Audiences are preoccupied by how much of HBO’s Chernobyl really happened.
Here’s how the drama approached accuracy… What the mini-series gets right Separating fact from fiction, and so on.
How can a series that talks so much about truth and lies take so many liberties with truth?
Why are there so many apparent inaccuracies and what is inaccurate about it?
Well, truth is a complicated thing and it doesnt always fit in to a five part television series.
The articles, however, continue to appear.
In what ways does Chernobyl get it wrong, and why?
Thats what makes something a drama series rather than a documentary.
For the most part, the series avoided rumor, gossip and folklore, but there are occasional exceptions.
Take a moment to mentally picture Jennifer Aniston cheerily telling you, Here comes the science bit!
This is where it gets really complicated.
Science involves gathering evidence and then interpreting it.
That is a fact.
Slightly more complicated are statistics concerning mortality rates, increased cancer rates and so on.
Two scientists can look at the exact same evidence and interpret it differently.
So who do you believe?
The effects of ionizing radiation are one of the most disputed topics in the science of nuclear technologies.
There are several reasons for this.
So did the accident cause the cancer?
Yes, no, maybe.
Maybe theres often no way of knowing which issue ultimately caused the cancer.
No lung cancer is more likely triggered by smoking than radiation poisoning.
Yes the accident caused the psychological problems that resulted in a clinical dependence on tobacco and alcohol.
And then theres the politics.
One of the reasons controversial scientific claims appear in the series is that they were believed at the time.
For example, Mazin describes deputy chief engineer Anatoly Dyatlov, played by Paul Ritter as a bully.
One of the great strengths of the show is its depiction of human experience based on first hand accounts.
She has since had a son, but both she and her son suffer health problems.
It is these real human experiences that makeChernobylso powerful.
