Last month I saw the strangest advert for this particularly harrowing drama. In all my years of watching TV I’ve never seen a show directly compare itself in popularity to other drama classics. HBO and Sky the UK broadcasters of Chernobyl are delighted that the ratings for this 6 episode mini-series on IMDb are higher than The Sopranos, Breaking Bad and The Wire. Remember, this is a public website, so this isn’t critical reviews; this is what the audience at large are saying. The internet is taking over, and broadcasters are happy to make much of such an amazing response. Right now it’s sitting in the number one spot on the Top 250 TV shows list. But how can a realistic unflinching drama about a devastating episode in world history be so watchable? Guest blogger Jontosaurus investigates…
HBO needed a solid victory, and quickly. Season 8 of Game of Thrones– by far its flagship series for almost a decade- was almost universally panned, with critics, fans and cast members alike all having very little positive to say about the unsatisfactory ending. But luckily, Chernobyl delivers on almost every level; whilst this isn’t a review as such, it is certainly going to be an article full of praise for one of the most gripping dramas in recent memory. And furthermore…it’s the truth. Whilst there are moments of dramatic license and a few factual changes, this is by and large a dramatised account of exactly how things went down at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
Chernobyl has it easy in one regard, as there doesn’t need to be an awful lot of fabrication. Facts don’t need to be ignored, and fantastical elements to the story don’t need to be introduced; the explosion of Reactor number four is such a dramatic event in and of itself that it is perfect for creating the bigger picture. On the one hand, this creates a thrilling and harrowing viewing experience, made all the more effective considering that the audience is watching with the benefit of hindsight. We all know what happened at Chernobyl, as the effects are still being felt today. As recently as January, wildlife as far away as Sweden were being discovered in highly irradiated states. It’s been over thirty years since the disaster, but there are enough people alive to remember it. And that’s why the show works so well.