86 minSeason 1 • Episode 3
LatestFranklin rallies the industrial might of the nation and leads the Allied forces through the darkest days of the war.
The new documentary event will provide an epic portrait of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, unpacking how his own fight with polio prepared him for the challenges of leading the United States through the Great Depression and World War II. Based upon Goodwin's New York Times bestseller, Leadership: In Turbulent Times, viewers will experience a most harrowing, yet heroic time in history when through grit, commitment and shared sacrifice FDR was the right man at the right time to lead the U.S. and the allied nations, projecting confidence in himself and America.
Acting
Christian McKay disappears into FDR's charm and secret pain.
Production
1930s White House recreated with obsessive period detail.
Writing
Dialogue that crackles like The Crown with American grit.
Creator
Malcolm Venville
Christian McKay
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Rufus Jones
Theodore Roosevelt
Jazzara Jaslyn
Pierre Malherbe
Jacques Adriaanse
Sean Cameron Michael
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Self - President of US (archive footage)
Winston Churchill
Self - Prime Minister of UK (archive footage)
Eleanor Roosevelt
Self - First Lady US (archive footage)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Christian McKay spent months practicing FDR's specific wheelchair technique — the arms-only propulsion method that preserved his dignity in public.
The series deliberately mirrors FDR's own mythmaking: episode one never shows his legs until the polio reveal, forcing audiences to share contemporary Americans' shock.
US
