The John Adams miniseries is out on DVD as well (at least here in the states).
Overall, I would grade this series as a solid "A" for accuracy. It's certainly a feast for the eyes -- and I especially like the "gritty" look of things (for example, the UGLY teeth, and the bad shave jobs, etc).
There are a few (trivial) inaccuracies in sets and costumes (which I assume were consciously made in order to not "confuse" the audience); and the script combines, and rearranges various events (such as Adam's trip to Europe -- the film shows it as one trip, when in fact he made several quick back & forth crossings of the Atlantic, took more than one son, etc. -- but again this was probably done consciously in order to not "waste" too much screen time on travel, partially to "compress" events so they didn't confuse people with different sets of actors for the kids at multiple ages, etc.)
But all of those gripes are minor.
Because overall, I think it does an excellent job of showing us the world of that time
from John Adam's perspective. And sometimes looking at things from different perspectives is a good and necessary thing. (Best example in the movie are the scenes around the "Alien & Sedition Acts" -- with John Adams being shown as NOT the originator of the acts, but as merely agreeing with and signing something that *did* in fact originate in Congress; and at the same time showing his
independence of mind and willingness to sacrifice his political career in order to avoid a war that EITHER Jefferson or Hamilton would have willingly entered {albeit on different sides, the former allying with France, and the latter with England} -- Adams was perhaps the ONLY man who would have been able to steer the "middle course"; and in doing so unwittingly set the groundwork for Jefferson's later triumphs {including, ironically enough, establishing the diplomatic relationship with Napoleon that enabled the Louisiana Purchase}.)
SIDE NOTE: Among other things, the series has made me do some digging on his son, John Quincy Adams -- a man who I had foolishly dismissed as a mere cipher (GWB-like) riding into office on his father's coattails and name.
And I was delighted after substantial reading to find that the entirely OPPOSITE was true: Quincy was indeed his own man. (His switch to the Jefferson party helped END the Hamiltonian "Federalists" once and for all.) I had to entirely re-evaluate my concept of him and found that his career as a diplomat was
absolutely astounding in its ramifications and unparalleled in its success! (So strangely enough, the act of Abigail Adams pushing her husband John into taking his son {actually sons} to Europe, was very astute, perhaps one of those serendipitous choices that has later profoundly positive, but entirely unforseeable, consequences. That young "boy" became fluent in multiple languages, learned about several European cultures, and made what we would call "major networking contacts" that he would then later leverage to the immense benefit to his country.)
Among other achievements, it turns out that the majority of the "Monroe doctrine" was actually conceived and written almost entirely NOT by James Monroe, but rather by John Quincy Adams, the career diplomat
par excellence. And the man himself yet remained rather humble for all that,
AFTER his single term Presidency was ended, he returned as a mere Congressman (in the house, like Ron Paul, for another 17 years). And while his actual administration is often overlooked, it seems to be an unwarranted dismissal, a couple of sentences (written by others) seem to sum it up rather well:
During his term as president, however, [John Quincy] Adams achieved little of consequence in foreign affairs. [...] However, thanks to the successes of Adams' diplomacy during his previous eight years as Secretary of State, most of the foreign policy issues he would have faced had been resolved [by his own previous efforts] by the time he became President.
