Oppenheimer: BBC Begins Streaming 1980s Miniseries Starring Sam Waterston – canceled + renewed TV shows

by Regina Avalos, August 2, 2023

(Photo: BBC)

The Oppenheimer series is getting some renewed interest thanks to the success of the current Oppenheimer feature film directed by Christopher Nolan. The miniseries, which first aired on BBC in 1980, is now available for viewing on iPlayer in the UK. The series aired on PBS in the United States.

Starring Sam Waterston (currently starring on NBC’s Law & Order), David Suchet, Kate Harper, John Carson, Christopher Munke, and Jana Shelden, the seven-episode drama follows the work of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Waterson), the Manhattan Project, and the creation of the first nuclear bomb.

Deadline revealed the following about the BBC series:

Sam Waterston was the Cillian Murphy of the series, starring as the titular scientist as he led the weapons laboratory of the Manhattan Project, all the while under constant surveillance by the FBI because of his left wing politics and association with communists. As with Nolan’s movie, the show followed his role in developing the world’s first nuclear weapons and his rivalry with Edward Teller, through to being stripped of his security clearance by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in the 1950s.

The Oppenheimer series was nominated for seven BAFTA Television Awards and won three of them, one for Best Drama. It was nominated for two Emmys in the States, and the Golden Globes nominated Waterson for his role.

What do you think? Have you watched Oppenheimer in theaters? Do you plan to watch the classic drama on BBC’s iPlayer?