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FOX Showcase to screen Chernobyl

Mega-buzz HBO miniseries will get a broadcast in two week's time.

Acclaimed HBO miniseries Chernobyl is getting a broadcast on FOX Showcase.

This is attracting mega-buzz with 96% rating at Rotten Tomatoes at 9.7 / 10 at IMDb.

The 5 part series dramatises the catastrophic nuclear meltdown in 1986.

It features Jared Harris, Emily Watson, Stellan Skarsgård, Ralph Ineson, Fares Fares, Adam Nagaitis, and David Dencik.

Foxtel made this available to On Demand viewers at day of release earlier this month, where it has become a streaming hit, and now it has been scheduled for a broadcast.

HBO’s extraordinary new miniseries Chernobyl, currently streaming on Foxtel Now, dramatises the horrific 1986 nuclear accident and tells the story of the brave men and women who made incredible sacrifices to save Europe from unimaginable disaster, while battling a culture of disinformation.

On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, Soviet Union suffered a massive explosion that released radioactive material across Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, and as far as Scandinavia and western Europe.

Jared Harris portrays Valery Legasov, a leading Soviet nuclear physicist. As part of the response team, he is one of the first to grasp the scope of the unparalleled disaster that has occurred.

Stellan Skarsgård plays Soviet Deputy Prime Minister Boris Shcherbina, who is assigned by the Kremlin to lead the government commission on Chernobyl in the hours immediately following the accident.

Emily Watson portrays Ulana Khomyuk, a Soviet nuclear physicist committed to solving the mystery of what led to the Chernobyl disaster.

Chernobyl is a tale of lies and cowardice, of courage and conviction, of human failure and human nobility. It focuses on the heartbreaking scope of the disaster, revealing how and why it happened, and telling the shocking, remarkable stories of the heroes who fought and fell

Chernobyl was written, created and executive produced by Craig Mazin (The Huntsman: Winter’s War) and directed by Johan Renck (Breaking Bad); produced by Sister Pictures, The Mighty Mint and Word Games as an HBO/Sky co-production. Carolyn Strauss (Emmy® winner for Game of Thrones) and Jane Featherstone (Broadchurch) executive produced; Johan Renck and Chris Fry (Humans) co-executive produce; Sanne Wohlenberg (Black Mirror) produces.

8:30pm Wednesday June 12 on FOX Showcase.

11 Responses

  1. Enjoying it, but what is throwing me is the British accent from the actors. Couldn’t they have spoken in English with a Russian accent. ?

    1. There is a podcast about the series with the shows writer/creator. He explained this and said once the actors started putting on accents they started acting differently so they went with natural accents but didn’t want any American accents. It’s a great podcast. Mentions many additional pieces you may not pick up when watching.

  2. David do you know why On Demand on iQ2 is only in SD while it’s in HD on iQ3&4? I’ve been watching this on my computer since my box doesn’t do On Demand in HD…

      1. That’s what I was thinking but it’s a bit odd how a box who’s entire selling point is HD doesn’t do On Demand HD. I’d rather just hook my computer up to my TV. It’s a shame iQ2 doesn’t support On Demand HD…

  3. Chernobyl is excellent drama it certainly holds no punches about the Soviet era Communist system and the criminal attempts to cover up a global catastrophe for the sake of maintaining the political lies the Soviets used to be seen as a super power. The political manipulation of the people and terrible human sacrifice is well illustrated as is the ignorance generated by disinformation. It’s not for the squeamish but this show is highly recommended.

  4. I’ve heard so many good things about this from friends in the US on all aspects of the production. I’m also a devotee of showrunner/creator/writer Craig Mazin’s “Scriptnotes” podcast (best $3/month I spend). As a screenwriter and producer I’m interested to see just how they pull it off. Without putting too fine a point on it, I can’t [censored] wait.

  5. David, you might know this. Pure curiosity: If Foxtel have had this show available on the ‘On Demand’ access the entire time, why are they waiting until June 12 to play it on a channel IE Showcase? Why not play it as ‘fast-tracked’? Or was it purely encourage people to use the ‘On Demand’ service?

    1. I’d like to think I prompted them to put it at On Demand when I enquired about when the TX was … but can’t be certain! On the one hand we know they like to broadcast into premium slots (ie. 7:30 – 9:30 start) and the channel can sometimes be crowded. On the other hand viewers with IQ3 and IQ4 are overwhelmingly watching via On Demand not the live broadcast (I’ll be writing more about this soon) so there have been a few shows that have debuted first via streaming. Ballers is another that springs to mind. I plan to start Chernobyl this weekend, even I’m behind!

      1. Thanks for the reply. I’ve always been intrigued on what goes on in Programming minds when they have access to any highly talked about / trending program and why said programs get delayed in some cases. And yes – enjoy catching up on it!

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