Chernobyl - updated post

on
Chernobyl.
I remember 1986, when the accident happened. It was April, and I was just about to start my PGCE, and was preparing for a computer science exam for a course that I had taken in the interim after finishing my degree in 1985.
The newspapers were full of the story, which was scary at the time in an era of CND and the fear of nuclear conflict. I spoke to some colleagues last week who were teaching at the time, and one of them who was teaching in Wales said that they had seen the news, and saw that it was raining and children were playing outside and got them to come in and have indoor play for a change. They apparently got hold of some basic geiger counters and could see that the level was higher than it should be even there. Some local farms had restrictions on the movement of animals for many years afterwards.

HBO has a 'new' series, and it is absolute must-see television. 

 There is also a podcast (spoiler alert) with the creators and how they made the world so realistic.


Watch the trailer here. You will need access to Sky Atlantic, perhaps via Now TV to see it. I used a free trial to catch it.



I've since been reading the history of the disaster by Serhii Plokhy, which is a compelling read as well. The book is excellent.

Update

This report outlines some of the good things about the series, with some stills from the show. It also recommends following this Twitter account for more tweets relating to the accuracy of the show.



These books are also available. I have the 2nd one here. I am going to use that to create a unit on Extreme Geographies and Dark Tourism called 'Wormwood', which I will share here when it is finished. Would also be a context for exploring the general geography of Russia, and the importance of location decisions.
Now I'm just off to wash my eyes, so I can forget the sight of what the extreme levels of radiation did to the first responding firemen in Episode 3.



The area around Pripyat and Chernobyl apparently gets around 60 000 visitors a year, and there are several companies who run tours to the area.
This week's Guardian had a review of a wildlife tour that can be taken into the area around the Chernobyl reactor, for example, and I am sure that this series will provoke a renewed interest in the area and the disaster. It's certainly prompted me into action.
And my prediction is for Jared Harris to win an acting award on the basis of this show.

 Updated
Just been reading through some of Claire Corkhill's tweets with additional information and background on each episode... this is an excellent resource.

Catch Claire Corkhill on BBC News

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