Chernobyl, the five-part HBO/Sky dramatization of the 1986 nuclear disaster, is filled with more dread, tension and horror than any Hollywood movie I’ve seen in years. The most unsettling part of it is knowing that it adheres closely to the truth, right down to the details. Yet I’m still startled to see just how exacting the production design is, as demonstrated by this footage from one of the plant roofs where “liquidators” struggled to remove irradiated debris by hurling it back into the open core of the reactor. Jump to about 7:45 for the roof work.
Compare to the “roof” scene from the show, which integrates the true footage so cleverly you wouldn’t know it if you hadn’t seen it for yourself:
If you still need convincing that you should check out this amazing show, here’s the scene from Ep. 1 where three young plant workers inspect the reactor hall after the explosion. They know what they’re afraid of finding, but they don’t know that it’s going to be… well, you watch it and see for yourself.
Embedded below, a hapless engineer is ordered onto the roof so that managers can debunk claims that the reactor is exposed to the open air. He knows he’s dead as soon as he sees the satanic cloud of smoke billowing from the ruin. He knows the guard escorting him up there is dead, too—and that guy doesn’t even have to go up to the edge and look down into it. The guard doesn’t have to go back to the managers and get yelled at again, either.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp2d7sxpvlo