Oppenheimer
Spanning 1938 to 1953, theoretical physicist Robert Oppenheimer leads the effort to develop the atom bomb during the Second World War. When revealed, his work initially makes him a hero in the United States, but an ever-changing world soon sees him recast as a security risk.
Episodes
1938: Robert Oppenheimer meets and decides to marry the hard-drinking, much-divorced Kitty, although his friends and relatives dislike her.
1942: America is at war. Now in charge of the top-secret Manhattan Project, Oppenheimer's left-wing politics mean that he's constantly under surveillance by the FBI and others.
1943: Oppenheimer is appointed director of Los Alamos, but his past Communist associations alert the FBI. Meanwhile, his extramarital relationship with the neurotic Jean Tatlock comes to a tragic end.
Summer 1944: With the death of President Roosevelt, the future of the Manhattan Project seems doubtful. Oppenheimer finds himself more and more at loggerheads with Teller.
May 1945: The European war is over but the conflict with Japan rages on. Oppenheimer discusses the almost completed atomic bomb with the Secretary of War. However, his colleagues have misgivings.
1949: A few years after the war, Oppenheimer finds himself regarded as a security risk, and must face the HUAC committee.
December 1953: Oppenheimer's examination by the committee proves disastrous and his career with the AEC is finished, whilst that of his rival Teller flourishes.
