Europe.
Jared Harris portrays Valery Legasov, a leading Soviet nuclear physicist. As part of the response team, he is one of the first to grasp the scope of the unparalleled disaster that has occurred.
Stellan Skarsgård plays Soviet Deputy Prime Minister Boris Shcherbina, who is assigned by the Kremlin to lead the government commission on Chernobyl in the hours immediately following the accident.
Emily Watson portrays Ulana Khomyuk, a Soviet nuclear physicist committed to solving the mystery of what led to the Chernobyl disaster.
The miniseries also stars: Paul Ritter (“Lovesick”) as Chernobyl deputy chief engineer Anatoly Dyatlov; Jessie Buckley (“Beast”) as Lyudmilla Ignatenko, a Pripyat resident married to a firefighter on the first response team; Adrian Rawlins (“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”) as Chernobyl chief engineer Nikolai Fomin; and Con O’Neill (“Harlots”) as plant director Viktor Bryukhanov.
The cast also includes: Sam Troughton (“The Ritual”), Adam Nagaitis (“The Terror”), Barry Keoghan (“Dunkirk”), Ralph Ineson (“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”), Mark Lewis Jones (“Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi”), Fares Fares (HBO’s “Westworld”) and David Dencik (“McMafia”).
Writer, creator and executive producer Craig Mazin began researching the Chernobyl disaster in 2014, using a wide variety of materials, including several books and government reports from inside and outside of the Soviet Union. He spoke to nuclear scientists to learn how a reactor works, and interviewed former Soviet citizens to gain a better sense of the culture in 1986.
Mazin also read a great number of first-person accounts, which helped bring an additional layer of authenticity and humanity to the story. He explains, “When you’re reading the personal stories of people who were there – people who lived near the plant, people who worked at the plant, people who were sent to Chernobyl as part of the effort to clean it up – in those individual accounts, that’s really where the story came alive.”
Principal photography for CHERNOBYL took place in Lithuania and Ukraine, with a creative team including: director of photography Jakob Ihre (“Thelma”); production designer Luke Hull (“Howards End”); editors, Jinx Godfrey (“The Theory of Everything”) and Simon Smith (“Endeavor”); costume designer Odile Dicks-Mireaux (“Brooklyn”); casting directors Nina Gold and Robert Sterne (both two-time Emmy® winners for HBO’s “Game of Thrones”); and composer Hildur Guðnadóttir (“Trapped”).
Trailer
Episodes include:
Episode 1: “1:23:45”
Debut date: MONDAY, MAY 6 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT)
April 26, 1986, Ukrainian SSR. Plant workers and firefighters put their lives on the line to control a catastrophic 1986 explosion at a Soviet nuclear power plant.
Written by Craig Mazin; directed by Johan Renck.
Episode 2: “Please Remain Calm”
Debut date: MONDAY, MAY 13 (9:00-10:05 p.m.)
With untold millions at risk after the Chernobyl explosion, nuclear physicist Ulana Khomyuk (Emily Watson) makes a desperate attempt to reach Valery Legasov (Jared Harris), a leading Soviet nuclear physicist, and warn him about the threat of second explosion that could devastate the continent.
Written by Craig Mazin; directed by Johan Renck.
Episode 3: “Open Wide, O Earth”
Debut date: MONDAY, MAY 20 (9:00-10:05 p.m.)
Lyudmilla Ignatenko (Jessie Buckley), a Pripyat resident, ignores warning about her firefighter husband’s (Adam Nagaitis) contamination; Valery Legasov (Jared Harris) lays out a decontamination plan, complete with human risks.
Written by Craig Mazin; directed by Johan Renck.
Episode 4: “The Happiness of All Mankind”
Debut date: MONDAY, MAY 27 (9:00-10:05 p.m.)
Valery Legasov (Jared Harris) and Soviet Deputy Prime Minister Boris Shcherbina (Stellan Skarsgård) consider using lunar rovers to remove radioactive debris, while Ulana Khomyuk (Emily Watson) faces government hurdles in determining the truth about the cause of the explosion.
Written by Craig Mazin; directed by Johan Renck.
Episode 5: “Vichnaya Pamyat” (finale)
Debut date: MONDAY, JUNE 3 (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Valery Legasov (Jared Harris), Boris Shcherbina (Stellan Skarsgård) and Ulana Khomyuk (Emily Watson) risk their lives and reputations to expose the truth about Chernobyl.
Written by Craig Mazin; directed by Johan Renck.
