Disaster Relived

FORGET GAME OF Thrones . The TV show that global audiences almost unanimously agree is a masterpiece is the recently-concluded HBO series Chernobyl. On the TV and movies website IMDb, over 235,000 audiences gave the 5-episode series an average rating of 9.6/10 - the highest ever for a TV show. (Game Of Thrones, in case you're wondering, has an average score of 9.4/10 from some 1.5 million viewers - albeit over eight seasons and many more episodes.)

Chernobyl, as its title suggests, is a historical drama about the horrific nuclear accident that took place 33 years ago at a Soviet power plant in Ukraine. The death toll as a result of nuclear radiation varies from 4,000 in an estimate by the United Nations, to 200,000 according to Greenpeace. Efforts to contain the disaster and decontaminate the surrounding area cost the Soviets an estimated 18 billion rubles (or S$41 billion, according to currency exchange rates then.) Radioactive particles carried by the winds have been found in countries as far as Sweden.

By all counts, this historical drama should not have triumphed in the manner that it has: The subject is extremely bleak and humourless. The cast is led by three gifted but not terribly popular actors (Emily Watson, Stellan Skarsgard and Jared Harris). Prior to Chernobyl, producer and writer Craig Mazin was best known for writing the comedies The Hangover Part II and The Hangover Part III. Its director Johan Renck was better known for his music videos.