Every episode of the superb drama is now available to watch too.
Now that it’s the highest-rated TV show of all time and been widely heralded by critics and audiences alike as one of the greatest TV shows that has ever been made, we’re safe to say the following, if there’s a better TV show than Chernobyl in 2019, we’ll be extremely lucky.
While a traditional season/show of TV will usually run longer than five episodes, the HBO/Sky miniseries proved that it’s possible to tell an excellent story in a relatively short period of time.
What makes Chernobyl even more extraordinary is that the events leading up to – and following- the horrific accident on April 26, 1986 are so complex, detailed, and intricate.
Aside from stellar performances from all the cast, the levels of respect, care, and authenticity that writer/creator Craig Mazin showed to this tragedy deserves a massive amount of respect.
Chernobyl was a human error, a technical error, and a political error.
While it’s easy to assign blame, castigate people as villains, and ‘Hollywoodise’ the events the unfolded, Mazin and his team were committed to an authentic, informative, and respectful account of the horrific tragedy.
In terms of his career, the miniseries will likely give Mazin the clout to go and make whatever he wants but plenty of people would like him to turn his attention to a similar miniseries. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster of 2011 has been mentioned in this vein.
In an interview with Decider, Mazin said that he’s optimistic that if he’d make a sequel, HBO would listen to what he has to say.
“If I came to HBO and said ‘I want to do another season of Chernobyl, except it’s gonna be about another terrible tragedy,’ whether it’s Bhopal or Fukushima or something like that, I would imagine they at least would give me polite interest,” he said.
In terms of a direct sequel to Chernobyl, Mazin said that his answer is a definitive no. However, the idea of making an anthology show (True Detective, American Horror Story) does appeal to him.
“If I were to continue this anthologically, probably it would be another investigation of another aspect of Soviet life because that part is something that is fascinating to me and kind of exciting to view again,” he said.
Again, if Mazin was to make a new show of this ilk, it’s unlikely that we’d be reintroduced to the likes of Jared Harris (Valery Legasov), Stellan Skarsgård (Boris Shcherbina), and Emily Watson (Ulana Khomyuk), but it could focus on a very different story.
https://twitter.com/clmazin/status/1136344377637212161
One person that would like to see Mazin’s adaptation of the tragic events of Fukushima is the talented director of Moon and Source Code, Duncan Jones.
However, it appears that any TV show that’s based on the 2011 nuclear disaster won’t be going ahead, for now.
Whatever happens, we’re intrigued to see what Mazin has planned next.
The boxset of the wonderful Chernobyl is now available to stream on NOW TV in its entirety, with an Entertainment Pass. The miniseries is also available through Sky on demand.
https://twitter.com/clmazin/status/1136502841743331328
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
