Details

Oppenheimer - The Series, the BAFTA award-winning story of the nuclear scientist J, Robert Oppenheimer, is released on DVD 11st September 2023 from BBC.

Sam Waterston stars as the nuclear scientist whose brainchild, the atomic bomb, brought a devastating end to the Second World War. Within years he was declared a security risk by the American government, only to be awarded with the highest honour in his field by a subsequent presidency. Were the Americans trying to placate an uneasy conscience?

Episodes

  • Episode 1 - 1938: Robert Oppenheimer, physics professor at Berkeley, California, is heavily - and not always happily - involved with his students, politics and scientific work, when the discovery of nuclear fission and the appearance of Kitty Harrison combine to change the course of his life
  • Episode 2 - 1942: With America now fully involved in the war, Oppenheimer has given up teaching and is engaged in the race against Germany to produce an atomic bom
  • Episode 3 - 1943: Oppenheimer is Director of Los Alamos atomic bomb laboratory, but his past Communist associations alert the FBI
  • Episode 4 - Summer 1944: The race against the Germans to produce an atomic weapon continues apace. Oppenheimer, his security problems behind him for the time being, is now facing difficulties with his staff and with the development of the bomb itself
  • Episode 5 - May 1945: The war in Europe is over, but the fight against Japan continues. Oppenheimer is called to discuss with the secretary of war the use of the nearly completed atomic bomb. But does he share his colleagues' misgivings?
  • Episode 6 - 1949: Following his success as father of the atom bomb, Oppenheimer is now a top government adviser with the Atomic Energy Commission. But the McCarthy witch-hunts have begun, and the Oppenheimer family, with their left-wing connections, number among the first targets
  • Episode 7 - December 1953: Oppenheimer has been accused of being a Soviet agent and the President has cancelled his security clearance until his case is fully investigated. Oppenheimer has to choose between resignation or facing a security hearing