Please Remain Calm

Lore & Background

In Minsk, Khomyuk notices a spike in radiation, works out that Chernobyl is the source and travels there after officials brush her aside. In Pripyat the hospital fills with firefighters and residents suffering from acute radiation syndrome, and the wife of one firefighter learns that her husband is being flown to Moscow.

Legasov questions the official report at a committee meeting and is sent to the plant with a sceptical Shcherbina. From the helicopter he sees graphite on the roof and a glow above the reactor. A reading taken with a high-range dosimeter shows that radiation is far above the figure the plant managers had given, and the managers are arrested. Helicopters begin dropping sand and boron on the fire, and the town is finally evacuated once it is clear that other countries have detected the radiation.

Khomyuk then warns of a possible steam explosion if hot nuclear material reaches water pooled beneath the reactor. Three plant workers volunteer to go into the basement to drain it, and the episode ends with their flashlights failing in the dark.

Reader's Guide

The episode received critical acclaim, with praise for the performances of Jared Harris and Stellan Skarsgård and for its script, direction, cinematography, atmosphere and musical score. It won three Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards and earned Skarsgård a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

The drama departs from events in places. A helicopter did crash at the site, but two weeks after the explosion and not during the first days as shown. Mazin said he wanted viewers to understand the hazards the pilots faced above an open reactor. The crash scene was added during post-production.

Khomyuk, played by Emily Watson, is a fictional character created for the series, intended to honour the scientists who helped Legasov during the investigation. The title comes from the phrase used in emergencies to keep people calm. The phrase was not in fact used until the evacuation of Pripyat had concluded, and it is unclear exactly which wording was broadcast.

Did You Know?

• Emily Watson and Stellan Skarsgård had worked together before, in the 1996 film Breaking the Waves.
• Council meeting scenes were filmed at the former Government Guest House in Vilnius.