Miniseries · HBO
Chernobyl
What is the cost of lies?
Who's in it
Cast
The principal ensemble across the run of the series.
Jared Harris
Valery Legasov
5 eps
Stellan Skarsgård
Boris Shcherbina
5 eps
Emily Watson
Ulana Khomyuk
5 eps
Paul Ritter
Anatoly Dyatlov
5 eps
Jessie Buckley
Lyudmilla Ignatenko
5 eps
Adam Nagaitis
Vasily Ignatenko
5 eps
Sam Troughton
Alexandr Akimov
5 eps
Robert Emms
Leonid Toptunov
5 eps
Con O'Neill
Viktor Bryukhanov
5 eps
Adrian Rawlins
Nikolai Fomin
5 eps
Alan Williams
KGB Chairman Charkov
5 eps
David Dencik
Mikhail Gorbachev
5 eps
Mark Lewis Jones
General Pikalov
5 eps
Ralph Ineson
General Tarakanov
5 eps
Barry Keoghan
Pavel
5 eps
Alex Ferns
Glukhov
5 eps
Fares Fares
Bacho
5 eps
Michael McElhatton
Prosecutor Andrei Stepashin
5 eps
Laura Elphinstone
Oksana
3 eps
Nadia Clifford
Dr. Svetlana Zinchenko
2 eps
Sam Strike
Misha
1 eps
Sammy Hayman
Titenok
1 eps
Matas Dirginčius
Vladimir Tishchura
1 eps
Caolan Byrne
Day Shift Worker
1 eps
Stephen Bisland
Night Shift Worker
1 eps
Alex Blake
Petrovich
1 eps
Matthew Needham
Dmitri
1 eps
Rosie Sheehy
Nurse Pripyat
1 eps
Tomas Žaibus
Soldier (Hospital)
1 eps
Ron Cook
Old Maternity Doctor
2 eps
Peter Guinness
Major Burov
1 eps
Laurence Spellman
Commission Heli Pilot
1 eps
Alison Pargeter
BCP HQ Aide Female
1 eps
Victor McGuire
Garanin
1 eps
Sakalas Uždavinys
Ilya Ivanovich Chulkov
1 eps
Aidas Jurgaitis
Soldier (Shelter)
1 eps
Aiste S. Gram
Bartender in Polyissa Hotel
1 eps
Daniel Crossley
Stasiuk
1 eps
Donald Sumpter
Zharkov
2 eps
Philip Barantini
Bezpalov
2 eps
The Nutevio profile
TV DNA
How Chernobyl actually feels to watch, measured on the traits our editors track across every series.
Signature profile
Chernobyl reads strongest on Character Depth, Bingeability and Serialized.
How fully written and psychologically layered the ensemble is.
How hard it is to stop after one episode.
How much each hour depends on the one before it.
How much the series is designed to affect you.
How often an episode ends on a hook you can't ignore.
The sustained pressure the series keeps you under.
Visual ambition — scale, craft and set-piece filmmaking.
The scale, internal logic and texture of the world.
How often the series is genuinely funny, by design.
The story
What it's about
The true story of one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history: the catastrophic nuclear accident at Chernobyl. A tale of the brave men and women who sacrificed to save Europe from unimaginable disaster.
Where the series peaks
Best Episodes
The hours that define the show, ranked by audience response and editorial signal.
S01E05 · Signature episode
Vichnaya Pamyat
Valery Legasov, Boris Shcherbina and Ulana Khomyuk risk their lives and reputations to expose the truth about Chernobyl.
- Directed by Johan Renck
- Written by Craig Mazin
S01E02 · Signature episode
Please Remain Calm
With untold millions at risk after the Chernobyl explosion, nuclear physicist Ulana Khomyuk makes a desperate attempt to reach Valery Legasov, a leading Soviet nuclear physicist, and warn him about the threat of second explosion that could devastate the continent.
- Directed by Johan Renck
- Written by Craig Mazin
S01E03 · Signature episode
Open Wide, O Earth
Lyudmilla Ignatenko, a Pripyat resident, ignores warning about her firefighter husband's contamination. Valery Legasov lays out a decontamination plan, complete with human risks.
- Directed by Johan Renck
- Written by Craig Mazin
S01E01 · Signature episode
1:23:45
April 26, 1986, Ukrainian SSR. Plant workers and firefighters put their lives on the line to control a catastrophic 1986 explosion at a Soviet nuclear power plant.
- Directed by Johan Renck
- Written by Craig Mazin
S01E04 · Signature episode
The Happiness of All Mankind
Valery Legasov and Soviet Deputy Prime Minister Boris Shcherbina consider using lunar rovers to remove radioactive debris, while Ulana Khomyuk faces government hurdles in determining the truth about the cause of the explosion.
- Directed by Johan Renck
- Written by Craig Mazin
Recently aired
Latest Episodes
S01E05 · Signature episode
Vichnaya Pamyat
- Directed by Johan Renck
- Written by Craig Mazin
S01E04 · Signature episode
The Happiness of All Mankind
- Directed by Johan Renck
- Written by Craig Mazin
S01E03 · Signature episode
Open Wide, O Earth
- Directed by Johan Renck
- Written by Craig Mazin
S01E02 · Signature episode
Please Remain Calm
- Directed by Johan Renck
- Written by Craig Mazin
S01E01 · Signature episode
1:23:45
- Directed by Johan Renck
- Written by Craig Mazin
Behind the series
Created by
Showrunners, creators, executive producers and the writers who set the voice of the series.
The craft
Key Crew
Directing, writing, production, camera, music and editing.
Executive production
- Sanne WohlenbergProducer
- Craig MazinExecutive Producer
- Jane FeatherstoneExecutive Producer
- Carolyn StraussExecutive Producer
Writing
- Craig MazinWriter
Direction
- Johan RenckDirector
Cinematography
- Jakob IhreDirector of Photography
Music
- Hildur GuðnadóttirOriginal Music Composer
Recognition
Awards
16 wins · 1 nomination
Primetime Emmy Awards
9 wins · latest 2019
- WinnerPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Art Direction for a Period Series, Miniseries or a Movie2019
Chernobyl · Chernobyl
- WinnerPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or Movie2019
Chernobyl · Chernobyl
- WinnerPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special2019
Chernobyl · Chernobyl
- WinnerPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Miniseries2019
Chernobyl · Chernobyl
- WinnerPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie, or a Special2019
Chernobyl · Chernobyl
- WinnerPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Limited Series or Movie2019
Chernobyl · Chernobyl
- WinnerPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie or Special2019
Chernobyl · Chernobyl
- WinnerPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Limited Series or Movie2019
Chernobyl · Chernobyl
- WinnerPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects2019
Chernobyl · Chernobyl
Golden Globes
2 wins · latest 2020
- WinnerGolden Globe Award for Best Limited or Anthology Series or Television Film2020
Chernobyl · Chernobyl
- WinnerGolden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film2020
Chernobyl · Chernobyl
BAFTA Awards
1 win · latest 2020
- WinnerBritish Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series2020
Chernobyl · Chernobyl
Critics' Choice Awards
1 win · 1 nomination · latest 2020
- WinnerCritics' Choice Television Award for Best Movie/Miniseries Supporting Actor2020
Chernobyl · Chernobyl
- NomineeCritics' Choice Television Award for Best Movie/Miniseries2019
Chernobyl · Chernobyl
Q3403230
1 win · latest 2019
- WinnerQ34032302019
Chernobyl · Chernobyl
Satellite Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film
1 win · latest 2019
- WinnerSatellite Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film2019
Chernobyl · Chernobyl
Satellite Award for Best Miniseries or Television Film
1 win · latest 2019
- WinnerSatellite Award for Best Miniseries or Television Film2019
Chernobyl · Chernobyl
Where to watch
Streaming
Availability verified against regional listings.
- Amazon VideoBuy
- Apple TV StoreBuy
- HBO Max Amazon ChannelStreaming
- Fandango At HomeBuy
- YouTube TVStreaming
- HBO MaxStreaming
If you liked this
Similar Series
Series that share this one's texture, not just its genre tags.
Lockerbie: A Search for Truth
2025
Character-driven drama · Similar storytelling style
When They See Us
2019
Character-driven drama · Similar storytelling style
Griselda
2024
Character-driven drama · Similar storytelling style
Bank Under Siege
2024
Character-driven drama · Similar storytelling style
The Bombing of Pan Am 103
2025
Character-driven drama · Similar storytelling style
Run
2026
Character-driven drama · Similar storytelling style
The Monster of Florence
2025
Character-driven drama · Similar storytelling style
Unbelievable
2019
Character-driven drama · Similar storytelling style
The Spy
2019
Character-driven drama · Similar storytelling style
Narcos: Mexico
2018
Character-driven drama · Similar storytelling style
The Haunting of Bly Manor
2020
Character-driven drama · Similar storytelling style
Where to go from here
Watch Next
Our editors' suggestion for the show you should start tonight — and why.
Silo
2023
Continue the epic fantasy journey with another world worth getting lost in.
GuAn
2026
For the nights you want momentum rather than melancholy.
Off Campus
2026
Where our editors would send you after the credits roll.
The Pitt
2025
Another masterpiece of long-form storytelling, chosen to follow this one.
FROM
2022
Another invented world built with the same seriousness — start at episode one.
Chicago P.D.
2014
A crime story told with the patience of a novel.
Never stop watching
Related Collections
No related collections yet
This title isn't in a published Nutevio collection yet. It will appear here automatically as soon as it is.
Join the conversation