Channel 5 has commissioned a one-off feature length documentary Ben Fogle: Inside Chernobyl

Thirty-five years after the world’s worst nuclear accident, this new documentary follows presenter Ben Fogle as he spends a week living inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The team was given special access deep inside the exclusion zone and the deserted towns and forest, including the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant itself. Anyone entering the newly-opened control room is limited to just five minutes for radiation safety reasons. Fogle will also explore the ruins of Hospital 126 and talks to a policeman who was on duty the night of the explosion.

The documentary will examine the unique abandoned tenements, now makeshift living spaces, and will see Fogle meet the Self Settlers who came back to live in Chernobyl after the evacuation. He will also look at what wildlife has returned. The events of Sunday 26 April 1986 was one of only two nuclear accidents rated at severity 7, the other being the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan. The events of that Sunday were also made into the limited drama Chernobyl.

About the forthcoming documentary, Fogle said:

“With the news of Ukraine seeking to designate Chernobyl as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, I’m proud to share this incredible journey with viewers as we delve into the past of Chernobyl, uncover its secrets and bring awareness to its historic significance, while making an amazing discovery of wildlife returning, from horses to wolves and bears.”

Ben Fogle’s also present’s Channel 5’s Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild, so far running to thirteen series. The information on Ben Fogle: Inside Chernobyl was first posted on KFTV.