Viewers complain no one is talking about ‘best TV series of all time’

TV viewers are up in arms over their claims a gripping drama has been practically forgetten five years after its release.

They have complained that HBO series Chernobyl is not given the same reverance as the likes of Game Of Thrones and The Sopranos even thought it’s ‘one of the best TV shows of all time.’

The five-part thriller follows the horrific real life catastrophe in Ukraine, which saw a nuclear power plant’s reactor core explode in 1986, causing one of the most disastrous man made tragedies of all time.

Boasting an all-star cast, including Jessie Buckley and Emily Watson, the show was a runaway success and has a 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes’ aggregator the Tomatometer from over 100 reviews.

However, despite earning widespread claim at the time, viewers on Reddit have shared their disappointment that Chernobyl appears to no longer be in the public consciousness.

User ExotiquePlayboy said: ‘I just finished Chernobyl and it was a pleasant surprise.

‘When people talk about great HBO shows, I always hear The Sopranos, The Wire, Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, etc. But no one talks about Chernobyl.

‘It was only 5 episodes but it received 19 Emmy nominations…that’s insane. I felt like the show captured the haunting event like few other shows could simulate. I didn’t know much about Chernobyl before this but I learned so much. I don’t know how historically accurate it was but I would rank it up there with the best.’

Agreeing, Deserana12 argued: ‘It’s one of the best things HBO has produced. It’s genuinely up there with Band of Brothers for me. 5 episodes of masterclass filmmaking, acting and writing. Not a second wasted. Stellan Skarsgaaard, Jared Harris and Emily Watson were all incredible and the tone of the show was perfect, its portrayal of the Soviet Union felt so real. It had an always eerie feel to it, the music really sets the scene. 

‘I just don’t think there’s been many better shows produced that uses every second of its time so efficiently and each episode so full of rich characters, storytelling and history. It’s a perfect mini series in my opinion.’

Chernobyl follows Jared Harris as real life Soviet chemist Valery Legasov, climbing an uphill battle to convince the USSR of the long-lasting repercussions from the nuclear blast, warning millions of lives were at risk as deadly chemicals drifted through neighbouring cities.

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

‘Chernobyl dramatizes the story of the 1986 accident, one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history, and the sacrifices made to save Europe from the unimaginable disaster.’

The death toll from the 1986 blast is still contested all these years later. The immediate explosion killed two people, with 29 deaths from acute radiation sickness in the three months following, but scientists have placed future radiation-related deaths in the thousands.

An exact figure is difficult to gauge, but research on the subject falls between 4,000 from United Nations agencies and 90,000 as claimed by Greenpeace International.

Chernobyl is not the only show flying under the radar that has been a hit with fans.

Netflix viewers have flocked to tune into Irish crime drama, Clean Sweep,labelled ‘outstanding’.

Based on a true story, it stars Charlene McKenna (Vienna Blood, Bloodlands) as Shelly Mohan, a suburban housewife and mother-of-three who appears to have it all.

However, when her past catches up and her old-partner-in-crime Charlie resurfaces and threatens the life she has built, she resorts to murder.