From the very outset, Chernobyl, created and written by Craig Mazin and directed by Johan Renck, strikes an ominous note. It starts with the question, 'What is the cost of lies' - a question that becomes central to the plot - and within a few minutes, the audience witnesses the suicide of nuclear physicist Valery Legasov, portrayed brilliantly by Jared Harris.

The story then goes on a flashback mode, two years and one minute earlier, to be precise, to the black day when a nuclear accident - and the lies that precedes and succeeds the tragedy - leads to unmitigated damage and destruction.