Oppenheimer (miniseries)

Plot synopsis

The miniseries had seven episodes and depicted Oppenheimer's wartime role as head of the weapons laboratory of the Manhattan Project, during which he was under constant surveillance by the federal government because of his association with Communists. The teleplay culminates in an U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearing in 1954, in which Oppenheimer is stripped of his security clearance.

Kenneth Nichols wrote that, contrary to the series which:

portrayed me serving as a personal aide to Groves on frequent visits to Los Alamos, the only time I ever accompanied him to Los Alamos was during my March 1943 visit. Most of my meetings with Oppenheimer took place at Oak Ridge, Berkeley, New York, Chicago, or Washington, when problems arose.

Cast

Sam Waterston as J. Robert Oppenheimer

John Carson as Narrator

Christopher Muncke as Colonel Kenneth Nichols

Jana Shelden as Kitty Oppenheimer

Edward Hardwicke as Enrico Fermi

David Suchet as Edward Teller

Manning Redwood as General Leslie Groves

Peter Whitman as Robert Serber

Matthew Guinness as Hans Bethe

Bob Sherman as Ernest Lawrence

John Morton as Robert Wilson

Garrick Hagon as Frank Oppenheimer

Barry Dennen as Isidor Rabi

Peter Marinker as Haakon Chevalier

Reception

The series was nominated for seven BAFTA Television Awards and won three (Best Drama Series/Serial, Best Film Editor (Tariq Anwar), and Best Original Television Music). It was nominated for two Emmy Awards, for Outstanding Limited Series and for Outstanding Writing in a Limited Series or a Special (Peter Prince). It was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV (Sam Waterston).