ROAD TOO REVOLUTION

Michael Douglas plays Benjamin Franklin in a drama about the statesman's fight for American independence

- CAREN CLARK, STEVEN PERKINS

Benjamin Franklin was one of the key players in the birth of the United States, and negotiated the Treaty of Paris in 1783, which saw America gain its independence from Britain. Now, Apple TV+’s period drama Franklin, starring Michael Douglas as the celebrated Founding Father, explores his dangerous mission to France to secure his country’s future in the lead-up to the signing of the historic document.

The eight-part series, based on a book by Stacy Schiff, begins in 1776 as America is losing the War of Independence. Already renowned as a scientist, writer and talented politician, Franklin, who is in his 70s, is sent across the Atlantic with his inexperienced but determined teenage grandson Temple Franklin (Noah Jupe) to obtain financial and military backing from France and turn around American fortunes.