I agree, George.
In my former life as a TV critic, I tried to make time to read the source material or look up the facts before I reviewed a TV movie or miniseries, and it always baffled me why the scriptwriters insisted -- insisted! -- on changing the plot, the facts or both. The original was always just as interesting, and when it was based on history, it struck me as near-libel to change it for "artistic" reasons.