Chernobyl

Those of us who lived through this, albeit at what we then thought was a safe distance, will never forget what happened, though many of the details were only scantily released at the time. Soviet Russia was secretive at the best of times, and obsessively so whenever anything went wrong.

I never quite realised - or have since forgotten - just how massively disastrous what went on in Chernobyl could have been, not only for Russia, nor just Eastern Europe (then under the domination of Communism), but for Europe as a whole, the UK included.

HBO's 5-part serial about the events that went on is gripping stuff, perhaps because so much of it is true - horrifically so.

If you haven't watched it, you should definitely make the effort to do so. Not only is it insightful in what could have been the worst disaster of the 20th Century, but is an excellently written, well acted and very well directed piece of drama.