TV series

Benjamin Franklin

Name: Benjamin Franklin
Released: 2002
Cast: Colm Feore, Richard Easton, Dylan Baker, David Adkins, Gerry Bamman

2002· 1 season· 90 min episodesTV-PG★ 6.7Ended

On PBS — From Lithuanian Film Studio · Middlemarch Films

Create a free account to save & share

Create a free account to see where Benjamin Franklin is streaming, with prices and your services first.

Where to watch

Not available to stream in US

🔔 Notify me about new seasons

Synopsis

An epic yarn spanning most of the 18th century, the series follows Franklin's career from humble beginnings in Boston to international superstardom: first as a scientist and revolutionary, and then as a founding father and America's first diplomat to France.

Themes

historical documentary biographical documentary

Episodes

Create a free account to track the episodes you’ve watched.

E1 Let the Experiment Be MadeNext upNov 19, 2002
Synopsis
Part 1: “Let the Experiment Be Made,” charts Franklin's first 47 years (he was born in 1706), a period that saw the birth of the Enlightenment. Franklin took it to heart, writing aphorisms based on it in his “Poor Richard's Almanack” and making life easier for his fellow Philadelphians by thinking up such things as public libraries and a volunteer fire department. Then there was electricity. Richard Easton plays Franklin (Dylan Baker plays a younger Franklin).
E2 The Making of a RevolutionaryNov 19, 2002
Synopsis
Part 2 covers Franklin's years in England, beginning in 1757, when he was sent to London as an emissary for Pennsylvania on a mission to allow the colony to tax the Penn family's lands. Franklin arrived as an ardent admirer of the empire as well as a lover of the American colonies.
E3 The Chess MasterNov 20, 2002
Synopsis
“The Chess Master” follows “America's native genius,” as historian Keith Arbour calls Franklin, through the final 14 years of his life, nine of which were spent in Paris as the rebellious colonies' ambassador to France. Franklin's first goal (aside from creating the U.S. foreign service on the fly) was to secure financial and military aid. He went about doing it in the same manner as he played chess.