Photo credit: HBO/Sky

Craig Mazin’s Chernobyl is a work of uncommon cinematic mastery.

As it did for many others, the HBO/Sky miniseries has inspired me to delve into the subject of the Chernobyl disaster, primarily through study of primary sources and the eyewitness testimony of participants. Relatively few of these documents are available in English, so I hope to bring new information and insight to Western audiences.

The HBO/Sky miniseries is not a documentary, and this annotated script is meant for Chernobyl fans who are interested in learning more about the true story. Think of this document as a guided historical tour of the ‘museum’ that is the show. These annotations can also serve as an unofficial companion to the excellent podcast series with Peter Sagal, in which Mr. Mazin discusses creative decisions made and artistic liberties taken. Although the miniseries deserves praise for its authenticity and close adherence to the source material, its creators were not always aware of when their sources themselves were inaccurate. The goal is not to ‘debunk’ the show, but to answer one labor of love with another.

We will begin with Episode Five, Vichnaya Pamyat, because this is the chronological beginning of the story, flowing cyclically back into Episode One. My annotations will be marked in bolded italics and signed ‘Sredmash’, as below.

- Sredmash

A certain level of technical knowledge is assumed, but viewers who paid close attention to the miniseries and watched a YouTube video or two should be able to follow along. The annotations are presented in line with the script itself, and increase its wordcount by around 30%.

Continue on to Part 1 of Episode Five, Vichnaya Pamyat.

Part 2.

Part 3.

Part 4.

Also by the author: https://medium.com/@maturin_1813/unearthing-a-new-war-in-east-ukraine-4874c8538cba