Nuclear Nightmare

A compelling new drama tells the story of the catastrophic Chernobyl accident

- Gabriel Tate

When TV&Satellite Week arrives on the set of Sky Atlantic drama Chernobyl, we’re immediately faced with barbed wire, warning signs and stern-looking men brandishing machine guns. But these aren’t actors and props. The armed guards and menacing watchtowers are all real.

The five-parter is partially shot at a decommissioned nuclear power plant in Lithuania, a near-identical site to Chernobyl. And as the cameras roll in the shadow of enormous chimneys and a concrete reactor building, it’s easy to see why the producers wanted to film at this unsettling location, where security is still tight.

MAN-MADE DISASTER

With Chernobyl obviously out of bounds, the Lithuanian plant is the perfect place to film an account of the Soviet Union’s catastrophic 1986 nuclear explosion and its aftermath. Hundreds of thousands lost their lives from exposure to radiation in the worst man-made disaster in history.