Chernobyl series: The real people the characters are based on, and what happened next

The Crown's Jared Harris plays impassioned scientist Valery Legasov. He became a key member of the government commission created to investigate the causes of Chernobyl and to plan the mitigation of its consequences.

He saved countless lives by ordering the immediate evacuation of the entire population of the city of Pripyat nearby.

We learn of his bleak fate in Chernobyl's devastating opening episode, and on April 27, 1988, one day after the second anniversary of the accident - and one day before he was due to announce his results of the investigation into the causes of the disaster - Legasov took his own life.

In 1996, then-Russian president Boris Yeltsin posthumously decorated Legasov with the honorary title of Hero of the Russian Federation for the "courage and heroism" shown in his investigation of the disaster.

Adam Nagaitis plays firefighter Vasil Ihnacienka, who was just 25 when he died of radiation poisoning after being one of the first to respond to the fire at the Chernobyl plant on April 26.

Within a few hours, he and his fellow group of courageous firefighters managed to extinguish most of the on-site fires except for the nuclear graphite fire in the reactor.

Vasil succumbed to radiation exposure less than three weeks later on May 13, but his contribution to putting out the blaze helped avoid further devastation. At his burial, a cement truck covers the zinc caskets to prevent any radiation from leaking.

Lyudmila spoke about her experience with author Svetlana Alexievich for her Nobel prize-winning 2015 book Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster.

"The burns started to come to the surface. In his mouth, on his tongue, his cheeks - at first there were little lesions, and then they grew. It came off in layers - as white film ... the colour of his face ... his body ... blue, red , grey-brown," she said in a extract from the book published by The Guardian.

"The only thing that saved me was it happened so fast; there wasn't any time to think, there wasn't any time to cry. It was a hospital for people with serious radiation poisoning. Fourteen days. In 14 days a person dies."

Sam Troughton plays Aleksandr Akimov. Aleksandr was the shift supervisor of the night crew at the Chernobyl power plant, and was supervising the night of the disaster.

He refused to believe that the reactor in the plant had exploded, and relayed inaccurate information to higher powers. When he finally acknowledged the full extent of the accident, he worked with his crew until early morning, trying to pump water into the exposed reactor.

Aleksandr died two weeks later due to acute radiation syndrome, at the age of 33 (via The New York Times).

Paul Ritter plays deputy chief-engineer of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Anatoly Dyatlov.

Dyatlov was supervisor of the safety test which resulted in the disaster. Despite absorbing a near-deadly dose of radiation - which causes death in 50% of affected persons after 30 days - he survived.

Anatoly attributed the disaster to plant's poor design, rather than human error, although it was later reported that he bullied some of the power plant workers with job terminations if they did not carry out the test that night.

In 1987, he was found guilty guilty of criminal negligence and was sentenced to ten years in prison. He was granted amnesty after serving three yeas (via The Washington Post). Anatoly died of heart failure in 1995.

In 1987, he was found guilty guilty of criminal negligence and was sentenced to ten years in prison. He was granted amnesty after serving three yeas (via The Washington Post). Anatoly died of heart failure in 1995.

Episode 4 of Chernobyl gave a grim glimpse into the men known as 'liquidators' whose job it was to kill the dogs and cats left behind in the exclusion site surrounding the power plant to prevent the spread of radiation contamination.

"I know that was hard. Just so there's no confusion— the story of the liquidators is real. It happened. And we actually toned it down from the full story," writer and executive producer Craig Mazin tweeted. "War leaves all kinds of scars. These were the things men were ordered to do."

On a more positive note, SPCA International - an organisation which advances the safety and well-being of animals globally - partnered with Clean Futures Fund to care for the modern day line of dogs and cats which survived Chernobyl. They have been able to provide food, medical care, vaccines, and sterilizations to over 800 of the dogs and cats living in Chernobyl.

Stellan plays Deputy Prime Minister Boris Shcherbina, who was in charge of dealing with the Chernobyl disaster outcome. Boris was selected as head of the investigation, but it was Valery Legasov who would become the face of the aftermath efforts.

Shcherbina died aged 70, in Moscow in 1990.

Con O'Neill plays Viktor Bryukhanov. Viktor was Chernobyl's former director, and in charge of the reactor which exploded on the night of the disaster 33 years ago. Along with Anatoly Dyatlov, he was sentenced to ten years in prison for negligence. He served half of his sentence before being granted amnesty.

Most scientists now accept that the accident was caused by a fatal combination of flaws in the reactor's design and a failure by the staff on duty to follow safety procedures (via The New Zealand Herald).

Viktor currently lives in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.

Ralph Ineson plays General Nikolai Tarakanov. General Tarakanov was chief supervisor of the removal of highly-radioactive elements from the site of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant after the accident in '86.

He organised and led the helicopter group tasked with the perilous job of dropping sand onto the crater of the reactor inside the plant - without getting too near to the radioactive fire.

General Nikolai Tarakanov awards certificates to liquidators who worked on the reactor roof in 1986.

Tarakanov currently lives in Moscow with his family.

Michael Colgan plays coal minister Mikhail Shchadov, who learned his lesson the hard way in Chernobyl for wearing a pastel blue suit to recruit a group of coal miners to help in the after-math of the radioactive explosion.

Adrian Rawlins plays Chief engineer Nikolai Fomin.

Following the disaster, Nikolai tried to take his own life, which delayed his trial for negligence (via American Scientist).

He was found guilty of gross violation of safety regulations, creating conditions that led to an explosion, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

After his attempted suicides - he also tried to slit his wrists with the shards of his broken glasses - and nervous breakdown, Nikolai was released from prison early.

Viktor Brioukhanov, Nikolai Fomin and Anatoly Diatlov on trial in 1987 at Chernobyl's Hall of Culture.