Chernobyl at 40 Revisited Through New BBC Documentary

Jordan Dunbar (Image: Jack Garland)

By Jon Donnis

As the world reflects on four decades since the 1986 disaster at Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the BBC World Service brings the story back into focus with a new documentary, What Happened at Chernobyl. Set to air on BBC One and stream on BBC iPlayer, the film follows journalist Jordan Dunbar as he travels to the site of the explosion that triggered a public health crisis across Europe. The fallout from that night on April 26, 1986 spread across Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, leaving lasting scars and contributing to the eventual collapse of the USSR. Today, the same location carries renewed tension due to its position within the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Dunbar’s investigation brings forward voices that have rarely been heard, including eyewitnesses who were present on the day and two of the so called liquidators tasked with the dangerous clean-up effort. Their accounts shed light on both the scale of the disaster and the secrecy that surrounded it, raising questions about why so much of the truth was concealed at the time. Running alongside this is The Last Dancefloor in Chernobyl, a radio documentary that shifts the focus to personal lives interrupted by catastrophe. It tells the story of Serhiy and Iryna, whose relationship began in the vibrant nightlife of Pripyat, where DJ Alexander Demidov played smuggled Western records to eager crowds.

On the eve of their wedding, the explosion changed everything. Despite the looming crisis, the ceremony went ahead, even as emergency workers battled the unfolding disaster nearby. Soon after, evacuation orders forced Iryna to flee still in her wedding dress, leaving behind the life they had built together. Through their story, and that of DJ Alex, the programme captures the human cost of the disaster, tracing a path from youthful optimism to the struggle of rebuilding after sudden loss. What Happened at Chernobyl will air in the UK on Monday 20 April, with availability on BBC platforms both domestically and internationally.