John Adams (2008)

Tom Hooper's miniseries excels during the European leg of the revolution, contrasting Benjamin Franklin's theatrical charm with John Adams's unbending legalism at the French court. The agonisingly formal audiences with the Comte de Vergennes and Adams's strained solitary negotiations with Dutch bankers demonstrate the sheer tedium and high stakes of securing wartime credit. His eventual private audience with King George III remains a masterclass in the delicate choreography of bilateral reconciliation.